I first decided to become an actor at school. A teacher gave us a play to do and that had a major impact. At first, I wanted to work in the theatre, but there was something about the ambience of film, especially American films, that always attracted me.
I was a banker in Morocco when I first saw American Graffiti. It was before I was an actor, a melancholy time in my life, and this mood was reflected in the film. It is about a group of characters who have one night together before they leave town, one night to change their futures. It asks questions about where life is going and the transition to becoming an adult and how that changes life and your responsibility.
Soon after that, I moved to France. I was born in Casablanca and had a French passport. I went to drama school in Paris and started doing theatre with a friend. Then I moved into movies and slowly but surely I got roles.
American Graffiti stayed in my mind, but I don't think to this day I've done a film that captured that same level of melancholy. It was so well done. Talking about it has given me the idea I might try harder to make that melancholy film!
22 Bullets, starring Jean Reno, is out now
