Prosecutors in France are investigating rape allegations against actor Gerard Depardieu, The Guardian reported on Thursday. The 69-year-old is one of France’s biggest international stars and has made more than 180 films.

A 22-year-old actress complained to the police on Monday in Bouches-du-Rhone in southern France about the alleged assault that occurred at Depardieu’s home in Paris’s Left Bank between August 7 and August 13.

Depardieu’s lawyer Hervé Temime said the actor has absolutely denied any accusation of assault or rape. “I regret the public nature of this process, which poses a major prejudice to Gerard Depardieu, whose innocence I am convinced will be recognised,” Temime added.

“I had a long meeting with Gérard Depardieu and I am absolutely convinced his innocence will be established,” BBC quoted the lawyer as saying. The actor was shaken by the allegations, which went against “everything he is and respects”, Temime added.

Depardieu has worked with renowned directors such as François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, and played Obelix in the Asterix films. He won the best actor award at Cannes for playing the title role in the 1990 film Cyrano de Bergerac and was nominated for an Oscar.

In 2014, he played the leading role in Welcome to New York, a film inspired by the life of former director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.