How The Giggling Began

Gerard Depardieu 'sorry' about urinating in plane cabin

Posted 08/19/2011 11:56 AM PT by Corinne Heller

Gerard Depardieu is sorry about urinating in public on an airplane, his co-star says, days after the story made international headlines and sent CNN anchor Anderson Cooper into a fit of giggles on his television show.

A passenger on the CityJet flight, which was set to travel from Paris to Dublin, recalled the Tuesday incident in an interview with a French radio station.

He said that while the aircraft was waiting to take off, Depardieu, a 62-year-old Oscar-nominated French actor who appeared in the film "Green Card," had asked to use the restrooms but that a flight attendant said they would only open after the plane was in the air. The actor said he could not wait and relieved himself in front of other people in the cabin of the aircraft.

French actor Edouard Baer was traveling with Depardieu and they were set to film their new movie, "Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia," in Ireland.

The UK Newspaper The Daily Mail quoted Baer as saying in a statement that he had passed Depardieu a mini Evian water bottle and that the actor relieved himself in it. It then overflowed onto the floor of the cabin and Depardieu "offered to clean up the mess," Baer said.

"Gerard is very sorry for what happened," he added. "He wanted to go to the toilet but he was forbidden because we were about to take off, so he was forced to do it on the plane in front of everybody. He has prostate problems and it was very worrying and humiliating for him. He was also stone-cold sober at the time. This is not the way he usually behaves."

The passenger who recalled the incident had said that the actor appeared to have been drinking on the flight. Depardieu, who owns a vineyard in Burgundy, famously told a UK journalist in 2005: "When I'm stressed, I still drink five or six bottles of wine a day." Asked how many bottles he drinks when he is relaxed, the actor said: "Three or four, but I'm trying to cut down," according to the newspaper The Guardian.

A spokesperson for CityJet, a Air France-KLM subsidiary, told OnTheRedCarpet.com on Wednesday that the flight was delayed for almost two hours after a man on board created a disturbance by refusing to remain in his seat while the plane was still on the runway in Paris.

He was escorted off the plane and two of his traveling companions accompanied him willingly, the spokesperson said, adding that the man's identity was not revealed as part of the company's general privacy policy. Police arrived at the scene but no charges were filed.

Cooper lost his composure on his CNN show on Wednesday while reporting about Depardieu's public urination incident. The CNN anchor began giggling after telling a joke featuring a pun on the French actor's name.

Depardieu is perhaps best known for his role in the United States for his role in the 1990 comedy film "Green Card," which earned him a Golden Globe. He played a foreigner who marries an American woman, portrayed by Andie MacDowell, so he can stay in the United States legally. Depardieu is known for films such as "Cyrano de Bergerac," which earned him an Oscar nomination, "Jean de Florette and the 1998 movie "The Man in the Iron Mask," which saw him play the musketeer Porthos alongside main star Leonardo DiCaprio. He also starred in the 2007 film "La Vie en Rose," which earned Marion Cotillard an Oscar.