Maïwenn Le Besco (born April 17, 1976 in Les Lilas), more popularly known as just Maïwennnote , is a French actress and filmmaker of Breton, Algerian and Vietnamese descent.
Her Star-Making Role was young Eliane in Jean Becker's One Deadly Summer in 1983. She went on to play in films by the likes of the Larrieux brothers, Luc Besson and Claude Lelouch. She's perhaps best known to non-French audiences for playing Diva Plavalaguna in Besson's The Fifth Element.
Speaking of Besson again, she married him at age 16 in 1992 (they had a Romance on the Set on The Professional). They divorced in 1997 when Besson dropped her for Milla Jovovich. Actress Isild Le Besco is her younger sister.
Her works include: note
- One Deadly Summer (1983) as young Eliane
- The Professional (1994) as Blonde Babe
- The Fifth Element (1997) as Diva Plavalaguna
- Nestor Burma (2002) as Jade
- Caméra Café (2002) as Irina Katostefia
- High Tension (2003) as Alexia
- Polisse* (2011) as Melissa
- DNA* (2020) as Neige
- Jeanne du Barry (2023)* as Jeanne du Barry
Tropes & Trivia about her works:
- Creator Couple: She's directed and played in several films that also starred her then-boyfriend, rapper/actor JoeyStarr (of Suprême NTM fame).
