I wasn’t sure what to expect this summer when I received Gerard Depardieu's memoir-essay Innocent, which hits US bookstands in November. For one thing, I had never read any of his books. A quick online search revealed Innocent was Depardieu’s fourth or fifth book, his first work of non-fiction – besides a cookbook – to be published in English.

In France, the man is a giant – an institution. His unique blend of brutish charm, extreme sensitivity and natural panache have attracted some of the world’s best directors, including François Truffaut, Bernardo Bertolucci, Maurice Pialat, Jean-Luc Godard, Marguerite Duras and Ridley Scott.

LSP met the actor who writes in New York in September.