Gerard Depardieu, the French actor, told a Paris court he was no “subway groper” as he denied sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot.

“I don’t see why I would go around groping a woman, her buttocks, her breasts. I’m not somebody who rubs himself against others on the Metro,” he said in his first statement at his trial in Paris on Tuesday.

He added: “I don’t see why I would enjoy groping a woman on a film set. I’m not a subway groper.”

Depardieu, who has starred in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women, but this is the first case to come to trial.

The 76-year-old said he was “not like that” in response to the accusations and added: “There are vices that are alien to me”.

“I deny all of it,” he told the court. “I did not commit harassment or sexual assault.”

France’s cinema industry was relatively slow in reacting to the MeToo movement but a growing number of allegations have reached the country’s courts in recent months.