Top 50 Most Popular French Actors Of All Time

Gérard Depardieu first came to public attention in the 1974 film Going Places. After his performance in the project, it became clear that French arthouse filmmakers wanted more of him.

The actor went on to win his maiden César for his character projection in François Truffaut’s The Last Metro in 1981. Following his stint on the feature, he developed a liking for historical roles.

Needless to say, one could find him playing a part in projects such as Cyrano de Bergerac, Danton, Camille Claudel, and 1942: Conquest of Paradise, to name a few.

Depardieu, who is known for his love for food and drinking, has exhibited his range as a performer by playing both comedic and dramatic roles.

The actor owns vineyards in Italy and restaurants and hotels all over France. That being said, he continues to perform in theatres and write and shoot movies.

Even though he has been a screen performer par excellence, his image took a beating when, in 2023, 13 women came forward and accused him of sexually harassing them. Reportedly, these incidents are said to have taken place between 2004 and 2022. 

Today, he's said to be residing in Néchin, Belgium. 

Jean Dujardin started his career by performing regularly in bars and small theatres. Sooner than later, he appeared in his first notable television project, Un gars, une fille, in 1999.

The success of the aforementioned show led him to participate in a big-screen comedy like Marriages!. The actor soon came to prominence after playing a role in the box office blockbuster Brice de Nice.

Furthermore, he earned a fair bit of acclaim for his performance in the OSS 117 films. While his versatility was on full display in features such as Counter Investigation, Lucky Luke, Little White Lies, and 99 Francs, it was his role in The Artist that turned out to be a game-changer for him.

For his performance in the same, Dujardin won a ton of awards and became the very first Frenchman to win the Oscar for Best Actor.

It is not surprising then that he was soon seen in American movies and television shows such as The Wolf of Wall Street, The Monuments Men, and Call My Agent!

Mathieu Amalric was first seen making an appearance in the 1984 feature film Favourites of the Moon. An actor and filmmaker, he has appeared in quite a few noteworthy international projects.

He is best known for his work in motion pictures such as Quantum of Solace, Munich, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, to mention a few.

Amalric has been a recipient of several César Awards and the Lumières Award.

Michel Piccoli was a star character actor who was seen in a ton of motion pictures throughout his 70 year-long screen career.

Often lauded as one of the greatest character actors in French cinema history, hs is known to have worked with some of the finest film directors of his time.

Piccoli has been awarded the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival.

Founder of MNP Entreprise, Mathieu Kassovitz is yet another multi-talented personality to make it to our list. Not only has he been a successful actor but he is also a film director, film producer, and screenwriter.

While he has been nominated for his acting, he is one of the few performers who has also received nominations for his direction and writing.

Kassovitz has helmed several artistic and commercial successes. He is perhaps best known for playing the role of Nino Quincampoix in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amélie.

Philippe Noiret may have started playing uncredited roles at the beginning of his career, but he turned out to be one of the most familiar French screen faces of all time.

Even though he was mostly seen playing ordinary and humble characters that the common man could relate to, he did not hesitate much in portraying controversial characters either.

Noiret had appeared in quite a few Hollywood-financed films that were sponsored by some well-known names in the American film industry.

Omar Sy may have recently been seen playing the lead role in the hit Netflix series Lupin, but he has been an active performer ever since the beginning of the 21st century.

The actor got to play his first major screen role in the movie Those Happy Days. He had his big break in the critically acclaimed 2011 feature film The Intouchables.

For his performance in the same, he went on to become the first black actor in France to win the César Award for Best Actor.

The actor soon started making a name for himself by appearing in Hollywood projects such as X-Men, Jurassic World, and Inferno.

Be that as it may, Sy continued to play significant roles in French motion pictures while attempting to strike a chord with the American audience as well.

Guillaume Canet was first seen in the television show Premiers baisers in 1993. He is an actor, film director, screenwriter, and show jumper.

He started his career as an actor in theatre and television before making the much-awaited transition to films.

He could be seen playing a significant role in motion pictures such as Joyeux Noël, Love Me If You Dare, and The Beach, to name a few.

However, it was in 2006 that Canet decided to devote a fair amount of time to writing and directing as well.

