Young Natalie is just so completely at ease with Jean Reno. Notice she is sitting completely on the right side of her chair, very close to Jean. Says a lot about the wonderful bond they developed working together. Also speaks volumes about what a great guy Jean had to be, to be able to relate so well to a young child actress so as to give her that ease and familiar comfort with him. Very cute the way Natalie is looking at Jean as he is speaking, almost like he's her big brother!
@@robertoh3633 She very likely did at this time. Crushes are very common for a young girl / woman at that age. Natalie's complete ease and comfort with Jean Reno speaks volumes to his character; he responded to her "crush" as a big brother, giving her love, affection, attention, and treating her as an adult when speaking with her. Being her "big brother" keeps the crush in a safe zone, while treating her and her emotions with respect and care. It is the best thing an older man can do when a young girl / woman develops a crush towards him.
@@elypowell6797 my sister is a far right Republican; she seems to believe the lie. I don't think there's anything intrinsically "leftist" about it. Kindly back up what you say, or remove or edit your post, please.
Natilie never let her childhood stardom corrupt her like most child stars. Loved her in black swan, Heat, professional, and everything else. Thank you for your hard work.
@@AA-wl3te No, she's very educated and grounded and never went through the typical drugs, drinking and promiscuous phase that's so common in Hollywood.
this is incredible that after filming Leon they never saw each other again until Natalie saw to Reno in a restaurant and she went to your table to hug him in 2015
@@titsama273 it said Jean Reno in an interview natalie saw to Jean and went to your table to salute and hug him Natalie was with your husband and children it happened in France
You imagine a part deux Leon faked his death...she became an assassin...she finds Leon...on the Moon...where they send all the people that are supposedly dead...
That movie is SO good. Two terribly lonely people that somehow become entwined in a surreal situation. The goodbye scene just rips your heart out. Leon is the hero everyone wishes they could be in the end.
Incredible tale of bond between an adult and a troubled 12 year old girl. Very much sensitive roles played beautifully both actors. A hitman does not take advantage of vulnerable 12 year old turns out to be her protector; ultimately sacrificing his life for a good cause.
The killer in some way is still a child at heart, like a grown-up child soldier. It's a film about two broken people who are sweet with each other but only know violence outside of what they have together.
Reporter: Talk about smoke and mirrors, right!? -Natalie: Wut?? -Reporter: It was a pun sweetheart but you'll get it later. I will talk to Jean now... lol
Such a good guy Jean Reno. You can see he's genuinely a good person. Same with Natalie and they had such great chemistry together. Amazing movie 10/10 ♥
This is a movie that definitely makes an impression on anybody who watches it. The acting was on point. Natalie was amazing and you knew she was going to be a star.
I liked the movie & followed both careers afterward. But Natalie, being as young as she was, really put in a first-rate performance. Jean made a great hitman.
Glad to have run across this interview. I don't recall having seen any interviews with the two of them at the time the film came out so glad to see this so many years later. LOVE this movie and it's where I fell in love with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman (already adored Gary Oldman), and was the first film I saw by Luc Besson. It's only this year that I realized how much I love the soundtrack by Eric Serra and am CRAZY about the song that wasn't included in the movie by Eric Serra, Hey Little Angel. ❤☮🌎
I watched this on HBO at 2 am on a Friday night. The best movies came on back then at that time. Bullet (‘94), the slums of Beverley hills, the professional, and very bad things.
I think Jean Reno have played part of his ,,antirole" in this movie in the role of Leon: the seemingly insensitive, uneducated, almost speechless, slow-in-thinking-fast-in-action, bearish guy, who can barely write or read and who didn't enjoy his life until he has met Mathilda. (In reality, he is a person, who speaks several languages very well, he is an intelligent actor.) In the roles of Leon and Mathilda, they gave to each other everything they could: bad and good. Leon gave her protection, provided power to her and finally showed her his wounded soul: his deepest pain and shadow in his life: the death of his lover. At the end, he became a true hero sacrifying his life for the girl's escape. Mathilda also showed him her deepest shadow: the desire to take revenge on murderers of her little brother. On the other side, she gave him emotions, trust, laughing and playfulness. And she didn't betray him, as Tony did, not informing the commando men about their true knocking sign on the door. And in the final moment, both of them could confess their trust and loving emotions (the truth) to each other: on the level of souls their relationship was fulfilled. It is very touching to ,,observe" the developing and transforming personalities of the two main characters; while Tony's and Stansfield's characters remain unchanged.
Crazy to think that this was just a side project for Luc Besson while he waited to begin production on The Fifth Element. I don't think he even knew how good of a movie Leon would be.
Very well said. It is about a little bit of love and beautiful growth, like a calm island in the middle of a raging sea of stifling neglect and violence.
