In 1994, he appeared in the Théâtre Hébertot production of La Ville dont le prince est un enfant with Christophe Malavoy.

In 1997, he appeared in the thriller film Barracuda for which he won a prix d'interprétation (best actor award) at the Festival Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1999.

The same year he was nominated for a César Award for his role as Vincent Mazet in the comedy film En plein cœur.

After completing The Beach, Canet starred opposite Sophie Marceau in La fidélité and in Jerry Schatzberg's The Day the Ponies Come Back.

He also directed and wrote his first feature film the same year, Mon Idole, which also starred his wife Diane Kruger.

[2] Canet next appeared in the international production Joyeux Noël which tells the story of the World War I Christmas cease fire.

[14] The couple has attracted considerable attention from the French media, but for a long time they did not discuss their relationship and did not appear together on a red carpet event until the Cannes Film Festival in 2009.

Elfassi's son filmed the actor with his cell phone and while Canet made sure the footage was erased from the web, photos were published on French magazine Entrevue.