Maïwenn

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 actressnotably as Elle as a child the child version of the lead role played by Isabelle Adjani in the 1983 hit film Lété 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 Bessons Léon 1994 in which she was credited as OuinOuin She also directed the films makingof Perhaps Maïwenns most internationallyseen film role was her appearance as the alien Diva Plavalaguna in Bessons The Fifth Element 1997 After she and Besson divorced Maïwenn returned to France She performed as a standup comedian in an autobiographical onewomanshow 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 Pardonnezmoi a drama about a dysfunctional family610 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 Maïwenns 2015 film Mon roi was selected to compete for the Palme dOr at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival She cowrote directed and starred in the 2020 film DNA an Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival which was cancelled due to COVID19 pandemic She cowrote 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