In Martin et Léa, he plays a police inspector, a role he went on to perform many times on screen (La Balance, Les mois d'avril sont meurtriers (April is a Murderous Month, based on the novel by Derek Raymond), Marche à l'ombre (Walking in the Shade), The Bait, The Death the Chinese, Fred, The Smile of the Clown, Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One), Transporter 1, 2, and 3) thanks in part to a cold, distant, and a piercing gaze. Berléand often plays military characters (The Hostage of Europe, Stella, Les Milles, Captain Conan, The Prince of the Pacific); he has also played a detective (Follow This Plane), pastor (Au revoir les enfants) and Psychiatrist in Seventh Heaven, the film that really showed his talents to the public in late 1997.