French film star Gerard Depardieu is no stranger to unusual roles and controversy. But even hardened Depardieu-watchers may be taken aback by his latest visual foray -- scything a field with authoritarian Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Photos released by Belarus on July 23 showed a burly Lukashenka -- sporting track pants, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap in Belarusian national colors -- giving an even bulkier Depardieu a lesson in hand-scything at his estate outside Minsk. The Belarusian presidential office said the two sexagenarians used the encounter to discuss agriculture and the farming of organic food, among other topics. "You have beautiful women, good milk, and good meat. This is what a little bull like me needs," the 66-year-old French actor was quoted as saying by Belarusian media. "I see that people here are happy, calm, and that the country must be pleasant to live in," he said on a separate visit to a dairy farm. Depardieu traveled to Belarus with the producer of an upcoming film about the French Normandie-Niemen air regiment, which fought on the eastern front in World War II, local media reported. France, Belarus, and Russia are expected to work together on the project. (AFP)
