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Natalie Portman has led a star-studded career over the three decades she has been performing as an actress. In the course of it all, she has worked with A-listed actors as well as some controversial directors, and nonetheless, created some of the most awe-striking cinematic masterpieces of all time.
One of thesemasterpiecesof hers includes her $19 million filmLéon: The Professional; the very one that granted Portman her very exciting breakthrough in the entertainment industry. And even though the director of the film Luc Besson got into much controversy over s-xual assault allegations that he later got cleared of, Natalie Portman still holds this one film quite dear to her.
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Natalie Portman HoldsLéonIn High Regard Despite Luc Besson Controversy
Léon: The Professional(also known as simplyLéon) may have grantedNatalie Portmanher breakthrough in the industry, but that was also a film with much controversy attached to it. And this controversy wasn’t about just one thing.
Léonwas regarded as controversial, not only because of the backlash that followed with director Luc Besson’s s-xual assault allegations but theyoung Portman’s rolein itself was drawn as controversial by some of the audience.
Since she was still a child (only 11 years old) when she got cast in the role of the 12-year-old girl named Mathilda in the action-crime film, the viewers weren’t quite sure how to receive her role against the backdrop of the entire movie that wasLéon: The Professional.
Despite this, Natalie Portman still holds the film in high regard, but with a twist, as she claims it is alsocomplicatedfor her.
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During an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, the actor cum producer shared similar thoughts about her $19 million breakthrough movie from 1994 (as per stats recorded byBox Office Mojo) as she said:
“It’s a movie that’s still beloved, and 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.”
At the same time, she also admitted that she was surprised when she found out about all the s-xual assault allegations that the director was accused of, as she said,“I really didn’t know. I was a kid working. I was a kid.”
As it turned out, eventually,Natalie Portman’s surprise was genuine, for Luc Besson was indeed cleared of all the charges that had been levied against him of s-xual assault.
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Luc Besson Got Cleared Of All S-xual Assault Allegations
While Natalie Portman’s response about holdingLéonin high regard may have seemed controversial before for the actress who accused director Luc Besson of r-pe, it later turned out that Besson was, in fact, innocent.
According to reports byThe Hollywood Reporter, Luc Besson was cleared of all the charges of r-pe and s-xual assault levied on him by Belgian-Dutch actress Sand Van Roy by France’s highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation.
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Inthe allegations against the directorfirst initiated in 2018, Roy accused Besson of having r-ped her at the Le Bristol luxury hotel in Paris. What was further worth noting here were the reports that Roy had even been in an intimate relationship with Besson for 2 years before these charges.
However, these charges were dropped due to lack of evidence in 2019. This continued until eight additional women stepped forward accusing Besson of the same allegations, calling for a further probe into the matter until 2021 when the filmmaker was cleared of all charges.
Finally, in 2023,Luc Bessonwas proven innocent, and all charges levied against him were dismissed once and for all.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
