Maïwenn

French actress and filmmaker (born 1976)

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

Maïwenn Le Besco was born on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine Saint Denis, the daughter of artist Catherine Belkhodja and linguist Patrick Le Besco. After her parents' divorce, she reported "she was abused by both her parents after their separation, having been beaten physically and verbally by her father around the age of seven or eight, and then by her mother during her adolescence"; this experience informed her films Pardonnez moi (2006) and Polisse (2011). She stated that her mother "is a poison for me. She poisoned my life." She is of mixed Breton, Vietnamese, French and Algerian descent. Her Algerian ancestry comes from her maternal grandfather, while her father is of mixed French and Vietnamese descent. She is also a citizen of Algeria. In an interview with La Nouvelle République, she explained that she acquired Algerian nationality to honor her grandparents, in connection with her parents' desire to make her forget her origins. Maïwenn's 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.

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. Perhaps Maïwenn's most internationally seen film role was her appearance as the alien Diva Plavalaguna in Besson's The Fifth Element (1997). After she and Besson divorced, Maïwenn returned to France. She performed as a stand up 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. By the time the film came out in 2003, she had decided she wanted to try directing. In 2006, Maïwenn wrote and directed her first feature film, Pardonnez moi, a drama about a dysfunctional family. According to Maïwenn, Besson told her she was "crazy" and needed to stop immediately when he learned she wanted to produce the film with her own money but he apologized after seeing the film, saying she was right this time. Whereas Lelouch had told her, "I think you should go for it. Cinema should be a question of life or death." She co wrote, directed, and starred in the 2020 film, DNA, an Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival which was cancelled due to COVID 19 pandemic. She co wrote, directed, and starred in her first period film, the 2023 film Jeanne du Barry about the life of Madame du Barry with Louis XV portrayed by Johnny Depp, which opened the 2023 Cannes Film Festival out of competition and earned the highest French gross for a Cannes opening film since 2013.

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. Maïwenn was married between 2002 and 2004 to fr, a magazine publisher and businessman who mainly made a career in fashion and television production. They had a son named Diego in July 2003, who later made his film debut as the young Louis XVI in Jeanne du Barry directed by Maïwenn. Maïwenn's relationship with Le Fur reportedly resumed in the summer of 2022. She announced his death in April 2024: “Jean Yves Le Fur, the love of my life, the father of my son Diego and the stepfather of my daughter Shanna, left on Sunday morning in my arms and those of our son We are all devastated." In 2023, Maïwenn was accused of assaulting the journalist Edwy Plenel, who alleged she approached him in a Parisian restaurant and grabbed him by the hair before spitting in his face.

Year Title Role Director Notes1981 L'année prochaine si tout va bien Prune Jean Loup Hubert 1983 One Deadly Summer The Kid Jean Becker Cinéma 16 Albine Patrick Saglio TV series (1 Episode) Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret Colette Jean Paul Sassy TV series (1 Episode)1986 State of Grace Jacques Rouffio 1987 Double face The Kid Serge Leroy TV movie1988 L'autre nuit Joan Jean Pierre Limosin 1990 Lacenaire Hermine Francis Girod La famille Ramdam Christiane Lehérissey TV series (1 Episode)1992 La gamine Carole Lambert Hervé Palud 1994 Léon: The Professional Blond Babe Luc Besson 1997 The Fifth Element Diva Plavalaguna Luc Besson 1998 Keskidi ? The Waitress Manuel Pouet Short Coquillettes Joséphine Flasseur Short2000 La mécanique des femmes Jérôme de Missolz Le marquis Gilles Paquet Brenner Short2001 8 rue Charlot Bruno Garcia Short L'oiseau rare Diane Didier Albert TV movie2002 Nestor Burma Jade Jacob Berger TV series (1 Episode) Caméra Café Irina Katostefia Francis Duquet TV series (1 Episode)2003 Osmose A Girl Raphaël Fejtö High Tension Alexia Alexandre Aja 2004 Les parisiens Shaa Claude Lelouch I'm an actrice Isabelle Maïwenn Short2005 Le courage d'aimer Shaa Claude Lelouch Star Stuff Grégory Hervelin Short2006 Pardonnez moi Violette Maïwenn Nominated César Award for Most Promising Actress2009 All About Actresses Maïwenn Maïwenn Nominated Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress2011 Polisse Melissa Maïwenn 2012 Télé gaucho Yasmina Michel Leclerc 2013 Love Is the Perfect Crime Anna Arnaud Larrieu & Jean Marie Larrieu 2017 The Price of Success Linda Teddy Lussi Modeste 2019 All Inclusive Paloma Fabien Onteniente 2020 Soeurs Yamina Benguigui 2020 DNA Neige Maïwenn 2020 The Man In The Hat The Biker John Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck 2021 Tralala Barbara Arnaud Larrieu and Jean Marie Larrieu 2022 Our Ties Emma Roschdy Zem 2022 Neneh Superstar Marianne Belage Ramzi Ben Sliman 2023 Jeanne du Barry Jeanne Du Barry Maïwenn