It’s been a decade since the launch of Leon—the professional. The world recognizes it as one of the best crime movies ever made. The director wrote this movie within a month and made it a top hit by choosing fantastic performers.
The film stars Natalie Portman (Mathilda) as a 12-year-old, Jean Reno (Leon) as a hitman, and Gary Oldman (Stansfield) as a crazy killer. It was Natalie Portman’s debut film, and she painted her role beautifully on the screen.
In addition, the movie portrays Jean Reno as a young man living a lonely life in New York who seems to lack humanity. But in Mathilda’s case, his heart melts, and he takes in the young little girl whose parents were brutally murdered by Stansfield due to something her father did.
After taking in Mathilda, Leon focuses on protecting her from her parent’s murderer. Therefore, upon the request of Mathilda, he shows her the tricks of the trade so she can get back at the person who killed her family.
In a look back at the making of this movie, here are a few facts you never knew about.
1. Initially, the Director Rejected Portman
Credit: Leon: The Professional
In choosing a performer for the role of Mathilda, Besson (the director) rejected Portman due to being very young. So, he auditioned for other famous faces, including Liv Tyler and Christina Ricci, but he found them too old for the role.
Then, he had to re-audition Portman, where Bessan was shocked by her stellar performance. That’s when Bessan immediately hired Portman and until now, she’s doing remarkable work.
2. Jean Reno Portrayed Leon’s Character as a Manchild
Credit: Leon: The Professional
The professional movie director said he always had Jean Reno in his mind for the role of Leon. However, during the pre-preparations of the movie, many stars, including Mel Gibson, Robert De Niro, and Keanu Reeves, tried to fit in the character of Leon, but they failed, and Reno made it to the role.
Besides this, Reno displayed Leon as a mentally impaired child caged in the body of a young man. He did this for the audience to show them Mathilda was free from any sexual threat and was in safe hands.
3. The Director Put Mint Oil in Portman’s Eyes to Make Her Cry
In the scene where Portman finds out about her family’s brutal massacre, she has to cry. Despite trying to brim her eyes with tears, she couldn’t. Then, Besson solved the matter by having one of the crew members spray mint oil into the actress’s eyes. The application of mint oil made the crying scene look real.
Later, whenever Portman had to cry in any scene, she thought of the mint oil, and tears rolled down her eyes.
4. No Rehearsals Were Done for the Dress Scene
The director didn’t allow Mathilda and Leon to practice the intimate scenes for a good reason. He wanted to evoke the real emotions of both actors, which happened when Leon gifted Mathilde a beautiful dress during the scene.
They both were surrounded by intimacy in the air and showed an awkward attraction towards each other. Hence, Besson succeeded in filming the scene the way he wanted.
5. Gary Oldman Worked On His Lines
Credit: Leon: The Professional
Never one to underestimate his roles, Gary Oldman delivered his best performance and dialogue in the movie. Oldman told Playboy in an interview that he improvised the line “bring me everyone,” which later turned into a joke. The actor said this dialogue to make Besson chuckle.
Adding more to the talk, he said he used to practice the line “bring me everyone” in a normal tone, but one day he asked the sound guy to slip off his headphones so he could shout out the line. That’s when this line became part of the movie.
6. A Robber Mistook the Cops on Set for Real Ones
In the movie, there’s a scene where a street is filled with a fleet of police cars. During the shooting of this scene, the person had robbed the store and was trying to escape. In that instance, he mistakenly entered the film’s set where, upon seeing the police, he gave himself to the uniformed extras.
Little did he know the team members wouldn’t let him go. They called in the actual police and what happened next needs no explanation.
7. The Chelsea Hotel Is Where Leon’s Apartment Interior Was Shot
Do you know where the interior scenes of Leon’s apartment were shot? Chelsea Hotel it is. This hotel is home to many famous faces. Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso used to exchange their philosophical thoughts at this hotel.
Moreover, Arthur C. Clarke penned “A Space Odyssey” while living there, and Sid Vicious’s girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, was murdered there, leading to Vicious’s later arrest.
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