( CNN ) -- Ever since his blistering debut as an angry , disenfranchised ghetto kid in `` La Haine '' , Vincent Cassel has gained a reputation for giving the kind of performances it 's hard to ignore . Cassel has won plaudits for his virtuoso turn as a French gangster in the movie `` Mesrine . '' Angular and athletic with a menacing pout and searing blue eyes , the French actor has made his name playing hard-edged , morally compromised , often unlikeable characters . Away from the onscreen bad boys , he 's one half of France 's most glamorous screen couple . His wife , the Italian actress Monica Belluci is a big name in her own right , and has starred in the last two films of the `` Matrix '' trilogy as well as acting alongside Cassel in a number of movies . A huge star at home , Cassel has enjoyed critical success abroad with roles in films like `` Eastern Promises '' , David Cronenburg 's 2007 tale about the Russian mafia in London , and is one of only a handful of French male stars to get parts in Hollywood . He has enjoyed cameos in `` Ocean 's Twelve '' and `` Ocean 's Thirteen '' as well as voicing the character of Monsieur Hood in the `` Shrek '' cartoon . That said he 's yet to score a real Hollywood hit in his own right . The moment for that may not be far away , especially after his recent virtuoso turn in the French blockbuster `` Mesrine '' . In the film he plays the real-life French gangster Jacques Mesrine . His performance helped make the film a huge hit in France and netted him a best actor César , the French equivalent of the Oscars . `` ( Cassel ) is viewed in France as a very good actor with charisma and intelligence , '' Agnes Poirier , a London-based French film critic told CNN . `` Like most intelligent actors , he 's politically aware and does n't mince his words . '' France 's most wanted criminal in the seventies , Mesrine is a controversial figure in his native land . A charismatic and psychotic criminal , he courted the press and was known for daring bank heists and prison breaks . He was eventually gunned down by police on the streets of Paris in 1979 . The two-part movie -- released in the UK and the U.S. this month -- is the perfect showcase for Cassel 's muscular brand of acting and pairs him up with the grand old master of French cinema , Gerard Depardieu , who plays the head of Mesrine 's band of hoodlums in the film . `` He 's not yet seen on a par with Depardieu , '' said Poirier . `` Not being of a classic beauty , Cassel belongs to the `` gueules cassées '' ( which literally means `` broken faces '' ) such as Jean-Paul Belmondo before him . It 's French gallic charm with character . '' Cassel 's first movie role was in `` La Haine '' ( or `` Hate '' in English ) the 1995 indie hit about a group of youths living on a Paris housing estate . Directed by `` Amelie '' star Matthieu Kassovitz , the film stirred controversy because of its stark depiction of racial tensions . In it Cassel plays an angry young boxer with a Robert De Niro obsession . The middle-class son of the popular film actor Jean-Pierre Cassel , he was not an obvious choice to play the part of a disenfranchised street kid . Even so , he made the part his own and still maintains the movie is one of his proudest moments . `` I love that `` La Haine '' is still so accurate , but that also horrifies me , '' Cassel told London 's Observer newspaper in an interview earlier this year . He told the paper that he did n't think France was a racist place but that the country still had `` many problems with our immigrant past . '' The 42-year-old Parisian did n't rest on his laurels following `` La Haine . '' He made a string of hard-hitting films , the most controversial of which by far was the 2002 movie `` Irréversible . '' The film is told backwards and features an excruciating 10-minute rape scene in which Belluci , his wife , plays the victim . In spite of the raw subject matter , the experience of filming with his wife on `` Irréversible '' is something Cassel clearly enjoyed since the two have appeared with each other in eight other movies . The golden couple of the Gallic movie scene have a daughter together but France 's strict privacy laws mean they 're afforded a degree of freedom not always permitted to their Hollywood counterparts . `` The French press is famously respectful of personalities ' private lives especially if those celebrities do n't play with the fire of self-seeking publicity , '' said Poirier . `` Mesrine : Killer Instinct '' is in UK cinemas now . `` Mesrine : Public Enemy No.1 '' is in UK cinemas 28 August .
In his latest role Monica Belluci plays a famous Italian gangster . For his part in `` Mesrine '' Cassel gained nearly 20 kilos . The actor has made his name playing screen tough guys . He has a daughter with the French actress and ex-model Vincent Cassel .