By Makini Brice

PARIS (Reuters) -Film star Gerard Depardieu, one of the leading faces of French cinema, will face trial on charges of raping actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018, in the latest blow to his reputation after he was convicted of sexual assault earlier this year.

Arnould first accused Depardieu of rape in 2018, saying the assaults occurred in his Paris home on two separate occasions when she was in her early 20s. Depardieu, 76, has denied wrongdoing in the case.

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday that an investigating judge had ruled that the case should be sent before a court after Arnould posted about the news on her Instagram account. No court date was given.

“I think I’m having trouble realising how huge this is. I’m relieved,” Arnould wrote.

Lawyers for Arnould and Depardieu did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Years after first rising to prominence in 1974 with “Going Places” and starring in scores of French-language movies, Depardieu has been at the centre of a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years.

Arnould, 29, an actress and former ballet dancer known for her work in theatre and voice acting, was present in the courtroom in May when Depardieu was found guilty in a separate case of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence, which his lawyer said at the time he would appeal.

During that trial, Depardieu’s lawyer called her a liar in the courtroom.

In her Instagram post on Tuesday, Arnould referred to those comments, calling Depardieu’s defence “outrageous and … absolutely unnecessary to uncover the truth.”

Though Arnould’s case was initially dropped, it was reopened in 2020 and prosecutors requested a trial for Depardieu in 2022.

Arnould has since become a vocal figure in France’s #MeToo movement, expressing solidarity with sexual assault victims and demanding accountability in the film industry.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; editing by Richard Lough, Gabriel Stargardter and Alex Richardson)