It has been reported that French actor Gérard Depardieu has been accused of an alleged assault following an altercation in the aftermath of a traffic accident in Paris last Wednesday.
The incident is said to have occurred after Depardieu's scooter collided with a motorist's car in the sixth arrondissement area. The driver of the car claims a heated argument resulted in the French actor punching him in the face. The motorist filed his complaint at the prosecutor's office the following day. Depardieu has yet to comment.
The star, perhaps best known internationally for his role in Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac as well as a long-term stint as greedy Gaul Obelix in the Asterix movies, previously made headlines last year for the wrong reasons. The star was ejected from a flight for urinating in the aisle.
Depardieu's Asterix co-star, Édouard Baer – who was also on the flight – had said that Depardieu had been stopped from going to the toilet shortly before take-off and so found alternative means:
"He couldn't wait, so I found this solution, I had a little Evian bottle with me, only it was too small so it overflowed. He wanted to clear it up, but the hostess wouldn't let him."
The pair made light of the incident by filming a spoof video, which shows Depardieu on a plane dressed as his character Obelix, unable to resist his urge to eat wild boar.
In the meantime Depardieu's rocky international film career seems to be flying high. After good performances in hits Mammuth and François Ozon's Potiche in his native France,he'll next appear in Ang Lee's big budget adaptation of Life of Pi.
The project is based on Yann Martel's novel, the film follows a teenager who has been shipwrecked, stuck on a life raft with a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger known as Richard Parker. Depardieu plays Frenchman, a mysterious character who is thought to be an alter ego of the hyena dreamed up by Pi.
Via The Guardian
