Биография: Мила Йовович

December 17, 1975 (Kiev, Soviet Union (now Ukraine))

Background:

"Modeling killed me." Milla Jovovich

Russian model Milla Jovovich first gained notice when she was voted as one of Revlon's Most Unforgettable Women in the World in 1988 (she was only 12 years old at the time). She later branched out into acting and won her first starring role in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). She continued to grace the big screen in films like The Fifth Element (1997), The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), The Claim (2000, a.k.a. Kingdom Come) and Zoolander (2001). She also starred in the sci-fi action movie Resident Evil (2002) and its 2004 sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

Currently she is busy completing the next sequel, Resident Evil: Afterlife. Adding to her film and modeling work, Milla is also a talented singer and has released an album titled "The Divine Comedy."

Milla Jovovich stands 5' 8.5" tall and has the measurements 35B-22-33. She was listed as one of Australian Empire Magazine's Sexiest Female Movie Stars (September 2002) and made the Forbes's Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrity List in 2003. She was also named as one of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World (2005), and once was one of VH1's 100 Most Hottest Celebrity Bodies.

As for her private life, she was linked to Resident Evil (2002) and Mortal Kombat (1995) director Paul W.S. Anderson (born on March 4, 1965; reportedly dated in 2002), actor Jeremy Davies (born on October 8, 1969) and photographer Mario Sorrenti (born 1971; dated in 1995-1997). She was once married to The Fifth Element (1997) director Luc Besson and actor Shawn Andrews. More recent, she reportedly is dating late Beatle John Lennon's son Sean Lennon.

"I think that's one of the only reasons God created celebrities. To help those who can't help themselves." Milla Jovovich

Scratch Russian

Childhood and Family:

"Scratch a Russian and you'll find a peasant." Milla Jovovich The only child of parents Bogich Jovovich (a.k.a. Bogdanovitch Jovovich; a Yugoslavian doctor; separated from Jovovich's mother in 1991) and Gallina Loginova (a Russian stage actress; born in 1950; also Milla's manager), Milla Natasha Jovovich was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on December 17, 1975. During her childhood, she traveled between London where her father studied, and Russia, where her mother lived. In 1981, Milla's family moved to California where her parents got their first job as housekeepers for renowned filmmaker Brian De Palma. Meanwhile, Milla attended Excelsior High School.

"My parents, like every immigrant, started from scratch... doing whatever they could to make money. My mom put me in acting class and they sort of put all their attention into me, making sure I was educated." Milla Jovovich

While filming Dazed and Confused (1993), Milla eloped with actor Shawn Andrews to Las Vegas. She was only sixteen at the time and her mother later had the marriage annulled. Milla then met Luc Besson (directed her in The Fifth Element) in 1997. The couple announced their engagement in summer 1997 and tied the knot in December in Las Vegas. However, they filed for divorce in 1999.

The Fifth Element

Career:

"I don't even bother to count my covers. When it comes to models my age, I think I'm it. I was so young starting in this industry. I did my first shoot when I was eleven, acting like a sexy 20-year-old woman. Everything went to my head." Milla Jovovich.

Hailing from Russia and moving to the US at age five, Milla Jovovich began to study acting by age nine and started her modeling career at age eleven. She made her cover debut for the Italian fashion magazine Lei. A year later (1988), when she was only twelve years old, Milla was named as one of Revlon's Most Unforgettable Women in the World.

That same year, acting jobs began to knock. She landed in Zalman King's romantic drama Two Moon Junction, as Sherilyn Fenn's little sister, and in The Disney Channel movie The Night Train to Kathmandu, playing jaded teenage girl Lily McLeod. She also guest starred in the series "Paradise," "Married... with Children" and "Parker Lewis Can't Lose." As for her modeling career, Milla has been in Calvin Klein, Escape, and other prestigious ads, as well as in numerous women and fashion magazines. In 1991, she left the Elite modeling agency for Next and decided to take a two-year break to concentrate on her film career.

Milla nabbed her first starring role as Lilli, Brian Krause's romance partner, in William A. Graham's film version of Henry De Vere Stacpoole's book, the romantic adventure Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), a sequel to the Brooke Shields flesh-fest Blue Lagoon (1980).

In the following years, she costarred with Christian Slater in Bruce A. Evans' crime comedy Kuffs (1992), with Robert Downey Jr. in Richard Attenborough's biopic Chaplin (also in 1992) and alongside Jason London in Richard Linklater's high-school slacker Dazed and Confused (1993).

1994 saw Milla giving singing a try. She billed her first name in her first musical album, "The Divine Comedy." Being asked about music, singer and guitarist Milla explained, "Music is my thing. It represents my personality... nice, but with a weird, paranoid, depressive side." She also commented, "Acting and music are two completely different art forms that complement each other. Modeling really pays the rent. With acting, I get to be in different people's shoes. Music is where I get to be brutally honest with myself. I don't need a director or a good script because it's my life that I'm drawing from."

After a four-year hiatus from the silver screen, Milla revived with the memorable role of Leeloo, a tangerine-haired alien, in Luc Besson's incredible sci-fi chase film, set in the 23rd century, The Fifth Element (1997, starring Bruce Willis). On making The Fifth Element, Milla said, "I worked like hell. No band practice, no clubs, no pot, nothing."

She then teamed with Denzel Washington in Spike Lee's sport drama He Got Game (1998, as a prostitute who suffers from a severe beating) and reunited with filmmaker Luc Besson in his biopic war drama The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), portraying the title role of the legendary saint and martyr, alongside acting greats John Malkovich and Dustin Hoffman.

Costarring with Jeremy Davies, Milla and Jeremy were seen as two mentally ill people in Wim Wenders' The Million Dollar Hotel (2000, costarring Mel Gibson), a drama thriller film with a script based on ideas by U2's Bono. She also played a frontier whorehouse madam in Michael Winterbottom's classic romantic drama, inspired by Thomas Hardy's novel, The Claim (2000, a.k.a. Kingdom Come) and became Will Ferrell's evil associate in Ben Stiller's comedy Zoolander (2001).

She then played Adrien Brody's supporter, suburban punker Fangora 'Fanny' Gurkel, in Greg Pritikin romantic comedy Dummy (2002).

The portrayal of an elite military leader who fights a deadly virus in Paul W.S. Anderson's thriller, based on the popular video game Resident Evil (2002, costarring Michelle Rodriguez), brought Milla's name towards the spotlight again. She reprised the role in its 2004 installment, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, alongside Sienna Guillory.

"If this movie was made in America they would have had a guy and we would have been his harem or entourage. Big studios don't trust that women will bring in that kind of audience. "Tomb Raider" was really an exception to the rule. Most of the time, if you make a big action film there has to be a big action guy in it. It's very European to trust a woman to play that kind of a role." Milla Jovovich (on the film Resident Evil).

Meanwhile, she played a gang leader's manipulative girlfriend, Erin, in Bob Rafelson's adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's short story, the crime drama The House on Turk Street (2002, a.k.a. No Good Deed, opposite Samuel L. Jackson) and became Denise Richards' romance rival in Brian Burns' romantic film You Stupid Man (also in 2002, alongside David Krumholtz).

Soon Milla will portray the titular role in Kurt Wimmer's sci-fi thriller Ultraviolet, star with Aisha Tyler in Gary Lennon's drama .45 and join Billy Bob Thornton in Michael Cristofer's thriller Fade Out. As for Resident Evil fans, Milla will soon appear in the next sequel, Resident Evil: Afterlife.

"I just want to make one really good movie a year. And when I die, to know I was honest as an artist." Milla Jovovich