The most conflicting role of Natalie Portman’s career: “It’s complicated for me”
Considering she’s only in her early 40s, Natalie Portman feels like she’s been part of the cinematic ecosystem forever. That’s because she’s been on our screens since she was a pre-teen. Her role as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace came when she was just 18 years old, but Portman had already been in movies like Heat and Mars Attacks by the time she met a young Anakin Skywalker.
It all started for Portman with French director Luc Besson’s 1994 film Léon: The Professional. She starred as a young girl whose family are murdered by a drug gang, forcing her into the protection of the titular reluctant hitman, played by Jean Reno. The movie gained notoriety for the relationship between Reno and Portman’s characters, which was deemed inappropriate by many. Even decades after it came out, people are still talking about it, including one of its stars.
When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 about her career, Portman addressed the complex relationship she has with Léon: The Professional. “It’s a movie that’s still beloved,” she admitted. “People come up to me about it more than almost anything I’ve ever made, and it gave me my career, but it is definitely, when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it’s complicated for me.”
Portman is right to have her concerns about the movie, especially considering the real-life context behind it. Besson began dating his second wife, actor Maïwenn Le Besco when he was 33, and she was just 15. They married a year later when a 16-year-old Le Besco fell pregnant. Besson was also married to Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich when she was a teenager. Their affair is what ended his marriage to Le Besco. The director’s history of age-gap relationships is extremely unsettling, especially in the light of comments made by Le Besco that Portman’s character in Léon was inspired by her.
It should be noted that none of Besson’s relationships have broken any laws, as the age of consent in France is 15, but given that the discrepancies in age were so large – plus the obvious power imbalance between an older male director and a young female actor – you can understand why people are so sceptical about them. Besson has also been accused multiple times of inappropriate behaviour, including rape by an actor who worked on Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. That case was dropped, but it sparked renewed interest in his personal life and how that may have affected his on-screen output.
On the subject of the allegations against Besson, Portman said she found them “devastating” and that she was taken by surprise when she heard the news. “I really didn’t know,” said the actor, who was an early supporter of the Time’s Up organisation, which provided financial support to victims of sexual harassment. “I was a kid working. I was a kid. But I don’t want to say anything that would invalidate anyone’s experience.”
Léon: The Professional will continue to spark debate, not just because of its uncomfortable subject matter but also the real-world circumstances behind its creation. For Portman, it is both the genesis of her incredibly successful career and a constant cloud that hangs over her head. Complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it.
