Another Depardieu Onscreen

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/30/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

The lunky and hunky Gerard Depardieu, 51, is France's most highly visible actor, but now he may have some competition from his son, Guillame Depardieu, 29, who looks like a French James Dean. The younger Depardieu's new movie, "Pola X," based on Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," opened in New York on Friday, and in it Depardieu plays an upper middle class spoiled brat who drops out to become a starving poet. "Finally," the actor tells The New York Times about his character Pierre, "he destroys himself." Not so Depardieu, who also has a sister who acts, Julie Depardieu. (The Times compares France's Depardieu acting dynasty to America's Carradine and Bridges families.) But what rankles Guillame is his handsome face. "I would like to play villains," he says. "But no one will cast me with this mug."