The infamous celebrity, who is as known for his steep bar tabs as he is for his impressive acting career, told French movie magazine So Film that he drinks up to 14 bottles a day, starting before 10 am.

“It starts at home with some Champagne or red wine… Then perhaps half a bottle of Pastis. Then there’s lunch, with two bottles of wine. In the afternoon, at around 5pm, it’s Champagne, beer, and some more Pastis to finish the bottle off. Later on, it’s vodka and/or whisky,” the star says, seemingly unconcerned about the heart bypass surgery he had 14 years ago, mainly due to his high cholesterol levels “and other stuff”.

“I have to be careful. But in any case I’m not going to die now,” he says, adding: “I’m never really drunk, just a bit of a pain in the neck. All you need is a ten minute siesta and, voila, a little rosé on that and you’re fresh as a daisy again.”

Depardieu, who keeps on making newspaper headlines around the world – ranging from drunken scooter driving in central Paris to getting Russian nationality in protest against French tax laws – recently announced plans to open distillery to make organic vodka.

Depardieu already owns several vineyards, restaurants, bistros and brasseries.

But as confirmed in the interview with So Film, the bon vivant is perhaps better known for his thirst for spirits than his expertise in making them.

He missed the premiere of his latest film, "Welcome To New York," in which he plays disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the Edinburgh Film Festival last month after spending an evening sampling local whiskies and "attacking a haggis" on Scotland's Isle of Syke.