Jean Reno

Born: July 30 1948
Where: Casablanca, Morocco

The renowned French actor has rapidly gained recognition with pivotal roles in blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible opposite Tom Cruise and Ronin opposite Robert DeNiro.

Of Spanish-Moroccan descent, he broke America with his heralded performance as an illiterate assassin who finds his soul - saving the life of a truant teen-ager (played by Natalie Portman) in Leon.

The 1994 film marked the English-language debut of director Luc Besson, with whom Reno has frequently collaborated.

Born in Casablanca, Morocco, which was then under French territorial control, Reno remained there with his family until 1960 when they relocated to France.

After high school, he served his military service in Germany before settling in Paris, where he attended a French-government sponsored drama school.

Pursuing his dream of acting, he then joined a travelling theatre company and made his professional stage debut in 1974.

He made his screen debut four years later but his talent wasn't recognised until his lead role in 1988's The Big Blue.

He received critical praise for his work with Luc Besson but it was their next teaming, La Femme Nikita, that brought him fame. After the French box office hit Les Visiteurs, he went to Hollywood for the role of Franz Krieger alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible in 1996.

He turned down the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix to star in the blockbuster Godzilla and followed that up in the explosive action thriller Ronin featuring a world class car chase through Paris.

Subsequent appearances have include the villain of Rollerball and Gendarme Gilbert Ponton in the Steve Martin remake of The Pink Panther.

Upcoming work includes The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.