Oh no! It can’t be true! Hey, I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
It had to happen eventually. Gerard Depardieu is SOBER AND he is actually doing something shocking. Sadly, that that something is retiring. Gerard Depardieu is one of the best living French actors (maybe even the greatest, not really sure. He’s not quite a Jean Gabin but he’s up there.)
Depardieu is retiring now before he becomes a sell out and people remember him only for his recent movie roles rather than remember that he was the premiere French actor in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Pretty good reasons I think.
And I think the picture is cool too.
Gerard Depardieu says he will quit acting
Author : Paula Cussons
Noted French film star Gerard Depardieu has announced that he would be bidding adieu to his acting career and that it was his final decision. The 56-year-old star, famous for mind-blowing films such as Jean de Florette and Cyrano de Bergerac said in an interview that he did not want to “hang on like an idiot.”
The interview published in the newspaper Le Parisien Dimanche left viewers shocked and his admirers and colleagues unconvinced. “I’m in the process of stopping filming. I’m a guy who’s leaving! A guy who’s not drunk. For once,” he told the newspaper. The entire interview is published in Sunday’s editions of the French newspaper.
Depardieu said that the film that he was currently working on is based on the Algerian war for independence and is titled Michou d’Auber. He categorically stated that this would be his last film ever. “I have nothing to lose,” he said. “I have done 170 films. I have nothing left to prove. I am not going to hang on like a jerk.”
However, his longtime agent, Claude Davy told the BBC that viewers should not take Depardieu’s statements on face value since he has been threatening to quit since a decade, “He is fed up of cinema,” Davy said. “It doesn’t amuse him anymore. He wants to do deals, he wants to do other things than act.”
He added that Depardieu would cut down on films and make perhaps limited appearance in a film per year. Despite these statements, Depardieu has more than seven films waiting for release. These include the Queen Latifah drama Last Holiday, which is scheduled for release on January 13.
Depardieu had an impressive career, which saw him nominated for Best Actor Oscar for Cyrano de Bergerac. He also won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy for Green Card in 1990. He alsoreceieved an Emmy nomination for his the 2002 production Napoléon.
@Cinefille 
Gerard Depardieu is a great actor and is one of the only good things to come out of France. Watch the movie Buffet Froid. It’s a dark comedy, sort of Hithcock-like in its symbolism and story line. A great role for Depardieu.
Liked him in Green Card.
I loved Gerard in Cyrano he did years ago. I liked his French films more than some of the ones he did over here because he had a lot of duds here, but he’s still a good actor. I saw that terrible movie, ” Bogus ” he did with Whoopi. It would have been better if Whoopi hadn’t been in it. I’m not a big Whoopi Goldberg fan at all. I did enjoy Gerard in ” The Man in the Iron Mask “. He brought excitement to such a familiar story. And I must admit, without him that remake would have been pretty drab. Now a days a lot of people announce retirement but if you notice, they come back in a heartbeat in the entertainment world. Look at Steven Spielberg. Now he announced retirement about five times in the last six years and I have yet to see him take a break, LOL. I believe if there is a part Gerard wants to do bad enough he will come back. So take heart Gerard fans!
It will be interesting to see if he really quits. It’s hard to believe someone who’s done that many films could walk away.
I feel like you’ve told me about that movie before. I’ll add it to my list of movies to see, which never seems to get shorter.
And some other good things that came from France:
Catherine Deneuve
Audrey Tatou
Jean Gabin
“Amelie”
“The Grand Illusion”
“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean Renoir
Francois Truffaut
Juliette Binoche
Julie Delpy
etc.
Sable – I don’t think he’ll really retire. The only actor I can think of who successfully retired were was Greta Garbo. Someone like Cary Grant stopped making movies but he was still in the spotlight because of his personal life. Garbo went away and was only heard of again whenever she received a lifetime achievement award.
Even Paul Newman is “retired” but he just won an Emmy. So really retirement in movie industry does not work.
Stacy – I loved Cyrano de Bergerac. Excellent love story.
Abeni – I have yet to see Green Card but I will definitely look into it.