Luc Besson has responded to Oscar-winner Natalie Portman’s criticism of his seminal crime-thriller classic Leon: The Professional. Released in 1994, the movie stars French actor Jean Reno as the titular assassin alongside a then 12-year-old Portman in her feature film debut. The plot follows a young girl who is taken under the wing of Leon, a sympathetic hitman and becomes his protégée after her family is murdered by a corrupt DEA agent. The movie courted controversy for depicting a young girl falling in love with an older man, and has generated uncomfortable conversations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
