Léon: The Professional (1994)

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Jean Reno as Léon Montana • Natalie Portman as Mathilda Lando • Gary Oldman as Norman Stansfield • Danny Aiello as Tony • Peter Appel as Malky • Michael Badalucco as Mathilda's Father • Ellen Greene as Mathilda's Mother

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts tu...

France • United States of America • Drama • Action • Crime

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1. This opening shot shows the reservoir located in New York City's Central Park.

2. This is actor Jean Reno's fifth film with the director.

3. This is Gary Oldman's first film with the director.

4. The Professional was Natalie Portman's very first movie.

5. Several of the director's other movies open with traveling shots like this one.

6. The script for this film was written in only 30 days.

7. To get this shot without stopping at a red light,

8. the crew had to study the timing of the traffic lights for days!

9. Eric Serra has composed the score for every film the director has directed.

10. The film took approximately 90 days to shoot.

11. Exteriors were shot in New York City, and some interiors were shot in Paris.

12. This restaurant is called Supreme Macaroni.

13. It's located on 9th Avenue in a part of Manhattan called Hell's Kitchen.

14. This is French actor Jean Reno.

15. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1948.

16. Reno is French because at that time Morocco was a French protectorate.

17. This is the brilliant Danny Aiello

18. Danny played Louis Cropa,

19. another restaurant proprietor in the film Dinner Rush.

20. Danny was also critically acclaimed for his role as Don Domenico Clericuzio

21. in the CBS miniseries The Last Don and The Last Don 2.

22. Based on the Mario Puzo novel,

23. The Last Don was seen by over 27 million viewers.

24. This is actor Frank Senger.

25. He played Frank Manhardt on the HBO series Oz.

26. Did you know that the surname "Jones" actually means "son of John"?

27. About 400,000 families in the United States carry the name!

28. This scene was actually shot at Epinay Studios in Paris!

29. And it was the last scene to be filmed!

30. This is the French actress Maiwenn.

31. Although she's credited as Ouin-Ouin in the movie!

32. Maiwenn's hair is really long and dark. She says she hated wearing her wig!

33. According to Frank Senger, he was a little nervous about this scene

34. when he found out that Maiwenn was the director's girlfriend!

35. Apparently, the French casting director

36. had a hard time finding a Cherokee Indian actor in Paris!

37. The world's first elevator was installed in New York City in 1857!

38. The role of "Léon" was inspired by the part Jean Reno played in La Femme Nikita.

39. According to Maiwenn, she played her small role in The Professional

40. "just for a little joke" between herself and the director.

41. Actor Frank Senger admits to sweating profusely during this scene.

42. Frank says that because of his large shoe size, he wore his own shoes...

43. but after shooting the first part of his scene in New York City,

44. he forgot to bring them to Paris!

45. The United States 911 system receives roughly 300,000 calls a day.

46. To see behind-the-scenes footage of this scene,

47. watch the Ten Year Retrospective featurette!

48. Maiwenn played the fabulous Diva in the director's sci-fi epic The Fifth Element.

49. She was painted blue in that movie!

50. Maiwenn speaks with a French accent, so her lines for this scene were dubbed!

51. Frank later played a bodyguard in The Fifth Element.

52. Jean Reno says that a scene like this requires great technique

53. because of the need to work very carefully within the lighting scheme.

54. The New York City subway was first opened on October 27, 1904.

55. 12,000 men worked to build the first New York subway

56. and 150,000 people paid a nickel each to ride it on its first day of operation!

57. Although this is supposed to be in Little Italy in lower Manhattan,

58. these shots were filmed on 120th Street in upper Manhattan.

59. The interior stairs and hallway for Léon's building

60. were filmed in New York's famous Chelsea Hotel on 23rd Street.

61. Over the years, the hotel has been a hangout for writers and artists

62. like Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas and Andy Warhol.

63. Natalie Portman's screen debut!

64. Natalie Portman was 11 years old when she started filming The Professional.

65. The first time she auditioned for the role,

66. she was considered too young by the casting director.

67. To hear Natalie tell her story of making the film

68. check out the Natalie Portman: Starting Young featurette!

69. The first thing Natalie asked Jean Reno when she met him was,

70. "Do you have children?"

71. According to Reno, when he answered "yes,"

72. she went and sat on the director's lap instead!

73. The man in green here is actor Michael Badalucco.

74. He plays Mathilda's father.

75. Badalucco is best known for his roles in the movies

76. O Brother Where An' Thou? and The Man Who Wasn't There.

77. Badalucco won an Emmy Award in 1999

78. for Best Supporting Actor in the TV series The Practice.

