Maïwenn Le Besco (; born 17 April 1976), known mononymously as Maïwenn, is a French actress and filmmaker.

Early life

Maïwenn Le Besco was born on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, the daughter of artist

Catherine Belkhodja Catherine Belkhodja (born 15 April 1955) is a French artist, actress and film director. Early life On 15 April 1955, Belkhodja was born in Paris, France, to an Algerian father and a French mother. She lived and studied in Algiers where she ...

. She is of mixed Breton, Vietnamese, French and Algerian descent. Her Algerian ancestry comes from her maternal grandfather. Maïwenn's stage mother pressured her to act at a young age, an experience later chronicled by Maïwenn in her one-woman shows ''Le Pois Chiche'' (''The Chickpea'') and ''I'm an Actress''.

Career

Maïwenn starred in several films as a child, then teen, actress—notably as "Elle, as a child" (the child version of the lead role played by Isabelle Adjani) in the 1983 hit film '' L'été meurtrier'' (''One Deadly Summer''). Following her marriage to director Luc Besson and the birth of their daughter in 1993, Maïwenn interrupted her career for several years. During this period, she only appeared in a supporting part in Besson's '' Léon'' (1994), in which she was credited as Ouin-Ouin. She also directed the film's

making-of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecomm ...

. Perhaps Maïwenn's most internationally-seen film role was her appearance as the alien Diva Plavalaguna in Besson's '' The Fifth Element'' (1997). After her breakup with Besson, Maïwenn returned to France. She performed as a standup comedian in an autobiographical one-woman-show, and reentered the movie business after several filmmakers saw her comedy routine in Paris. She appeared in several notable movies, including the horror film '' Haute Tension'' (English title: ''High Tension''), in which she starred opposite

Cécile de France Cécile de France (; born 17 July 1975) is a Belgian actress. After achieving success in French cinema hits such as '' L'Art (délicat) de la séduction'' (2001) and ''Irène'' (2002), she gained international attention for her lead roles in '' ...

. By the time the film came out in 2003, she had decided she wanted to try directing. In 2006, she directed her first feature film, the semi-autobiographical '' Pardonnez-moi''. According to Maïwenn, after Besson learned she planned to use her own money to produce the film, he told her "You need to immediately stop what you're doing. You're crazy. Nobody puts their own money into a movie." After seeing the film he apologized, saying she was right on this occasion. Her second film was '' Le bal des actrices'' (2009, ''All About Actresses''), in which she appears as herself making a documentary. She achieved international recognition when her third film, the social drama ''

Polisse ''Polisse'' (released at some film festivals as ''Poliss'', ) is a 2011 French crime drama film written, directed by and starring Maïwenn. It also stars Joeystarr, Karin Viard, Marina Foïs, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Emmanuelle Bercot and Riccardo ...

'' (2011), won the Jury Prize at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South ...

. All three films feature Maïwenn with a camera, stemming from a childhood fascination and her interest in the '' mise en abyme'', the story within a story. Her 2015 film '' Mon roi'' was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The release of her 2020 film, '' DNA'', was affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2022, Maïwenn is making a film, '' La Favorite'', on the life of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

starring Johnny Depp.

Personal life

Maïwenn met film director Luc Besson when she was 12 and he was 29, and they began dating when she was 15. In January 1993, at age 16, she gave birth to their daughter Shanna. On the DVD extras for the 1994 film ''Léon: The Professional'', Maïwenn said the film is based on her relationship with Besson. She was 20 at the beginning of filming (early 1996) for '' The Fifth Element'', during which Besson left her for the film's star, Milla Jovovich.'' The Fifth Element'', Special Features of both the ''Ultimate Edition DVD'' and the remastered ''Blu-ray Disc''. In 2004, Maïwenn had a son, Diego, with Jean-Yves Le Fur, her second ex-husband who is a real estate developer.

Filmography

Actress

Director / screenwriter / producer

Theatrical writer

* 2003 : ''

Café de la Gare The Café de la Gare is a dinner theater located at 41, rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It lies in a square hidden between Notre Dame de Paris and the historic Marais district.1976 births Living people People from Les Lilas French film actresses French film directors French people of Algerian descent French people of Vietnamese descent 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses French women film directors French women screenwriters French screenwriters Best Director Lumières Award winners