My Favorite Actor: Vincent Cassel

Vincent Cassel has been a favorite actor of mine ever since I was introduced to him by many of Monica Bellucci’s films. Most Americans know of him through the famous American 2010 Ballet film called ‘Black Swan’ in which he played a smart, sexy, and perverted ballet teacher named Thomas Leroy. However, the first time I knew of him was in ‘Derailed’ and then really became a fan of him when I saw ‘Irreversible’ and ‘L’appartement’.

Cassel was born on November 23, 1966 in Paris, France. He is the son of popular French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel and Sabine Litique, a journalist. He has a half-sister who is also an actress and a brother who is a rapper. Along with French, Cassel speaks Italian, English, Portuguese, and basic Russian. In 1999, he married popular (and my favorite) Italian actress Monica Bellucci and they now have two daughters together. They have starred in numerous films together…some of which I have blogged about. Other than acting, Cassel practices a Brazilian martial art called ‘Capoeira’ and is a great dancer. As a matter of fact, he studied ballet for 6 years which made him an even greater fit in ‘Black Swan’.

In the world of film, Cassel is an excellent actor and is believable in any role he is given to play. He can play a funny, shy guy just as well as a sadistic bad guy. Most of the roles you will see Cassel is in movies where he is playing the bad guy, which I think suits him very well. He is truly captivating on screen and, not too mention, he has a gorgeous French accent when he speaks in English.

Best Cassel movies that I’ve seen and strongly recommend include: L’appartement (1996), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Irreversible (2003), Derailed (2005), and Black Swan (2010)!

I am absolutely dying to see La Haine(1995) and Dobermann (1997) as well! I have absolutely no idea where to find these films with English subtitles as I searched everywhere. If anyone knows where to see them or purchase them, please let me know! Both of them seem extremely cool...especially 'La Haine' where it seems that he's playing some type of gangster.