Shoes

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Female

Birthday

1976-04-17

Place of Birth

Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Maïwenn

Biography

Maïwenn Aurélia Nedjma Le Besco, known mononymously as Maïwenn, is a French actress and filmmaker. 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.[6][10] 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. 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. 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.

Known for

Quotidien

Quotidien

Quotidien (nicknamed "The French Show with the Good Lighting" abroad) is a French daily infotainment television program broadcast in the early evening on TMC since September 12, 2016. The show is hosted by Yann Barthès and produced by Bangumi. It consists of segments and reports produced by the team of commentators and journalists surrounding Yann Barthès and features daily guests including newsmakers, intellectuals, politicians, and French and international celebrities.

Léon: The Professional

Léon: The Professional

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

Zone interdite

Zone interdite

For thirty years, Zone Interdite has been the magazine that documents and analyzes the upheavals in French society. Conducted over time, the investigations broadcast in the program reveal the taboos, passions, and struggles of the French people at the heart of current events.

The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element

In 2257, a taxi driver is unintentionally given the task of saving a young girl who is part of the key that will ensure the survival of humanity.

Salut les Terriens !

Salut les Terriens !

Salut les Terriens! is a French talk show hosted by Thierry Ardisson, launched on Canal+ on November 4, 2006, and then moved to C8 on September 10, 2016. The show subsequently changed its name and format in 2018 to become Les Terriens du Samedi! (The Earthlings of Saturday!). Initially conceived as a humorous take on current events with several guests and various games and segments, it later evolved into a more structured format with panel discussions and regular segments. In 2018, Thierry Ardisson sought to revamp the concept, believing the previous version had run its course, hence the transition to Les Terriens du samedi! with a new set and new segments, and a 360-degree turn in the ideology of the guests.

On n'est pas couché

On n'est pas couché

On n'est pas couché was a French talk show broadcast on France 2 on Saturdays at 11 p.m., hosted by Laurent Ruquier assisted by various columnists.

High Tension

High Tension

Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.

Jeanne du Barry

Jeanne du Barry

The life of Jeanne Bécu, who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.

Breaking Point

Breaking Point

Mathieu owes everything to his friend Vincent : his house, his job, and even his life, ten years ago. With their wives, they are an inseparable quartet, and live the easy life on the French Riviera. But Mathieu discovers Vincent is cheating on his wife.

Double Face

Double Face

The Elegant Criminal

The Elegant Criminal

On 9 January 1836, Pierre Lacenaire goes to the guillotine, a murderer and a thief. He gives Allard, a police inspector, his life story, written while awaiting execution. He also asks Allard to care for Hermine, a lass to whom he has been guardian for more than ten years. In flashbacks, from the prison as Lacenaire writes, from Allard's study as he and Hermine read, and from other readers' memory after the book is published, we see Lacenaire's childhood as he stands up to bullies, including priests, his youthful thieving, his first murder, his brief army career, his seduction of a princess, and his affair with Avril, a young man who dies beside him.

One Deadly Summer

One Deadly Summer

Shortly after Elle Wieck moves to a small French village, she begins dating Pin-Pon, a quiet young mechanic who has grown obsessed with the beautiful newcomer. But Elle has her own reason for the relationship...

Sisters

Sisters

For thirty years, French-Algerian sisters Zorah, Nohra and Djamila have been living in the hope of finding their brother Rheda, abducted by their father, and hidden in newly decolonised Algeria. Their relationship is shaken when Zorah, the eldest sister, decides to write a play based on the traumatising events of their childhood that haunted them their whole life. But when they learn that their father is dying, the three sisters decide to go to Algeria to seize their last opportunity to have him reveal where their brother is. When the past catches up, the three sisters have no choice but to put their differences aside.

Nox

Nox

A mother, herself retired from the police, embarks on an underground exploration of Paris to find her daughter, a missing investigator on a mission.

The Price of Success

The Price of Success

A comedian's relationship with his family crumbles when his career begins to take off.