For the movie Tell No One, he even ended up winning a César Award for Best Director.

The painfully good-looking Alain Delon is one of the most popular French superstars in motion picture history. He enlisted in the navy at the age of 17.

He served in French Indochina until the end of the war. However, after he returned to Paris, his well-built physique and impressive good looks provided him with an opportunity to get into the movies.

Later, he ended up falling in love with actress Romy Schneider and the couple was described as "the fiancés of Europe" during their initial years together.

The 1960s saw him partaking in several box office hits and, in 1985, he won a well-deserved and long-due César Award for Best Actor.

Delon received the Palme d’Honneur Prize at the Cannes Film Festival during the 2010s. He continues to be admired by those who're familiar with his work.

Not many people are aware of the fact that the actor was spotted by a talent scout at Cannes for the American producer David O. Selznick.

A screen test was held not longer after his spotting and a contract was offered almost immediately, following which he decided to learn English.

Vincent Lindon made his feature film debut by playing an uncredited role in 1982's Guy de Maupassant.

His role in The Measure of a Man won him the Best Actor at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor at the 41st César Awards, and the IFFI Best Actor Award (Male) at the 46th International Film Festival of India, respectively.

Lindon was appointed the president of the jury for the main competition section of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Daniel Auteuil started making his presence felt within the entertainment industry in the first half of the 1970s.

The actor, who also happens to be a filmmaker, has played roles in a wide range of film genres.

Not only can he be seen in period dramas but he has also proven his mettle as a performer in romantic comedies and crime thrillers.

Auteuil won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival together with Belgian actor Pascal Duquenne. In addition, he has also been a recipient of two César Awards for Best Actor.

Louis Garrel is best known for his starring role in The Dreamers. He made his feature film debut with Emergency Kisses in 1989.

An actor and filmmaker, he is mostly seen playing either prominent historical characters or someone who is caught up in a love triangle of sorts on celluloid.

Garrel is known to have collaborated with directors such as Christophe Honoré and Philippe Garrel (his father) on numerous occasions.

He has also starred in two movies directed by himself.

Tahar Rahim may have started his career by playing minor roles but he has successfully gone on to establish himself as one of the most popular French actors known to the cinematic world today.

He is best known for participating in acclaimed projects such as A Prophet, The Looming Tower, Mary Magdalene, and The Serpent, to mention a few.

It'd be safe to say that Rahim has had a substantial career so far. In fact, he may well go on to cement his place as one of the better French screen actors of all time in the years to come.

Vincent Cassel is an actor who has been fascinated by the world of art ever since he was very young. He comes from a family of artists.

The man gained recognition after receiving César nominations for his stupendous performance in the 1995 film La Haine.

During the mid-2000s, filmmakers such as Jan Kounen, Jacques Audiard, and Gaspard Noé had taken a tremendous interest in the man. Needless to say, he was seen in quite a few mainstream French hits.

Soon after, Cassel took the Hollywood route and was seen starring in popular features such as Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Eastern Promises, Black Swan, and Jason Bourne.

He ranks among the best French actors of his generation and his performances go beyond the stretch of French cinema.

2023 saw the man star in the Apple TV+ spy thriller series Liaison, in which he starred alongside Eva Green.

Later that year, he was revealed to be the voice actor for United Nations' French agent Victor Chevalier for a video game, titled Tekken 8, which is due to be released in 2024.

One of the most gifted French dramatic actors of the post-war era, Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant had been a part of several classic motion pictures throughout his career.

Often seen playing thoughtful characters whose ideals and morals are severely tested, the actor had won quite a few Best Actor awards during the course of his iconic screen career.

One of his last great movies was Amour. It was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or there.

Better still, it earned the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards.

Actor, author, and filmmaker Melvil Poupaud made his debut screen appearance as a child actor in the 1983 motion picture City of Pirates.

The actor grew up in a family that had close ties with the cinema world. It is not surprising then that he's been close to figures of the Parisian intelligentsia.

He can be seen in films such as A Summer's Tale, A Christmas Tale, The Refuge, and Laurence Anyways, to name a few.

Gaspard Thomas Ulliel was the face of Chanel's men's fragrance Bleu de Chanel for twelve successful years. He was best known for starring in feature films such as Hannibal Rising and Saint Laurent.

