Vincent Cassel (French: [vɛ̃sɑ̃ kasɛl]; né Crochon [kʁɔʃɔ̃]; November 23, 1966, Paris, France) is a French actor. He has starred in international and English language films and has earned a César Award and a Canadian Screen Award as well as nominations for a European Film Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.
He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film La Haine (Hate) for which he received two César Award nominations. He also garnered attention for Gasper Noe's film Irréversible (2002) which he acted in and co-produced. He received the César Award for Best Actor for his role as the criminal Jacques Mesrine in Mesrine (2008). His other-Cèsar nominated roles include Read My Lips (2001), Mon Roi (2015), It's Only the End of the World (2016), and The Specials (2019).
He garnered recognition with English-speaking roles in Elizabeth (1998), Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007), as well as Eastern Promises (2007), Black Swan (2010), and Jason Bourne (2016). In 2020, he played Enguerrand Serac in the HBO series Westworld.
Cassel was born in Paris, France, to journalist Sabine Litique and actor Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon). Cassel's brother, Mathias, is a rapper with the group Assassin under the name "Rockin' Squat". His half-sister, Cécile Cassel, is also an actor.
One of Cassel's first on-screen appearances was a bit part in a 1994 Renault Clio advert which was used in the UK. Cassel's breakthrough role was in Mathieu Kassovitz's critically acclaimed film La Haine (1995), in which he portrayed a troubled youth living in the deprived outskirts of Paris. For his role in La Haine, Cassel was nominated for two César Awards, for Best Actor and Most Promising Actor.
Throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s, Cassel performed in a string of French films. In 1996, he starred opposite Monica Bellucci (before they married) in the moody French film L'Appartement. The film was a critical success, winning a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and the first British Independent Film Award for the Best Film in a Foreign Language. The film was also a modest hit in France gaining 55,565 admissions its opening weekend and 152,714 admissions total. Although the film was never released theatrically in the United States, it was released on DVD on 22 August 2006.
In 1998, he portrayed Henry, Duc d'Anjou in Elizabeth. In 1999, he portrayed Gilles de Rais in Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Other notable roles during this period of his career include the violent film Dobermann (1997), the genre-bending Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), and the highly controversial Irréversible (2002), where he appears fully nude (with Monica Bellucci, after they married).
Since the early 2000s, Cassel has also appeared in a number of English-language films, such as Shrek (as the voice of Monsieur Hood) and Birthday Girl (both 2001) Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen (2004, 2007), and Derailed (2005). He has also dubbed the voice of Diego (Denis Leary) in the Ice Age franchise and Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) in Robots.
In 2007, Cassel attracted significant critical acclaim for his performance in David Cronenberg's thriller film Eastern Promises, in which he starred opposite Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. The film premiered on 8 September 2007 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival where it won the Audience Prize for best film on 15 September 2007. Film Journal International critic Doris Toumarkine dubbed Cassel's performance "particularly delicious". J. Hoberman of The Village Voice wrote that "Cassel literally flings himself into [his role]".
The following year, in 2010, Cassel played Thomas Leroy in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed Black Swan (2010), alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, which attracted considerable acclaim. For his performance in Black Swan, he was nominated alongside his cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2011, Cassel played the lead role in the French-Spanish thriller-drama film The Monk, directed by Dominik Moll. Screen Daily praised his performance, writing that "Cassel exudes otherworldly gravitas and his singular looks are perfect for the role." That year, he also starred in the German-Canadian historical film A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg; in the latter, he starred opposite Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, and Mortensen (marking their second film together). The film premiered at the 68th Venice Film Festival and was also featured at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2014, he portrayed The Beast opposite Léa Seydoux as Belle in the French-language adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. The film was screened out of competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. It was released in France on in February 2014 to positive reviews, becoming a box office success. In Japan, the film topped the box office on its release, making it the first non-English-language foreign film to top the Japanese box office since Red Cliff II in 2009, and the first French film to top the Japanese box office since Mathieu Kassovitz's The Crimson Rivers in 2001.
In 2016, Cassel was featured in American action thriller film Jason Bourne, directed by Paul Greengrass; the film is the fifth installment of the Bourne film series and a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Despite mixed reviews, the film was a box office success, grossing more than $400 million worldwide. That year, he also attracted critical acclaim for his performance as Antoine in Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. For his work in the film, Cassel won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor; he also received nominations for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor, and the Jury Prize for Best Actor at the Riviera International Film Festival.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 
|
Rodney Copperbottom | Robots |
| 2002 | 
|
Diego | L'Âge de Glace / L'Ère de Glace |
| 2001 | 
|
Mosieur Hood | Shrek |