One man and his misses

Jimmy-Jean Louis has star quality to rival any Bond

The star of US TV series Heroes flew into Nice in December for Miss France, the famous pageant that sees the Misses from all the regional departments tussel for a tiara live on national TV. As a former model, Louis is able to empathise with the beauty queens better than most. "It's a world I am familiar with,” he nods, “where the physical counts and where the vibe is very competitive. It's difficult, you get rejected a lot."

With a successful modelling career behind him, you're likely to have seen Louis' own handsome face on a variety of billboards and magazine covers. Moving from Europe to LA in 1999, he has since made the tricky transition from model to actor and has starred in movies with Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford and Matt Damon among many others.

Nowadays, he is best known as The Haitian, one of the most mysterious 'Heroes'. "The show’s been a big deal for me," he confesses. "It’s huge and people have responded to my character. I'd say television is the way to go at the moment, certainly in the US, because you reach so many people. Heroes has opened doors for me; people know who I am."

Thanks to The Haitian, we'll be seeing a lot more of Louis in 2010, with six films, three US and three French, slated for release. The first is Coursier, a movie from Luc Besson's film company. "Doing films in France is new for me and I'm hoping to make many more here. It‘s a big statement to my country," he explains, "because I still feel French.”

Louis moved to Paris from Haiti when he was 12 and remains very connected to the culture. However, living first as an immigrant in the rough Parisian suburbs and then later as a young non-African-American black man in LA, Louis says his sense of national identity is not straight forward: "I've never been truly accepted, no matter where I've been. It's made me an independent and international person. I move between countries easily and communicate well with people from different cultures."He is an impressive linguist, fluent in five languages.

He is proud of the fact he has overcome so many obstacles: "I've established myself without people having a pre-notion of what I am exactly. I've had to be that person who comes first, to be the example for others."

Becoming French cinema’s first bankable black movie star is next on the trailblazer’s agenda. Not playing ‘black characters’ but everyman heros: “There's a demand for it and I think French people are mentally ready. You know, I'd love to be the next James Bond," he laughs and waves his hand, "a black James Bond with a French accent? OK it'll never happen.”

At the Nikaia that evening, as the Misses paraded in their sparkly dresses, judge Louis radiated charm and charisma worthy of any 007. And going head-to-head with Bond, the smart money would be on the Haitian always getting the girl.

Coursier is out on the 24th February

HM