It's very human. We have the capability to destroy, but also to protect and nurture and then love just the same. You cannot and should not deny all these aspects of yourself. You have to acknowledge them and integrate them so you know yourself.
Jean Reno has always been one of my favorite actors. He commands the scene when he's in it. And boy, Natalie Portman was so mature in this interview. And what a cutie:)
@@DarkCloudNC you know this a movie right? You know she is actress right? Did you hear her say certain things were removed because her management “they” didn’t feel comfortable with it?
Jean Reno, needs to be protected at all costs man. A truly unforgettable masterpiece, and a touching film. With such a perfect cast of the Underrated Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, and so many others, it literally created a film that was perfect with such a strong emotional, action-packed storyline and what a soundtrack. Honestly, one of the very few films, that you can truly say has no flaws, and one that everyone can agree is perfect. With such a low budget to work with, created a true masterpiece, A film, that'll never be forgotten.
She was Mature and Beautiful... i was only a few yrs older than her when she did this and i knew instantly we would all be seeing more of her. she was just captivating.
Was in a crowded cafe in NYC. Jean Reno and a handful of French cinema legends walked in. I moved over to make room for them at the long table where I sat. The most gracious down to earth people. Note about Reno here -- have you ever seen a "star" ask the reporter about themselves?
A masterpiece. This is one of the best-if not the best-performance of a twelve-year-old in film history. And the fact that it is her first, makes it even more impressive.I believe Matilda remains Natalie Portman's top moment.
@@PhlilipeAlves The south of Spain was Arab for hundreds of years. He has Arab ancestry. Europeans look different. There's nothing wrong with that, I'm just stating a fact.
@@nnnnnn3647 Yeah and far more with iberians and lusitanians, with celts and romans and we had also Suebis and Visigoths. We expelled this folk, only a few of arabs stayed in the peninsula. and I'm just stating the facts. I live in Portugal.
Simpler times, Jean and Natalie are such charming professionals, and so was the interviewer, unfortunately it's a contrast to what goes on today, never the less, this film has my heart and so does Jean and Natalie, I feel nostalgic for the era, and the film.
What an intense action movie, with great actors, Natalie was just outstanding based on her young age, Gary was great, acting as a real maniac ... a great movie all around 👏👍
In Ronin, Director John Frankenheimer said the most important part of the movie was the creation of the chemistry between DeNiro and Reno. He said after the movie was over, he never could comprehend how great they worked together and the great chemistry they created.
I’ve stated this before in other discussions regarding Ronin, but of the many elements of that film I Jay keep drawing me back to it, the unique camaraderie between Jean and Robert are chief amongst them, more so than even the action and pursuit sequences or the French locales.
I wanted to hear more of their small talk at the end. You can tell Jean was thrilled to be in American and talking about the cities he’s been to. He seems like such a cool dude.
I have my personal 'Hall of Fame' DVD library in my home there are only 20 movies in it an LEON is in the list! As soon as I saw this film I knew it would be a classic. The chemistry between Jean and Natalie shines through making this a beautiful story he rescues Matilde and becomes her pseudo 'father'. I wont add any spoilers in case you havent seen it. SUPERB 10/10👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏
Nice movie and all the caracters ware nicely performed, movie of my high school time, Natalie is just amazing with the legends JEAN RENO and Gary Oldman ✌
To this very day, one of my favorite movies. And one of the very few that i got emotional. Beautiful character development, brilliant actors, wonderful directing and oh, that mesmerizing soundtrack!
@@sandhusahb4293 Two other favorites are: Truly, Madly, Deeply and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Both are very different from The Professional so I'm not sure if you will like them, but both are very good films.
@@ReallyGottaTap Thanks a lot ! I am glad you mentioned some lesser known movies and not the usual classics (which I had seen). Will definitely give it a go. Thanks again!!
So nice to see this interview. It is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. Natalie and Jean were fantastic and when a movie is regarded as a classic it usually has a supporting cast which is equally wonderful and that's what the case was in this movie. Yes, as Natalie said there were many scenes in the movie where editing was necessary and I believe all the right choices were made. I know this movie brought Natalie a lot of positive reactions and jump started her career. But, in my mind, it should have gone on way beyond that. She wasn't good or very good. She was fantastic. Her stoic demeanor in most of her scenes was something that a viewer was in awe of her performance as they watched the movie. Jean, of course is a famous international actor and any movie with him in it makes that movie special. It's now 9/20/2023, so I'm a little late with my comment but I wanted to go on record with my thoughts.
I remember watching this on Cable back in the 90’s!! Back when they played classics at all times of the day and you paid a small price monthly. Ahhhh the good old days. Now these movies are so nostalgic to me!! They even played ShowGirls on cable back then, I remember the bad CGI bras on the nude women lol and of course it was heavily edited.
