In 2024, Léona thriller by Luc Besson, with Jean Reno and a very young Natalie Portman, is still as cult. But, given the times, the film is, thirty years later, recontextualized. If some, at the time, saw it as a singular story of friendship, today there is no doubt about the problematic nature you film. A romance with an eye toward pedophilia, a twisted relationship between a forty-year-old killer and an 11-year-old girl. Jean Reno, who became bankable in the USA thanks to the film, recalls his partner at the time.
Jean Reno: a career initially in the background
Jean Reno takes time to break through. In the 80s, he was often found in the background, his massive silhouette standing out from the crowd. Like, in 1985, his meager participation in Our story made by the veteran Bertrand Blier. At that time, the actor was far from being the superstar he would become thanks to the early 90s.
The general public knows Jean Reno for this prosperous period. We find him in popular comedies, with Christian Clavier, Operation Corned Beef et Visitors. Then, thanks to Léonhe exported to the United States, confronting the megastar Tom CruiseIn Mission Impossibleand the captain Robert De NiroIn Ronin. But that's another story…
The actor finds success thanks to Luc Besson
In reality, Jean Reno is gradually gaining notoriety under the leadership of Luc Besson. The actor works in particular in the strange Subwayalso in 85. He is not at the top of the poster, this one is reserved for Isabelle Adjani et Christophe Lambert. Reno plays the drummer of an übercool and super talented rock group, notably in a cult scene.
It is finally The Big Bluea free-diving drama, in 1988, which propelled Jean Reno to the top. A new collaboration with Luc Besson which becomes a generational film. Two years later, the actor plays the mute cleaners in the thriller Nikita carried by Anne Parillaud. His character is the outline of the famous Léon in the upcoming film of the same name.
Jean Reno talks about Natalie Portman in Léon
1994, Luc Besson pays himself a ride with Uncle Sam to achieve the American dream. Code name: Léon. A thriller, another, in the vein of Nikita. Here, the action focuses on the hitman whose first name is no longer Victor. And the massacre of a preteen's family, Mathildaplayed by Natalie Portman, perpetrated by a crazy cop played by the crazy actor Gary Oldman.
30 years later, many spectators point the finger at the immoral relationship between the two heroes. In 95, Les Inrocks evokes a long version with a sex scene cut in editing… The film is paralleled with the life of Luc Besson who married a minor Maïwenn when he was 32 years old. The latter says that Léon would be inspired by their romance. 2014, in the show La Parenthese unexpected, Jean Reno talks about his work with Natalie Portman: “She already had everything. I love her very much, I have a lot of tenderness for her.” During filming, the young actress was just 11 and a half years old. Today, she keeps a traumatized memory from fans creepy of Léon. No need for a text explanation here.
