Milla Jovovich (Serbian: Milica J%ovovits (Milica Jovovic) Russian:
Milica Jovovich, born December 17, 1975), is an actress, musician, and
model currently living and working in the United States.
Jovovich was born Milica Jovovic in Kiev, Ukraine (then part of the
Soviet Union) to a Serbian doctor Bogic Jovovic and Ukrainian actress
mother Galina Loginova Jovovic. The family moved to London, and then
in 1981 to Sacramento, California when Milla was five years old. Seven
months later they settled in Los Angeles, California.
At the age of just eleven, she was spotted by the photographer Richard
Avedon who featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the
World" advertisements. In October 1987, she was featured on the cover
of the Italian fashion magazine Lei which was to be the first of her
many cover shoots. She continued to model, and released a music CD
prior to appearing in her first film Two Moon Junction in 1988. Her
appearance in Return to the Blue Lagoon in 1991 led to inevitable
comparisons between her and another child model-turned-actress, Brooke
Shields (who had starred in the original Blue Lagoon eleven years
earlier). Most of her early appearances were in supporting or cameo
roles.
By the late 1990s, she was receiving top billing and entered the world
of action heroes with her performances in The Fifth Element and in two
popular movies based upon the survival horror series, Resident Evil
(she has reportedly signed for two more films in this series for
release in 2006 and 2007).
In 1994, Jovovich, billed under her first name, Milla, released her
critically acclaimed first musical album, The Divine Comedy. Featuring
many original songs, the album led to comparisons with Tori Amos and
Kate Bush. Though she began to concentrate more on her acting than her
musical career, her vocals appeared on the 2004 album Legion of Boom
by The Crystal Method.
Jovovich married Shawn Andrews in October of 1992 during the filming
of Dazed and Confused; the marriage was annulled a month later. She
later married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1997, but they
later divorced in 1999. She dated Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John
Frusciante for some time, but they were together for several years.
She was briefly engaged to writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson
(Resident Evil) in 2003.
English fluently, and is of Ukrainian nationality.
Her family is Montenegrin in origin, their estate being at Metohija in
Zlopek near Pec. Her great-grandfather Bogic Camic Jovovic was
flag-bearer of the Vasojevici tribe, and officer of the guard of the
King Nicholas I of Montenegro; his wife's name was also Militza. Her
grandfather Bogdan Jovovic was a commander in the Pristina military
area, and later investigated finances in military areas of Skopje and
Sarajevo, where he uncovered massive gold embezzlement. He was
punished for refusing to convict his friend for the crime. Later, the
communist government imprisoned him on Goli Otok. When he feared that
he could be arrested again, he escaped to Albania and later came to
the Soviet Union, in Kiev. Another version of the story claims that he
actually was the one to have taken the gold. Milla's father, Bogic
Jovovic, later joined her grandfather in Kiev, where he and his sister
graduated in medicine.
Filmography
Year Movie Role Other notes
2007 Resident Evil 4 Alice (announced)
2007 Resident Evil: Extinction Alice (pre-production)
2006 .45 Unknown (post-production)
2006 Ultraviolet Violet
2004 Resident Evil: Apocalypse Alice
2002 You Stupid Man Nadine
2002 No Good Deed Erin
2002 Resident Evil Alice
2002 Dummy Fangora 'Fanny' Gurkel
2001 Zoolander Katinka Ingabogovinanana
2000 The Claim Lucia
2000 The Million Dollar Hotel Eloise
1999 The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc Joan of Arc
1998 He Got Game Dakota Burns
1997 The Fifth Element Leeloo
1993 Dazed and Confused Michelle Burroughs
1992 Kuffs Maya Carlton
1992 Chaplin Mildred Harris
1991 Return to the Blue Lagoon Lilli Hargrave
1988 The Night Train to Kathmandu Lily McLeod (TV)
1988 Two Moon Junction Samantha Delongpre