Shanna Leila Besson (born 3 January 1993) is a French actress and photographer. She is the only child of French film directors

Maïwenn Maïwenn Le Besco (; born 17 April 1976), known mononymously as Maïwenn, is a French actress and filmmaker. Early life Maïwenn Le Besco was born on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, the daughter of artist Catherine Belkhodja. S ...

and

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

Personal life

Shanna Besson was born 3 January 1993 when her mother was 16 years old and her father, a film director, was 33; her parents had married the previous year. The family lived in Los Angeles during her early years. Her father was working as a director in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. In 1995, during the filming of ''

The Fifth Element ''The Fifth Element'' is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, as well as co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker, and Milla Jov ...

'', her father left her mother for young actress

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...

, who was appearing in it. As a result, her mother

returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, taking Shanna with her. Jovovich and Luc Besson married, but divorced two years later. Shanna's maternal aunt is French actress

Isild Le Besco Isild Le Besco (born 22 November 1982) is a French actress and filmmaker. She is of French and Algerian descent on her mother's side, and Vietnamese and Breton on her father's. She has starred in many films, including ''Sade'' (2000), a French ...

. She has a younger half-brother Diego Le Fur, child of her mother's relationship with Jean-Yves Le Fur. Through her father, Shanna has four siblings, including an older half-sister, Juliette, from his first marriage to actress

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977. She is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film '' La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was born in Paris. While in ...

. Her three younger half-siblings are children of his fourth and last marriage, to producer Virginie Silla.

Career

When she was 10 years old, Besson made her acting debut in her mother's directorial debut, a short film ''I'm an Actress''. In the semi-autobiographical work, she played a girl forced to be a child star by her mother. The film was based on

's own experiences of being pressured into acting by her mother. Besson later began a career behind the scenes in film. She directed a behind the scenes "making-of" featurette on her father's film '' The Lady'' (2011). She later began work as a still photographer, working for each of her parents. ''

Taken 2 ''Taken 2'' is a 2012 English-language French action-thriller film directed by Olivier Megaton and starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Šerbedžija, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, D.B. Sweeney and Luke Grimes. It follows Bryan Mil ...

'' which was produced by her father '' Mon roi'' was directed by her mother.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Besson, Shanna 1993 births Living people French film actresses French women photographers French people of Algerian descent Place of birth missing (living people) French people of Breton descent French people of Vietnamese descent