Natalie Portman still holds her breakthrough movie dear to her despite all the controversy surrounding it and its director.

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.

Natalie Portman in the Star Wars saga

One of these masterpieces of hers includes her $19 million film Léon: 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.

Natalie Portman Holds Léon In High Regard Despite Luc Besson Controversy

Natalie Portman in Léon

Léon: The Professional (also known as simply Léon) may have granted Natalie Portman her 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.

Léon was regarded as controversial, not only because of the backlash that followed with director Luc Besson’s s-xual assault allegations but the young Portman’s role in 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 was Léon: The Professional.

Despite this, Natalie Portman still holds the film in high regard, but with a twist, as she claims it is also complicated for her.

A still from Léon (1994)

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor cum producer shared similar thoughts about her $19 million breakthrough movie from 1994 (as per stats recorded by Box 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.

Luc Besson Got Cleared Of All S-xual Assault Allegations

Luc Besson (@lucbesson | X)

While Natalie Portman’s response about holding Léon in 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 by The 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.

In the allegations gainst the director first 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 Besson was proven innocent, and all charges levied against him were dismissed once and for all.