Luc Besson’s 1997 masterpiece is weird. It’s loud, it’s garish, and it feels like a comic book brought to life by someone who spent way too much time in Parisian nightclubs. But honestly, the reason we’re still talking about it nearly thirty years later isn’t just the Jean Paul Gaultier costumes or the flying taxis. It’s the people. The actors in The Fifth Element didn't just play roles; they inhabited a universe that, on paper, should have been a complete disaster.
Think about it. You have a plot involving a giant ball of evil fire in space and a "perfect being" who speaks a language made up by the director. That sounds like a B-movie nightmare. Instead, we got a cinematic landmark.
Bruce Willis and the Art of the Tired Hero
Korben Dallas is peak Bruce Willis. By 1997, Willis had already perfected the "guy who just wants a nap but has to save the world" trope in Die Hard, but he brought a specific kind of soulful exhaustion to the 23rd century. He’s a former elite commando living in a literal hole in the wall, eating Thai food from a floating boat.
He’s relatable. Despite the futuristic tech, he has a shitty landlord and a mounting pile of points on his license. Willis plays it straight. That’s the secret sauce. While everyone around him is screaming or wearing neon feathers, he’s the grounded anchor that prevents the movie from drifting into pure camp. His chemistry with Milla Jovovich felt earned because he played the protector without being patronizing.
Most people don't realize that Willis actually took a lower salary upfront to get the movie made, opting for a percentage of the profits instead. He believed in Besson’s vision when Hollywood was skeptical. It paid off.
Milla Jovovich: More Than Just a "Supreme Being"
Then there’s Milla. Leeloo is one of the most difficult roles in sci-fi history because it requires acting through a language barrier—literally. Besson and Jovovich actually developed the "Divine Language" themselves. They practiced it by writing letters to each other and speaking it on set. By the end of filming, they could hold full conversations in a tongue that didn't exist.
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Jovovich was only 19 when she was cast. She beat out over 200–some say 3000—other actresses. Why? Because she had the "creature" quality Besson wanted. She wasn't just a pretty face in bandages; she was feral. The way she looks at a chicken wing or a computer screen feels like someone experiencing the world for the first time. It’s physical acting at its best.
One of the most heartbreaking scenes is when Leeloo learns about "war" while scrolling through the alphabet on her computer. You see the light leave her eyes. That’s not CGI. That’s an actress delivering a masterclass in empathy.
The Villains Who Stole the Show
Gary Oldman as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg is... a lot. And I mean that in the best way possible. Oldman has famously been quoted saying he didn't even like the movie that much and only did it as a favor to Besson, who had helped finance Oldman’s directorial debut, Nil by Mouth.
Whether he liked it or not, his performance is legendary. The limp, the plastic headpiece, the Southern-ish accent? It’s bizarre. Zorg is a corporate nihilist. He’s not trying to rule the world; he’s just a middleman for chaos. He’s also one of the few movie villains who never actually meets the hero. Korben and Zorg are in the same buildings, chasing the same stones, but they never share a single frame.
And we have to talk about the Mangalores. They weren't just guys in rubber masks. The actors in The Fifth Element playing these mercenaries had to deal with incredibly heavy prosthetics that took hours to apply. They were the muscle, but they were also the comic relief, constantly getting outsmarted by a guy with a multi-pass.
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Chris Tucker and the Ruby Rhod Phenomenon
You either love Ruby Rhod or you want to mute your TV every time he appears. There is no middle ground. Chris Tucker took a role that was originally intended for Prince—yes, Prince—and turned it into a high-pitched, fast-talking whirlwind of charisma.
Prince reportedly turned it down because the costumes were "too effeminate" for his taste at the time, which is hilarious given Prince's usual wardrobe. Tucker stepped in and improvised a huge chunk of his lines. The scene where he’s narrating Korben’s fight in the hangar? Pure Tucker energy. He represents the media-obsessed future we actually live in now. He’s a TikTok influencer before TikTok existed.
The Supporting Cast and the Blue Diva
The depth of the ensemble is staggering.
- Ian Holm: As Father Vito Cornelius, Holm provides the much-needed exposition without sounding like a textbook. He brings a frantic, nervous energy that balances out the cool of Willis.
- Maïwenn Le Besco: She played the Diva Plavalaguna. While the singing was dubbed by Albanian soprano Inva Mula (who reportedly had to record the "Diva Dance" in segments because some notes were humanly impossible to hit in succession), Maïwenn’s physical performance inside that massive blue suit was mesmerizing.
- Luke Perry: A small but vital role at the beginning of the film. It was a huge deal to have the 90210 star in a French sci-fi epic.
- Tricky: The trip-hop legend plays Zorg’s right-hand man. It’s a weird bit of casting that perfectly fits the movie’s "cool" aesthetic.
The Diva Dance sequence remains the film's peak. It’s a perfect bridge between high art and a gritty action sequence. When the music shifts from traditional opera to that techno-beat, and the editing cuts between Leeloo kicking ass and the Diva hitting those high notes, it's pure cinema.
Why This Casting Strategy Worked
Most sci-fi movies of the 90s tried to be Star Wars or Star Trek. They were clean. They were serious. Besson went the opposite direction. He hired actors who could handle the "theatrical" nature of the script.
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The actors in The Fifth Element were treated like characters in a "bande dessinée" (French comic book). Everything was exaggerated. The colors, the voices, the movements. If you cast boring actors, the movie collapses under its own weight. By casting character actors like Oldman and Holm alongside superstars like Willis, Besson created a world that felt lived-in and eccentric.
Real World Impact and Legacy
The film was a massive hit internationally, even if US critics were a bit confused by it at first. It grossed over $260 million. For a long time, it was the highest-grossing French production ever.
Today, we see its DNA everywhere. Look at Guardians of the Galaxy or Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. They all owe a debt to the way Besson used his cast to sell a wild, colorful future.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Cinephiles
If you want to truly appreciate the performances of the actors in The Fifth Element, try these steps next time you watch:
- Watch the Background: Look at the background actors in the Fhloston Paradise scenes. Every single one has a unique Gaultier-designed outfit. The commitment to the world-building is insane.
- Focus on the Eyes: Watch Milla Jovovich’s eyes during her "learning" montages. The transition from curiosity to profound sadness is what makes Leeloo a "perfect being," not her combat skills.
- Listen to the Sound Design: Notice how the voices of the actors are mixed. Ruby Rhod’s voice is often layered to sound more piercing, while Zorg’s has a slight mechanical hiss at times.
- Identify the "No-Meet" Dynamic: Trace the paths of Korben and Zorg. It’s a brilliant writing and acting exercise to see how two people can drive a plot without ever interacting.
The 23rd century has never looked—or sounded—quite like this. It’s a testament to a group of actors who were willing to look absolutely ridiculous for the sake of a vision that turned out to be timeless.