Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (Châteauroux, 27 de dezembro de 1948) é um ator e cineasta de nacionalidade russa e nascido na França. É também empresário, principalmente no ramo da viticultura. Foi agraciado com o título de chevalier pela Ordem Nacional da Legião de Honra e pela Ordem Nacional do Mérito. Em 2012 renunciou a cidadania francesa e em janeiro de 2013, recebeu a cidadania russa, tornando-se embaixador cultural de Montenegro no mesmo mês.
As suas atuações em O Último Metro, Jean de Florette e Cyrano de Bergerac o alçaram ao posto de "galã" e lhe renderam diversos prêmios e indicações. Ao longo da carreira, Depardieu interpretou os mais variados personagens nas mais diversas produções, tornando-se o "o ator mais requisitado da França", e também conhecido por trabalhar com os principais cineastas franceses.
A sua atuação na comédia Green Card lhe rendeu um Globo de Ouro e, posteriormente, atuou em vários filmes de Hollywood, como 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Hamlet, The Man in the Iron Mask, My Father the Hero, Bogus e Life of Pi. A imagem de Depardieu também se popularizou com a interpretação de Obelix nas versões live-action da franquia Asterix.
In August 2018, Depardieu was accused of sexual assault and rape by a 22-year-old actress and dancer. The actress reported being assaulted twice by Depardieu in his home during rehearsal sessions. The unnamed actress made her statement to police in Lambesc, southern France, after which the case was passed to prosecutors in the capital. Depardieu denied the allegations. In 2019, the charges were dropped after a nine-month police investigation. The case was reopened in October 2020 after his accuser refiled the complaint. In February 2021, it was announced that French authorities had charged Depardieu with rape in December 2020, stemming from the incident in August 2018. According to Depardieu's lawyer, Hervé Témime, speaking to Le Monde, the actor rejects the allegation. In March 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected Depardieu's attempt to have the charges dropped and announced the actor will remain under formal investigation. Following this investigation, the case will either be brought to trial or dismissed.
In April 2023, 13 women accused Depardieu of sexual assault and sexual harassment pertaining to incidents that occurred between 2004 and 2022.
In December 19, 2023 a Spanish author and journalist told La Vanguardia, Depardieu had kissed and groped her without her consent when she was in Paris in 1995, aged 23 and suffering from chronic anorexia, to interview him for Cinemania magazine and has filed a complaint She explains that she hid the story during these years, until the revelations on April, which had a deep impact on her and led her to discover in her diary of the time a description of the events. By rereading her personal notes, she remembered this traumatic event that her memory had buried.
One of his accusers, Emmanuelle Debever, who had made allegations against Depardieu, died by suicide on 7 December 2023.
