Gérard Depardieu is a French actor. His acting career started in the 1970s and by the early 1980s, he was one of the leading French actors gaining much attention for his role opposite Fanny Ardant in François Truffaut's film "La Femme" d'à côté ("The Woman Next Door"), and winning his first César Award for Best Actor for his role in "Le Dernier métro". In the 1990s he achieved some fame in North America too. His most significant English-language productions are "Green Card" with Andie MacDowell and 1492: "Conquest of Paradise".