Furthermore, he is also known to have lent his voice to the character of Jack Frost in the French version of Rise of the Guardians.

That said, one can also find him playing the character of Anton Mogart in the Disney+ miniseries Moon Knight.

The actor had won the César Award for Best Actor for his stunning performance in It's Only the End of the World in 2017.

A couple of years before his win, Ulliel had also become a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

Jean Gabin had been working in the French film industry ever since the inception of the 1930s.

A key figure in French cinema, he had twice won both the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival.

He was recognized for the influential role that he played in the evolution of French cinema. He was made a member of the Légion d'honneur.

Albert Dupontel had initially started studying medicine but, much like his father, he decided to eventually switch to theater.

The actor was first seen playing a part in the 1988 feature film Once More. However, he started his career as a stand-up comedian.

His 1996 movie, Bernie, took the Grand Prize at the 9th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. Dupontel not only wrote and directed the project but he also starred in it.

François Cluzet has been both a film and theater actor for the longest time. He's had the privilege of working with several significant European and American directors throughout his career.

Best known to contemporary cinema buffs across the world for his outstanding role in The Intouchables, he won a French César Award for playing a doctor in the thriller Tell No One.

As of March 2012, The Intouchables was the highest-grossing non-English language film released (inflation not adjusted).

Charles Boyer is a French-American actor who, after having gotten an education in drama, started performing on the stage.

While he made his French film debut in 1920, he found fame after having worked in several American motion pictures during the 1930s.

Some of his most remarkable character portrayals came in movies such as Garden of Allah, Algiers, Love Affair, and Gaslight.

The acclaimed actor was nominated for four Academy Awards during the course of his career.

Jean Rochefort was a prominent name in French cinema during the late '50s and '60s.

A versatile performer who could play both comedic and dramatic roles with great efficiency, he had been a recipient of three César Awards. In a career that spanned nearly six decades, the man acted in over 100 feature films.

Even though he started trying himself at dramas as a teenager, his had to take a break when he served in the military. However, after he returned, there was no stopping Rochefort for he featured in one box office hit after another.

Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo was an actor and producer who became a major film star from 1960 onwards.

He was best known for portraying police officers in mainstream action thrillers and can be seen delivering good performances in titles such as Breathless, That Man from Rio, Pierrot le Fou, Borsalino, and The Professional.

Even though Belmondo was heavily courted by Hollywood, he was not too willing to participate in English features.

The actor won the César Award for Best Actor in 1989 for his performance in Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté.

Romain Duris has been acting since the first half of the 1990s. He is one of the better-known French actors today.

Even though he had a great interest in music and had constituted a band of his own, it was his cinematic endeavors that fetched him fame over the years.

Duris is best known for playing the character of a French exchange student in the popular Spanish Apartment Trilogy.

That being said, he is best recognized for playing gangsters and romantic heroes in his movies; therefore, putting his versatility on display.

Ivo Livi, known in his professional space as Yves Montand, was an actor and singer who had been performing since the beginning of the 1940s.

While he continued to gain recognition as a mainstream actor, his songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics at the time.

The actor was also seen in American features. He was nominated for a César Award for Best Actor twice during the course of his career.

Jean-Pierre Marielle had been active in the movies since the second half of the 1950s. He is known to have played diverse roles on the big screen.

Courtesy of his cavernous voice and gentlemanly appearance, the actor was considered to be archetypical of the French gentleman by several humorists.

Marielle shot to fame in the true sense of the word and proved his acting caliber to the viewers during the 1970s.

He was an excellent performer on the stage and received the highest honor bestowed upon a stage artist in France.

Michael Edward Lonsdale-Crouch was known in his professional space as Michael Lonsdale. He had been a consistent screen performer ever since he made his debut in the 1956 feature film It Happened in Aden.

Also an author, he appeared in over 180 motion pictures and television shows throughout his career. The English-speaking world knows him better for his character projection in movies such as Moonraker, The Day of the Jackal, The Name of the Rose, and The Remains of the Day.

What was interesting about him was that apart from being an actor, he was also a film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer, and photographer.

He participated in over 100 feature films and was, therefore, awarded the French Legion of Honor for his contributions to French Cinema.

