French actor Gérard Depardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault.

Authorities revived a 2018 investigation that was initially dropped, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The office told the Associated Press that the French actor was not detained when he was handed the preliminary charges on December 16.

The Paris prosecutor’s office addressed the charges after the case was leaked to French media.

Press reports said the charges relate to allegations made by an actress in her 20s that date back to 2018.

An initial inquiry against the star was dropped in 2019 because of lack of evidence, but was later revived.

French newspaper Le Parisien and BFM TV said the actress and dancer alleged that Depardieu assaulted her in August 2018 at his home in Paris.

The two met when Depardieu led a master class at her school, BFM TV reported.

The actress, who has not been named, first filed a complaint with details of alleged rape and assault in August 2018 in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence.

The probe was taken over by Paris investigators, but was soon dropped.

Depardieu’s lawyer Herve Temime was not immediately available for comment, but he has previously said that the actor “absolutely denies any rape, any sexual assault, any crime”.

Depardieu is among France’s most well-known and controversial stars.

He has appeared in 200 films over six decades and is among a few French actors who have made a name for themselves in Hollywood.

He won a Golden Globe for his performance in Green Card, a 1990 English-language romantic comedy co-starring Andie MacDowell.

His first big hit in France was Les Valseuses, (Going Places), Bertrand Blier’s classic farce about two wandering thugs.

Before crossing the Atlantic, Depardieu played an array of roles ranging from Jean Valjean, the thief-turned-saint in Les Miserables, to Christopher Columbus.

In 2014, he played the leading role in Welcome To New York, the film inspired by the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former director of the International Monetary Fund who was accused in 2011 of sexually assaulting a hotel maid.

• Rape Crisis services for women and girls who have been raped or have experienced sexual violence – 0808 802 9999
• Survivors UK offers support for men and boys – 0203 598 3898