He was born in Casablanca, where his Andalusian parents sought refuge from Francisco Franco's dictatorship. He was 15 when his beloved mother died of cancer; two years later, he left Morocco and moved to France - the actor speaks fluent French, Spanish, Italian and English, he also communicates in German, Japanese and Arabic.
Wanting to obtain French citizenship, he joined the army. The military superiors were cruel, the conditions were terrible - two soldiers from the Reno group even committed suicide.
After his service, he returned to acting lessons and earned his living by running a grocery store and a travel agency. With a future career in mind, he changed his real name "Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiméne" to a much more catchy alias, "Jean Reno".