| Maïwenn | |
|---|---|
Maïwenn at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival |
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| Born | 17 April 1976 Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France |
| Occupation | Actress Film director Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1981 – present |
Maïwenn (French pronunciation: [maiwɛn lə bɛsko]; born Maïwenn Le Besco on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France) is a French actress and film director.
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She is the daughter of actress Catherine Belkhodja, who ushered her into the entertainment industry at a young age, an experience later chronicled by Le Besco in her one-woman shows "Le Pois Chiche" and "I'm an Actress". Maïwenn Le Besco starred in several films as a child and teenage actress, notably as "Elle as a child" (the child version of the lead role played by Isabelle Adjani) in the hit film L'été meurtrier (One Deadly Summer, 1983). In 1991, due to her difficult relationship with her parents, she decided to use only her given name professionally[1]
She met director and producer Luc Besson in 1991. The two later began a relationship, after which Maïwenn, having lost her motivation as an actress, interrupted her career for several years. She lived in Beverly Hills raising the daughter she had had with Besson at the age of 16.[2] During this period, she only appeared in a supporting part in Léon, in which she was credited as Ouin-Ouin.[3] 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 Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (French and UK coproduction, 1997).
After her breakup with Luc Besson, Maïwenn returned to France and resumed her career as an actress. 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. In 2006, she directed her first feature film, the semi-autobiographical Pardonnez-moi.
Her latest film Poliss won the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[4]
Maïwenn had a daughter, Shana, in 1993 with director Luc Besson. They were still engaged at the beginning of filming for The Fifth Element, during which Besson left her for Milla Jovovich.[5] Maïwenn later had a son, Diego, with her second husband, Jean-Yves Le Fur.