July 2006 By Philip Berk
An exotic beauty with high cheekbones, striking blue eyes and a saucy demeanor, Milla Jovovich started modeling as a child. By the time she was 12, she was photographed by Richard Avedon as one of Revlon’s “Most Unforgettable Women in the World”.
The Kiev-born Jovovich segued to the big screen in the campy “Two-Moon Junction” (1988) and landed her first starring role as the turn-of-the-century young woman stranded on a South Seas island in “Return to the Blue Lagoon” (1991), the sequel to the 1980 Brooke Shields-Christopher Atkins box-office hit, “The Blue Lagoon”.
After being wasted as Christian Slater’s girlfriend in “Kuffs” and as Mildred Harris in Richard Attenborough’s biopic “Chaplin” (both 1992), she was hurt when most of her role in Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” (1993) ended up on the cutting room floor.
Discouraged, she briefly retired from acting to concentrate on her fledgling singing career.
In 1997, she returned to the big screen co-starring with Bruce Willis in the sci-fi thriller “The Fifth Element”, directed by future husband Luc Besson.
Two years later, before the marriage floundered, Jovovich played the Maid of Orleans for Besson in “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc”, which failed to impress audiences or critics.
Her performance as a whorehouse madam in 1880s California in “The Claim” (2000) also divided viewers, but she showed her game side when she sent up Eurotrash models such as Katinka Ingabogovinanana in the Ben Stiller comedy “Zoolander” (2001).
More obtuse was her turn in the indie “Dummy” (2002) playing a suburban punk rock chick and neighbor to an eccentric young man (Adrien Brody) who can only expresses his inner insecurities through his ventriloquist dummy.
Changing gears to more commercial minded fare, Jovovich became the big screen version of the video game heroine Alice in “Resident Evil” (2002), an action-horror-thriller that, despite critical drubbing, proved to be a box office success, allowing the actress to show her butt-kicking side, along with a titillating amount of skin
She became romantically involved with writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson which led to an engagement, which ended after the film was completed.
She next appeared in Bob Rafelson’s little-seen noir wannabe “The House on Turk Street” (2002) opposite Samuel L. Jackson and the minor indie romantic comedy “You Stupid Man” (2002) before returning for the 2004 sequel “Resident Evil: Apocalypse.”
Her father is a doctor, her mother manages her career. They are no longer married.
She herself has been married twice, once to: Luc Besson. and when she was sixteen to Shawn Andrews, whom she met during filming of “Dazed and Confused”;
She was involved with John Frusciante, the guitarist with Red Hot Chili Peppers,
In her latest Ultraviolet she plays a rogue warrior with fierce fighting skills and chameleon-like abilities. She becomes involved with a subculture of humans who have emerged with a genetic mutation causing enhanced speed, incredible stamina and acute intelligence.
So if you could have one mutation, which would it be? I ask her,
“I would love to be able to fly. I love to fly in dreams. All my dreams are about airplanes and rocketships. Sometimes I’d be in a plane, it’ll be taking off like a rocket ship, and I’ look down and there’s no floor. I’m seat belted and my mom is sitting next to me, and I’m saying ‘okay mom, just don’t look down and put your seat belt on.”
When I tell her psychiatrists interpret dreams about flying as sexual frustration, she becomes alarmed.
“Are you serious?” she responds.“That’s crazy because I’ve had great sex and I’ve had these dreams for years.”
Can she talk about her line of clothing that she’s designed?
“Oh sure. Me and my partner, one of my really old girlfriends, have been working on a clothing line called Jovovich Hawk. The clothes I’m wearing, the blazer and blouse, is our stuff. We use our names, her name is Carmen Hawk, we’ve been friends for 13 years. We design cocktail dresses, mini dresses and things like that.
How serious are they?
“Well let’s say I put all my energies into it. I’ve been going to work every day, which is crazy for me. I’ve never had that kind of routine. In the last year since we got our studio space we’ve been going to work every day. The first two years we were working out of my house. She’d come in in the morning and I’d still be in my pajamas making coffee. It was Hey Carmen, Hey Milla, okay, let’s draw. Oh that’s cool. But it was not computing. So we said, ‘You know what, let’s get ready in the morning as though we were going to see each other. So I would get up, even though I didn’t leave my house, I’d do my make-up, I’d put on nice clothes. And then when I went into living room I’d say hi to Carmen. I’m dressed. And she would do the same. And suddenly the amount of respect that happened between the two of us , just because we took those extra ten minutes to prepare , it became inspiration. Suddenly it was exciting. And what I’ve learned is when you put effort and you show that you care, it really translates. It’s important, no matter how casual your situation, not to treat things too casually. It’s important to care.”
Is it true she did all her stunts in the movie?:
“I probably did ninety percent of them. I didn’t do all the gymnastics — we had a special stunt double for the flips — but I did all the fighting, all the martial arts. Even most of the flips. It took a year of rehearsal to prepare for the fight scene in the movie.”
Violet has a very maternal side. How much of that did she get from her own mother?
“My mom has always been my biggest inspiration. She’s incredible. She’s a real artist. She’s a very creative person. For her I wanted to play a very sexy sophisticated character because she’s so tired of seeing me play a homeless person or a dying person or Resident Evil where I’m this monster who very androgynous. She hates it. So I was like like, ‘Okay mom, I’ll look really great and really fabulous in this.’ So sure it was a little bit for my mom, but it’s funny because after she saw the film, she told me, ‘You look so much like me when you have make-up on. You look like your father in Resident Evil.”
Is she extravagent? What does she spend her money on?
“I spend all my money on fabric and shipping costs and vat taxes and stuff like that. Since I started the clothing company four years ago I haven’t once shopped for myself.”
Does she have time for her boyfriend.
“No comment”
What are the qualities she looks for in a man?
“I personally want to be with somebody who respects me and takes care of me. I am definitely from the old school that believes the man should be strong and take care of you.”
She’s always gravitated to someone stronger than her, maybe older, maybe a father figure. Has she discussed that with her psychiatrist?
“Definitely. I definitely need a teacher in a mate. Not someone that I’m going to have to mother. Not only do I want a friend but I want someone who can guide me. I’m very attracted to people I can learn from. And you’re right about falling in love on the set. I spend a lot of time on sets. But there’s only been two directors in my life, but it was a safety thing. It’s like a security thing. Every girl is scared to sleep with a guy. Is he going to call the next day? Is he going to like you afterwards? With a director, he’s got me for four and a half months on that picture. There’s no way he’s not calling me the next day. You know what I mean.. It’s really a safety thing. I know you’re committed to me, period. It’s as simple as that”
She seems so self confident. Is she ever worried it might not last forever?
“Listen I came from nowhere. A little immigrant whose parents had to clean toilets when we first came to this country. I’m so lucky to have what I have. I have great people in my life that love me. I have great fans. I have a great career that’s lasted more than a decade, I feel very lucky. I’ve always felt accepted in Hollywood. I never in my life as a little girl imagined I’d have this success, so why should I worry.”
And she’s right!