Early work in France (1990s) One of Cassel's first on-screen appearances was a
bit part in a 1994
Renault Clio advert which was used in the UK. 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.'' 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).
Transition into English–language films (2000s) 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]". In October 2008, Cassel was signed to be the face of a new
Yves Saint Laurent men's fragrance. The new fragrance, ''La Nuit de l'Homme'', was launched worldwide in 2009. Cassel appeared in a two-part film about
Jacques Mesrine, who was France's "public enemy number one" in the seventies. 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 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. In 2019, Cassel played the lead role in
The Specials directed by
Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache based on the true story of Stephane Benhamou who ran an organization helping people with
autism find employment and activities outside the confines of the institutionalized setting. It was screened out of competition at the
2019 Cannes Film Festival and Cassel was nominated for the
César Award for Best Actor.
Recent work (2020s) In 2020, he portrayed trillionaire Engerrand Serac, the main antagonist of the third season of the HBO series
Westworld. In 2021, he narrated the documentary
Reset, directed by Thierry Donard. In 2023, he starred in the Apple TV+ spy thriller series
Liaison opposite
Eva Green. Respectively, he starred as
Athos in
Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel
The Three Musketeers’ two French film adaptations;
The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan and
The Three Musketeers: Milady, both directed by
Martin Bourboulon. In the same year, he was revealed as the voice actor for United Nations' French agent Victor Chevalier in the 2024 video game
Tekken 8, making it his first role in a video game. Vincent first came to know
Tekken back in the 1990s, with his favorite character being
Eddy Gordo. ==Personal life==