Pierre Richard is an actor, film director, and screenwriter who made a name for himself by playing the role of a clumsy daydreamer in most of his comedy flicks.

Also a competent singer, he is considered by several great performers in France to be among the finest comedians to have ever graced the screen.

He is known to have played different characters with the same name several times on celluloid.

Fabrice Luchini has been making his presence felt in the movies since the late 1960s.

Best known for his performance in feature films such as Potiche, The Women on the 6th Floor, and In the House, he received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival for his performance in the 2015 project Courted.

Even though he had a successful film career, he always considered theater to be his first love.

Gérard Lanvin is a French actor and singer who was first seen playing a minor character in the 1976 film The Wing or The Thigh?.

However, his first major role in cinema came in the cult film You will not have Alsace and Lorraine, which hit the screens in 1977.

This César Award-winning actor decided to discontinue his studies when he was 17 to become an actor. He earned the Prix Jean Gabin in 1982 for his role in Une étrange affaire.

Aside from being a mainstream screen performer, Christian Clavier is also a screenwriter, film producer, and director. He is best known for starring in two hit comedy series: Patrice Leconte's Les Bronzés and Les Visiteurs directed by Jean-Marie Poiré.

The actor started participating in tent-pole movies after the massive success of the 1993 feature film les Visiteurs. His character's cry of "Okkkayyy!!" became so popular that quite a few people were seen duplicating it back in the day.

Richard Bohringer has been active in the movies since the onset of the 1960s. So, of course, he has had a career worth looking forward to.

However, besides being a mainstream actor, he is also a musician, writer, and poet. Not only that but the actor is also known to have produced and directed several motion pictures.

He has been a recipient of the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 and the César Award for Best Actor in 1988.

This French actor is a multi-talented individual. We say so because not only has he proven himself as a screen actor but he has also served in the capacity of a director, writer, and producer.

Best known for his comedic roles, he was a founder of the comedy troupe Le Splendid in the 1970s along with a few other individuals.

Thierry Lhermitte is known to have participated in some of France's most outrageous motion pictures throughout the course of his prolific career.

This French actor was able to successfully make his presence felt in quite a few well-known American shows.

Best known for his character projection in the film Sex and the City, he can be seen in television shows such as Brothers & Sisters, Switched at Birth, Ugly Betty, and Devious Maids, to name a few.

Gilles Marini is also known to have featured as the French co-host on the Netflix show Ultimate Beastmaster.

As popular as Lambert Wilson is among the French audience, he has always strived to become a successful name in Hollywood.

Needless to say, he paved his pay quite remarkably. Five years after playing his first role on the silver screen, one could see him performing alongside Hollywood great Sean Connery in Five Days One Summer.

Even though the motion picture was soon forgotten, Lambert managed to catch the attention of many. While The Public Woman and Rendez-vous are among his most popular French features, he is best known for playing the character of The Merovingian in The Matrix series of motion pictures.

Aside from acting, the actor also happens to be a competent singer. He even released an album called Musicals in 1989.

One of the founding members of the comedy troupe Le Splendid in the 1970s, Gérard Jugnot had initially started his acting career by playing minor roles in movies.

The group and its members gained prominence after they were able to successfully adapt several of their stage hits for cinema.

Jugnot was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 2004. He gained international fame for his lead role in the musical drama film Les Choristes.

The enigmatic Jean Reno made his acting debut by playing a minor role in the television show One Mystery a Day.

He is one of the few actors who has been able to make his undeniable presence felt in well-known American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish, and Italian movie productions.

His performance in popular movies such as Léon: The Professional, Godzilla, Mission: Impossible, The Pink Panther, and Crimson Rivers brought him international acclaim.

Reno has also been involved with the production of the third instalment of the famous Capcom series Onimusha. Not only that but he even ended up lending his voice and likeness to the protagonist Jacques Blanc. 

Furthermore, the man has also participated in American television commercials for UPS.

Frequently cast in Luc Besson's films, Jean-Hugues Anglade is an actor, film director, and screenwriter who appeared in a few television movies before starting to make his presence felt in full-length features.

