Depardieu Says He's Ending Career

PARIS – Gerard Depardieu (search) told a newspaper that he's ending his film career — and swears he wasn't drunk when he said it.

"I'm in the process of stopping filming," the Academy Award-nominated actor was quoted as saying in weekly Le Parisien Dimanche. "I'm a guy who's leaving! A guy who's not drunk. For once."

Depardieu, one of France's most prolific actors, was speaking on the set of an upcoming French film and is scheduled to appear in a new installment of the "Asterix" (search) series next year, the newspaper said.

But he insisted his career will soon be over.

"I have nothing to lose," the 56-year-old star said. "I have done 170 films. I have nothing left to prove. I am not going to hang on like a jerk."

Depardieu was a leading French actor of the 1980s and 1990s with such hits as "Green Card," "Jean de Florette" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" (search), for which he was nominated for an Oscar.