Mathieu Kassovitz

A Parisian-born actor, director, writer, and producer who has worked in both the Hollywood and French film worlds, Mathieu Kassovitz initially became known to American audiences for his turn as the poetically named Nino Quincampoix, the romantic interest in the whimsical Jean-Pierre Jeunet-directed French comedy "Amélie" in 2001. Prior to that, he had a fruitful collaboration with writer-director Jacques Audiard, who cast him as the lead in the mid-90s dramas "See How They Fall" and "A Self-Made Hero." Although Kassovitz got his start, and has his longest resume, as an actor, he's also put together an impressive directorial career. In 1995, his urban drama "La Haine" garnered great attention at the Cannes Film Festival, winning Kassovitz the Best Director award, and he followed it up with the controversial 1997 crime movie "Assassin(s)," in which he himself played the lead.

He directed French stars Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel (whom he also collaborated with in "La Haine") in the thriller "The Crimson Rivers," and, in the U.S., he worked with such stars as Halle Berry and Robert Downey, Jr., in 2003's supernatural "Gothika," and Vin Diesel in 2008's apocalyptic "Babylon A.D.." As an actor, Kassovitz collaborated with Steven Spielberg in the lauded 2005 dramatic thriller "Munich," and with Steven Soderbergh in the 2012 action film "Haywire."