When Jade Hallyday was born, in 2004, Jean Reno and Luana Belmondo agreed to be the godfather and godmother of the daughter of Johnny and Laeticia Hallyday. If from now on Marie Poniatowski replaces the second, the first has remained faithful to the widow of Taulier. However, he does not share his life choices.
She’s team Los Angeles, he’s team New York
This is how in an interview given to Paris Match, this February 15, 2024, the actor starring in “Retirement Home 2”, assured that he had lived for 20 years in the United States, but that he took up residence on the east coast unlike Hallyday. It was in New York that he met his wife, Zofia Borucka and mother of his last two children, Ciela in 2009 and Dean, in 2011. “I was filming The Pink Panther in New York. And then, we never left each other” he assured.
And if the choice of the Big Apple was obvious for lovers, it’s because “New York is not the United States, it’s a city apart.” explains Jean Reno. And to add: “It’s a bridgehead for Europe. 97,000 French people are based there. My neighbors are Marc Levy and Robert De Niro”.
Besides, he said “I could never have lived in Los Angeles. I was recently talking about it to Laeticia Hallyday. This city is the apologia for solitude. In Manhattan, I know my neighbors, the doorman greets me. And then, New York is also an eminently cultural city. When you go to MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art, you realize that they are not only American, but very open to other cultures.”.
“It was the start of a very beautiful friendship”
It is also thanks to the energy of a city that we can build solid relationships. Indeed, Jean Reno also remembers that he met Johnny Hallyday “in a gym at Porte Maillot”. That was 35-40 years ago, he said. And to remember: “We each trained with a coach: he came to me and said: ‘What are you doing this lunch? Come and eat at home’. Arriving there, I found myself in the middle of 20 guests, but he wanted to place me in front of him. And the scanning started. He formed his opinion about me and it was the start of a very beautiful friendship”. Not sure that such a meeting would have taken place in Los Angeles…
F.A.