79. On the right is actor Peter Appel.

80. Peter's a respected stage actor

81. and he's performed many times in the New York Shakespeare Festival.

82. Cool coincidence!

83. Gary Oldman made his film debut

84. as punk rocker Sid Vicious in the film Sid & Nancy.

85. And Sid Vicious actually stayed at the Chelsea Hotel,

86. where Gary is acting in this scene!

87. According to Badalucco,

88. he was genuinely intimidated by Gary Oldman during shooting.

89. U.S. casting director Todd Thaler told Michael

90. he got the role because his lips have the same shape as Natalie Portman's!

91. Michael Badalucco says that he had a really hard time slapping Natalie in this scene!

92. Natalie Portman's parents didn't like that Natalie had to smoke in the film.

93. In order to let Natalie play the role,

94. her parents requested that the character of Mathilda quit smoking during the movie!

95. All of the scenes in Leon's apartment were shot at Epinay Studios in Paris.

96. Hair stylist Emmanuel Zammit had to recreate exact bald patches in Reno's hair

97. during 19 weeks of shooting.

98. At one time, Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves were considered for the role of Leon.

99. According to Reno, playing Léon made him feel "lonely."

100. Much of Leon's behavior in the movie is extremely ritualized.

101. According to many psychologists,

102. people who ritualize their behavior are trying to overcome some past trauma.

103. Mathilda's apartment was a real apartment located on 103rd Street in New York City.

104. Mathilda's sister is played by actress Elizabeth Regen.

105. The Professional was her very first movie.

106. Reno claims that he was in the best physical shape of his life

107. while making The Professional.

108. Mathilda's mother is played by actress Ellen Greene.

109. Ellen Greene is most famous for playing the starring role of Audrey

110. in the movie musical Little Shop of Horrors.

111. As a kid, Natalie loved Little Shop of Horrors

112. and so she was thrilled to be working with one of her favorite actresses!

113. According to Michael Badalucco,

114. this sex scene was improvised at the very last minute

115. and he was nervous about doing it!

116. Apparently, Ellen's skin got stuck in her skirt zipper and she was in agonizing pain!

117. But because the director hadn't called "cut" they had to keep going!

118. In real life, Natalie is an only child.

119. Natalie's real father is a fertility specialist and her mother is an artist.

120. Liv Tyler auditioned for the role of Mathilda, but at 15 was considered too old for the part.

121. In real life, Natalie was a great student

122. and continued to attend her local school in Syosset, New York while still acting.

123. This sit-up scene exists for a specific reason!

124. It's to help prep the audience

125. for a cool physical move that Léon does in the film's final scene.

126. Jean Reno's own parents were Spanish

127. and moved to Morocco to escape Spanish dictator General Franco.

128. This movie is the 1952 Gene Kelly classic Singin' in the Rain.

129. Singin' in the Rain also starred Donald O'Connor,

130. Debbie Reynolds, and Cyd Charisse.

131. According to Reno, he really did love watching old American movies as a kid

132. growing up in Casablanca.

133. This mahogany and wrought-iron staircase in the Chelsea Hotel

134. runs all the way from the lobby to the twelfth floor of the hotel!

135. In this shot Jean Reno is in New York City...

136. and here he is a few weeks later in Paris!

137. To make Leon's apartment set in Paris seem truly American,

138. telephones and electrical outlets were brought in from New York City.

139. This is actor Willi One Blood. The Professional was Willi's first film.

140. The costume designer decided to dress Gary Oldman in fairly "normal clothes"

141. because his character was already so over the top.

142. According to Ellen Greene, a special effects man got into the tub first

143. to show her that the gunshot effect would be safe!

144. Gary Oldman was the film's biggest star at the time.

145. It was his participation that convinced the studio to green light the film.

146. Ludwig van Beethoven lived from 1770 to 1827.

147. Many people consider him the greatest composer of all time.

148. Gary Oldman played Beethoven in the film Immortal Beloved in 1994.

149. Gary Oldman considered a career in music before becoming an actor.

150. This young actor is Carl Matusovich.

151. The Professional was Carl's first film.

152. He later played a small role in Val Kilmer's 1999 movie, At First Sight.

153. According to Badalucco,

154. Oldman thought the gun had actually gone off during this scene!

155. Benny is played by actor Keith Glascoe.

156. Sadly, Keith Glascoe was killed in the events of September 11th.

157. He was a Firefighter with New York City's Ladder Company 21.

158. This actress is Jessie Keosian.

159. She was Woody Allen's high school biology teacher!

160. Jessie appeared in another movie with a major French star:

161. Green Card starring Gerard Depardieu.

162. Mathilda's stylish haircut

163. was inspired by classic Hollywood movie star Louise Brooks.

164. According to Natalie, her grandparents visited the set on this day,

165. which put her in too good a mood!

166. All of Léon's reaction shots to Mathilda crying at his door

167. were filmed six weeks later in Paris!

168. Here, Natalie Portman in New York City...

169. But here, Natalie is in Paris!

170. Willi One Blood's character isn't named in the script.

171. But you can hear other characters call him Willi Blood in the movie.

172. Director of photography Thierry Arbogast

173. lit the set for Leon's apartment as if it were a real apartment: no overhead lights...

174. but with lots of light coming through the windows.

175. He says he kept things bright because the film is essentially an optimistic story.

176. This was the scene that Natalie performed when she first auditioned for the director.

177. The casting director Todd Thaler said he was amazed by Natalie's ability

178. to bring up such deep emotions on cue.

179. All of Natalie's shots were filmed before Jean Reno's

180. because she was a minor and her working hours were limited.

181. Reno does have a lighter side!

182. After La Femme Nikita and The Professional he said he enjoyed making comedies.

183. Reno's first cleaner, “Victor” in La Femme Nikita,

184. was based upon a homeless man

185. the director once observed in the streets of Paris.

186. Jean Reno has four children of his own.

187. Just months before The Professional started shooting,

188. actor Brandon Lee was fatally shot on the set of the movie, The Crow.

189. And so, everybody on the set was quite concerned about the firearms.

190. More physical preparation for a key action moment in the film's finale!

191. Natalie Portman is perhaps most famous today

192. for starring in the first three Star Wars movies.

193. According to Reno, he improved his English by watching episodes of Star Trek!

194. The 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde, starring Warren Beatty,

195. was nominated for ten Oscars. And won two!

196. Natalie's parents were extremely concerned

197. about their eleven year old daughter handling firearms!

198. Back in New York City now.

199. This was actually the very first scene to be shot.

200. New York City skyscrapers created a big lighting problem

201. for the film's director of photography.

202. The skyscrapers only allow direct sunlight to shine down onto the streets

203. for about four hours per day. Not great for filmmakers!

204. The upcoming scene was filmed in a real hotel lobby in midtown Manhattan.

205. The receptionist here is played by actor George Martin.

206. Not the George Martin who produced all of the Beatles' albums!

207. George filmed both his scenes for The Professional in just one day.

208. He says that what he remembers most about the shoot

209. was how incredibly hot it was!

210. In real life, Natalie loved her friends.

211. She said she couldn't wait to see them again after the long shoot.

212. Natalie is also an accomplished stage actress.

213. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in The Diary of Anne Frank.

214. Danny Aiello didn't start acting until he was in his mid-thirties.

215. This is only the second time that Leon smiles in the entire movie!

216. According to the costume designer Magali Guidasci,

217. one of the first things Danny said

218. during his first costume fitting was "I don't want to wear shorts!"

219. But Magali convinced Danny that he had great legs!

220. This rooftop is overlooking New York City's famous Central Park.

221. Natalie said in 1994: "I'm going to college.

222. "I don't care if it ruins my career. I'd rather be smart than a movie star."

223. This actor is David Butler. He is credited as "Important Jogger."

224. David has appeared on the TV series Law & Order in three different roles.

225. This is the Icelandic singer Bjork singing a song called Venus as a Boy.

226. Bjork also composed the music for Lars von Trier's film Dancer in the Dark.

227. She also starred in the film

228. and won the Best Actress Award at Cannes for her performance.

229. Natalie says that she does run for exercise, although she finds it boring.

230. Mathilda is reading Socrates to Léon.

231. Socrates was the ancient Greek philosopher who said, "Wisdom begins in wonder."

232. Between scenes, Natalie actually liked to play Scrabble.

233. Natalie says that of all the movie's scenes, she enjoyed this one the most.

234. Natalie also says that at the time of shooting she was a huge Madonna fan.

235. Natalie is doing an impression of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday

236. to President John F. Kennedy at his 45th birthday party.

237. Here Natalie is doing an impression of silent film star Charlie Chaplin.

238. This is the third time Reno smiles in the film.

239. Film star John Wayne was really one of Reno's movie idols

240. when he was a boy watching movies in Casablanca!

241. During his remarkable Hollywood career, John Wayne starred in 142 movies!

242. That's actually a record for any Hollywood star.

243. Interestingly, this plant is called an aglaonema.

244. Ag-LEON-ema. Get it?

245. This is the first time Léon laughs in the movie.

246. According to Natalie,

247. throwing the bucket of water in this scene was her idea.

248. Danny Aiello once worked as a bouncer at the New York City comedy club The lmprov!

249. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar

250. for his performance in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing.

251. Danny played Tony Rosato in the 1974 movie The Godfather: Pan' ll.

252. The Godfather: Part ll was voted

253. the seventh greatest movie of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

254. Here's a coincidence about these two great actors: Jean Reno has four children...

255. Danny Aiello has four children too!

256. In real life, Natalie was trying to convince Jean Reno to quit smoking!

257. According to Reno in 2004, he has finally quit smoking!

258. About playing love scenes in movies, Jean Reno says,

259. "I won't do anything that offends my moral sense. I prefer making love...

260. "... with gestures, rather than taking my clothes off

261. "and getting into bed with a woman. I'd hate to have my children see that."

262. This shot was created by placing the camera on a piece of wood

263. that extended out from the window ledge.

264. George Martin says that he was blown away by Natalie's acting in this scene,

265. he was convinced that she would become a star!

266. Natalie was first discovered in a New York pizza parlor by a Revlon model scout!

267. But Natalie was much more interested in acting than in modeling.

268. Mathilda's bunny is still kept at the Gaumont museum in Paris.

269. Director of photography Thierry Arbogast says that

270. Gary Oldman frequently arrived on set "in character."

271. And for that reason, he was rarely "disturbed" by any members of the crew!

272. The actor playing the taxi driver is called Abdul Hassan Sharif.

273. He had a small role in the movie Zebrahead in 1992.

274. This scene was shot outside New York City's City Hall in downtown Manhattan.

275. Apparently, Mathilda's favorite cartoon is The Transformers.

276. She watches it several times throughout the movie.

277. Natalie turned down the role of Lolita in Adrian Lyne's movie of the same name.

278. The role went instead to Dominique Swain.

279. Although she did play a Lolita-like role in the movie Beautiful Girls.

280. According to www.natalieportman.com, it is rumored

281. that Natalie was considered for roles in Almost Famous, X-Men 2, and Troy.

282. According to criminal lawyer,

283. asking a person to kill somebody else is called "solicitation."

284. Apparently, even if the other person refuses to kill somebody for you,

285. you can still be charged for just asking the question!

286. Mathilda is playing Russian Roulette here.

287. The dictionary defines Russian Roulette as "an act of bravado wherein...

288. "... a person places one bullet into the cylinder of a revolver,

289. "spins the cylinder, and fires the revolver against their own head."

290. The term "Russian Roulette" first appeared in written English in 1937

291. in a short story by Georges Surdez published in Collier's magazine.

292. Incredibly, Danny Aiello has absolutely no formal training as an actor.

293. He's just a natural!

294. This is actor Robert Lasardo.

295. Lasardo has guest-starred on NYPD Blue, China Beach, and many other TV series.

296. In 1998, Portman turned down the film The Horse Whisperer

297. to play the title role of Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank on Broadway.

298. This is the first time Leon drinks something other than milk in the movie!

299. According to Natalie, she really has to be laughing at something real

300. in order to get this kind of a laugh on film.

301. Natalie's father has a rule:

302. "He says if I haven't done it in real life I shouldn't do it on-screen."

303. Nothing is being fired at the wall here.

304. Small explosives are placed directly behind the wall

305. to create holes that look like bullet holes.

306. Natalie believes that acting helped her to mature more quickly.

307. At age 14, she already considered herself to be an old soul.

308. According to Natalie, she tried her first real cigarette in college

309. but found it "disgusting."

310. On the subject of cleaning, Natalie does say

311. that she considers herself "a little bit of an obsessive compulsive!"

312. Here's another scene that Natalie's parents wanted added to the script:

313. Mathilda quitting smoking!

314. Natalie said that she enjoyed this scene a lot

315. because it was nice to be finally working with actors her own age!

316. Natalie says that costume designer Magali Guidasci had a "sense of cool"

317. that she had never experienced before making the movie.

318. In this scene, Mathilda follows Stansfield into the DEA headquarters.

319. DEA stands for Drug Enforcement Administration.

320. The mission of the DEA is to enforce

321. the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States.

322. According to Natalie, acting this scene was easy.

323. She felt that Gary was so brilliant, all she had to do was listen to him and it worked.

324. According to the director of photography, this bathroom set was crammed with lights

325. to create the bright light wanted by the director.

326. Also according to the DP, the director changed camera positions very quickly

327. so that the actors could stay connected to the scene.

328. This scene was shot in Paris.

329. So the casting director took a trip to the Chinese neighborhood of Paris

330. to find these actors.

331. This is actor Stuart Rudin.

332. He was billed as the "trembling patient" in Howard Stern's movie, Private Parts.

333. According to director of photography,

334. this is the one scene in which the lighting isn't exactly what he had hoped for.

335. Believe it or not... there are approximately 12,000 taxis operating in New York City!

336. This scene was cut from the original version of the film.

337. According to editor Sylvie Landra, when the film was tested,

338. the audience became uncomfortable and started to giggle.

339. According to producer Patrice Ledoux, "it was obvious that we had to cut it."

340. Reno has been nominated for 3 French Academy Awards

341. for The Professional, The Visitors and The Big Blue.

342. He won the "Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema" award

343. in 2000.

344. In 1997, Gary Oldman made his directorial debut with his film Nil by Mouth.

345. The movie was about a family racked by drug addiction, alcoholism and violence.

346. Natalie speaks fluent Hebrew and has studied Japanese and French.

347. Gary Oldman has played quite a few killers throughout his career...

348. He played Lee Harvey Oswald in the movie JFK.

349. He played Mason Verger in Hannibal and Dracula in the film Bram Stoker's Dracula.

350. Editor Sylvie Landra said that this sequence was very challenging to edit

351. because of the combination of action and intense emotion.

352. This was Sylvie's first feature film with the director.

353. Although she had edited a music video for him before The Professional.

354. She did go on to also edit his next two movies,

355. The Fifth Element and The Messenger.

356. She also edited Catwoman!

357. This scene was shot on Broadway in New York City

358. with 200 extras and 30 cop cars.

359. These policemen are members of a SWAT team.

360. SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics.

361. A SWAT team is a highly trained...

362. highly mobile, well-equipped team of police officers

363. employed in situations which require specialized skills, equipment and training.

364. The first SWAT teams were created in Los Angeles, California in the early 1960s.

365. Reno seems at home with his guns!

366. Maybe that's because he sewed in the French military.

367. But he's a sweet guy.

368. French actress Maiwenn said he cried

369. when the director handed him the script for The Professional wrapped as a gift.

370. Because of the destruction of Leon's apartment in this final sequence,

371. two identical apartment sets had to be built.

372. The special effects supervisor Nicky Allder

373. won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Alien in 1980.

374. He also supervised the special effects

375. for Mel Gibson's Academy Award winning movie, Braveheart'.

376. According to Natalie,

377. pulling up the emotions for a goodbye scene when you're eleven years old is pretty easy.

378. This is Natalie's last shot in the Paris studio.

379. The next time you see her she'll be back in New York City.

380. For this shot, special effects supervisor Nicky Allder

381. mounted the rocket on a wire and launched it using compressed air.

382. The wire was painted the color of the set behind it

383. so that it would blend into the surroundings.

384. To see how the shot was done, check out the Ten Year Retrospective featurette.

385. This is the first of only two scenes

386. in which Gary Oldman and Jean Reno appear together in the movie.

387. Natalie is back in New York City now.

388. Gary Oldman shot all his scenes back to back in just 15 days.

389. Three years after making this film,

390. Gary appeared as Zorg in the director's movie The Fifth Element.

391. Gary Oldman played Sirius Black

392. in the 2004 film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

393. Director of photography Thierry Arbogast says that the director

394. personally placed five or six cameras for this explosion sequence.

395. Some of the stunt men were pulled through the air by cables

396. to simulate the force of the explosion.

397. Danny Aiello has acted with some of the most famous women in the world.

398. He played Cher's "mama's boy" boyfriend in the movie Moonstruck.

399. And he played Madonna's father in her 1990 video, Papa Don't Preach.

400. This cable car carries passengers from the island of Manhattan to Roosevelt Island,

401. located in New York City's East River.

402. The Professional was nominated for seven Caesar's, or French Academy Awards,

403. including Best Film, Director, Actor, and Music.

404. The actress playing the headmistress is Betty Miller.

405. She also appeared in Penny Marshall's movie A League of Their Own.

406. This scene was shot on the grounds

407. of the Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, New Jersey.

408. The Professional opened in the US on November 18, 1994.