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 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 show Le Pois Chiche (The Chickpea) and her short film I'm an Actress.
Maïwenn is the older sister of actress Isild Le Besco. In 2024, they were reported to be estranged.
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. 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. She said while acting in Les parisiens (2004) she was inspired by the director Claude Lelouch's approach to film making to make her first film. She explained, "I saw a totally free man, capable of adapting to accidents on the set. ...there are two types of directors: those who love life and use it for their films, and those who don’t love it and try to twist it to make it fit into their films. From that day on, I had chosen my side – the side of freedom, that of Lelouch."
In 2006, Maïwenn wrote and directed her first feature film, Pardonnez-moi, a drama about a dysfunctional family. She also starred in the film which earned her nominations for the César Award for Best First Feature Film and César Award for Most Promising Actress in the 2007. 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." 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 (2011), won the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. 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.
Maïwenn's 2015 film Mon roi was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. 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.
Personal life Maïwenn met film director Luc Besson when she was 15 and he was 33. 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. Maïwenn stated that she had never regretted her relationship with Luc Besson.
Maïwenn was married between 2002 and 2004 to , 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.
Filmography
As filmmaker Year English titleOriginal titleNotes2006Forgive MePardonnez-moiAlso producer2009All About ActressesLe Bal des actrices2011PolisseCannes Film Festival - Jury PrizeLumière Award for Best DirectorCinemania Film Festival - Audience AwardSarasota Film Festival - Best in World Cinema2015My KingMon Roi2020DNAADNLumière Award for Best Director2023Jeanne du BarryAlso producer
As actress Year Title Role Director Notes1981 L'année prochaine... si tout va bien Prune Jean-Loup Hubert1983 One Deadly Summer The Kid Jean Becker1986 State of Grace Jacques Rouffio1988 L'autre nuit Joan Jean-Pierre Limosin1990 Lacenaire Hermine Francis Girod1992 La gamine Carole Lambert Hervé Palud1994 Léon: The Professional Blond Babe Luc Besson1997 The Fifth Element Diva Plavalaguna1998 Keskidi? The Waitress Manuel Pouet Short Coquillettes Joséphine Flasseur2000 La mécanique des femmes Jérôme de Missolz Le marquis Gilles Paquet-Brenner Short2001 8 rue Charlot Bruno Garcia2003 Osmose A Girl Raphaël Fejtö High Tension Alexia Alexandre Aja2004 Les parisiens Shaa Claude Lelouch I'm an actrice Isabelle Herself Short2005 Le courage d'aimer Shaa Claude Lelouch Star Stuff Grégory Hervelin Short2006 Pardonnez-moi Violette Herself Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actress2009 All About Actresses Maïwenn Nominated - Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress2011 Polisse Melissa2012 Télé gaucho Yasmina Michel Leclerc2013 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 Herself 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 Herself
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1983Cinéma 16Patrick SaglioEpisode: "Le bois-Corner"Les enquêtes du commissaire MaigretColetteEpisode: "Un Noël de Maigret"1987Double faceThe KidTV movie1990La famille Ramdam2001L'oiseau rareDiane2002Nestor BurmaJadeEpisode: "Concurrences déloyales"Caméra CaféIrina KatostefiaEpisode: "La Fiancée qui venait du froid"
Short film Year Title Role Notes 2004 I'm an actrice Director & Writer Short
Theatrical writer 2003: Café de la Gare: Le pois chiche
References
External links