Besson (born 1959) has been married four times; first, in 1986, to actress Anne Parillaud who starred in Besson's Nikita (1990).[citation needed] Besson and Parillaud had a daughter, Juliette, born in 1987. The couple divorced in 1991.
Besson's second wife was actress Maïwenn Le Besco, who was 15 when they began dating in 1991.[17] They were married in late 1992 when Le Besco was pregnant with their daughter Shanna, who was born on 3 January 1993.[18] Le Besco later claimed that their relationship inspired Besson's film Léon (1994).[17] Their marriage ended in 1997, when Besson became involved with actress Milla Jovovich during the filming of The Fifth Element (1997). He married the 22-year-old on 14 December 1997, at the age of 38, but they divorced in 1999.[19]