The actor is best known for playing the roles of Eric in Killing Zoe, Zorg in Betty Blue, and Marco, the boyfriend of Nikita in Nikita, respectively.

Even though not extensively, Anglade is also known to have performed on the stage.

Christopher Lambert is a French-American actor who can be seen in a number of popular mainstream projects.

Even though he started playing supporting characters initially, he gained global recognition after having starred in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.

For his outstanding performance in Subway, he received the César Award for Best Actor. That being said, Lambert's most popular character projection came in Highlander and the subsequent film franchise of the same name.

Jacques Gamblin made his feature film debut in 1985's Hell Train. He is known to have studied at the Centre dramatique de Caen (Caen Dramatic Arts Centre).

He did not initially think of taking up acting as a career. But, since he was working as a professional technician in a theater company, he ended up developing an interest in the same.

After having done a fair bit of theater, he was keen on choosing his roles carefully and, consequently, made his big-screen debut in 1985.

Olivier Martinez shot to fame after playing a significant role in the feature film Un, deux, trois, soleil, which fetched him the César Award for Most Promising Actor.

He continued to mesmerize the audience with his performance in motion pictures such as The Horseman on the Roof and The Chambermaid on the Titanic.

The actor was also seen in Hollywood productions such as Before Night Falls, Unfaithful, S.W.A.T., and Taking Lives.

Nicolas Cazalé made his acting debut on the television show Louis Page in 2000. He's a model and actor who is best known for his role in the 2004 French film Le Grand Voyage.

For his performance in the aforementioned feature, he won a well-deserved Jury Award for Best Actor at the 2005 Newport International Film Festival.

Cazalé has been called one of European cinema's up-and-coming talents. He was the recipient of the Shooting Stars Award in 2008.

Ever since the beginning of his acting career in 1998, Raphaël Personnaz has made his presence felt in over 50 motion pictures.

A recipient of the Prix Patrick Dewaere, the actor was first seen in the French television series, titled Un homme en colère ('An Angry Man' in English).

He has also been seen in the English-language film Anna Karenina, in which he starred alongside Jude Law and Keira Knightley.

Gérard Philipe was one of the better-known screen performers during the post-war era in France. Even though he did not participate in a lot of motion pictures, his contribution to French cinema between 1944 to 1959 remains indisputable.

Unfortunately, the actor met with his untimely death in 1959. However, his image has forever remained youthful and romantic to the public of France.

Needless to mention, Philipe's admirers continue to hold him in good stead.

Aside from being an actor, Jamel Debbouze is also a comedian, screenwriter, film producer, and director. Even though he is best known for his stand-up comedy sketches, he has also worked with director Alain Chabat in several films.

In addition, he has collaborated with other French humorists as well. That said, Jamel is known to have starred in a number of box-office successes such as Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra and Amélie.

Louis de Funès is one of France's most-loved performers to have ever graced the screen.

Popular for his energy and mannerisms, the actor had been a part of over 150 projects throughout his career.

He was well-known in German-speaking countries, Italy, Greece, Spain, Mauritius, and the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, respectively.

However, the English-speaking world has not been able to be as familiar with his work as the aforementioned nations.

Jean-Pierre Cassel had been an active screen performer ever since the beginning of the 1950s.

He rose to prominence in the late 1950s as a hero in mainstream comedy features.

He is known to have worked in acclaimed motion pictures with prominent film directors such as Luis Buñuel, Sidney Lumet, and Claude Chabrol during the 1960s and 1970s.

Cassel can be seen in projects such as The Breach, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and Murder on the Orient Express.

Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin, known popularly by his stage name Fernandel, was an actor and singer who made his feature film debut in 1931's Black and White.

His stage name emanated from the fact that he was truly attentive to his wife Henriette Manse. This made his mother-in-law lovingly refer to him as Fernand d'elle ("Fernand of her").

Fernandel amused the audience with his remarkable comic timing and screen presence for over four decades.

Hugo Becker is a relatively new performer to make it to our story. The actor made his acting debut with The Assault in 2010. He is kbown to speak French, English, and Spanish fluently.

He is best known for playing a role in the popular American series Gossip Girl and the French thriller series Chefs.

Becker was also seen playing a key part in the American motion picture Damsels in Distress. The film was selected to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival.