Luc Besson’s childhood? Way more interesting than most people’s. The guy basically grew up underwater. His parents were scuba instructors, so he spent a chunk of his early years flitting around the globe, living a totally aquatic lifestyle. You can almost imagine a little Luc doodling dolphins instead of doing math homework. Even as a bored teenager stuck in school, he was scribbling out early ideas for stuff like Le Grand Bleu and The Fifth Element. The dude was creative from the jump. He thought he’d end up a marine biologist, totally obsessed with dolphins. But then, bam—diving accident at 17. Suddenly, no more deep-sea adventures. The dream torpedoed, he packed up and went back to Paris, which, by the way, he hadn’t really experienced since he was born. He hadn’t even watched TV before that. Imagine hitting adulthood and seeing your first soap opera. Wild. That’s when film called to him. He realized, hey, movies could let him mash up all his random passions into one thing. He started grabbing whatever film gigs he could get, just to be close to the action. Eventually, he bounced over to America for a bit—probably soaking up all the chaos—then circled back to France. That’s where he set up his own production company: Les Films de Loups, which later morphed into Les Films de Dauphins (guess he couldn’t shake the dolphin thing). Oh, and plot twist—he eventually got the green light to dive again. Life’s weird like that.
Back in '77, Luc Besson—yeah, the same guy who'd end up making wild hits like The Fifth Element—got totally shut down by France’s top film school, La Fémis. He was just 18, buzzing with dreams, walks into this interview, and gets asked about his favorite directors. Pretty standard, right? So he drops names like Spielberg, Scorsese, and Milos Forman—solid choices, honestly. But then, boom, the administrator just cuts him off mid-answer, basically tells him, “Nah, this place isn’t for you.” The snobbery, man. Imagine being told you don’t belong just for liking the giants of cinema. Kinda wild to think about, especially knowing Besson would go on to build his own legacy and style, completely outside that so-called “elite” club’s approval. Sometimes, rejection’s just the first act, not the finale.
Cinema isn’t some miracle drug, right? It’s not gonna swoop in and rescue anyone from the jaws of death. People sometimes act like movies are these grand healers, but honestly, they’re more like a quick fix, a little relief when life’s pounding on your head. Think about it: an aspirin’s not gonna cure your problems, but it might dull the ache for a bit. That’s what film does—it gives you a breather, a place to escape, maybe even laugh or cry when you need it most. Sure, a great movie might stick with you, echo in your brain for days, but at the end of it, it’s just a story on a screen. You walk out of the theater, and your life’s still your life, right? No magic, no miracles—just a couple hours where things feel lighter. And honestly, sometimes, that’s enough.
March 18, 1959
5′ 7¾″ (1.72 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Paris, France
Yes, Shanna Besson
Daniele Plane and Surekha
66 years old