Milla Jovovich Biography

Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich Biography

Milla Jovovich (Serbian: Милица Јововић/Milica Jovović, Ukrainian: Мілла Йовович/Mіlla Jovovič) (born Milica Nataša Jovović on December 17, 1975) is an American supermodel, actress, musician, singer, and fashion designer. Jovovich has been described by Paul W.S. Anderson, director of her film Resident Evil, as a "rare combination of a good actress who could kick ass and look beautiful doing it." Music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".

Family and early life


Jovovich (pronounced "Yo-vo-vitch" (/ˈjɔvɔviʧ/ in IPA)) was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union to Bogdan Jovović, a Serbian medical doctor, and Galina Jovovich (Galina Logivina), a Soviet actress. Her paternal family's estate was at Metohija in Zlopek near Peć. Her paternal great-grandfather, Bogić Camić Jovović, was a flag-bearer of the Montenegrin Serb Vasojevići clan and officer of the guard of the King Nicholas I of Montenegro; his wife's name was Milica. Her paternal grandfather, Bogdan Jovović, 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 moved to Kiev. Another version of the story claims that he was the one to have taken the gold. Milla's father, Bogić Jovović, later joined her grandfather in Kiev, where he and his sister graduated in medicine.

In 1981, when Milla was five years old, her family had to leave the Soviet Union for political reasons and move to London; they subsequently lived in Sacramento, California, USA. Seven months later, they settled in Los Angeles, California. She also has a brother named Marco Jovovich born in 1988.

Career

Modeling

At the age of eleven, Jovovich 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 the first of her many cover shoots. In 1988, she also made her first professional model contract. Later she made it to the cover of The Face, which led to new contracts and covers of the Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

Jovovich is also an "international spokesmodel" for L'Oreal cosmetics and was the highest paid supermodel in 2004. In 2006 Jovovich was picked up by Spanish clothing line Mango as their new spokesmodel and is currently featured in ads for Etro. Mango told Vogue.com that Jovovich is "the image of the woman that wish to dress: a very modern woman, with personality and self-confidence". She has said that she enjoys having both a modelling and an acting career, and that she is "very grateful for looks", which allow her to "make really great film choices".

Acting

Milla's mother was directing her in her artistic career, by signing her up to an actors' school in California; she finished as the best pupil, as she did in the ballet school. She continued to act and in 1988, appeared in her first film role, the romance thriller Two Moon Junction. In 1991, Jovovich had a starring role in the romance adventure sequel Return to the Blue Lagoon, opposite Brian Krause, which led to comparisons between her and child model-turned-actress, Brooke Shields (who had starred in the original Blue Lagoon). For her role, she was nominated for both 'Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture' in the 1991 Young Artist Awards, and 'Worst New Star' in the 1991 Golden Raspberry Awards. Most of Jovovich's film appearances during the late 1980s and early 1990s were in supporting or cameo roles in shows such as Married with Children. Also notable was her role in Dazed and Confused in 1993 wherein she sang lines from "The Alien Song", from her album The Divine Comedy though.

Jovovich received top billing by entering the world of action heroes, with her performances in The Fifth Element (1997) and in two popular films based upon the survival horror series, Resident Evil. Jovovich's latest film, the science fiction/action thriller Ultraviolet, was released on March 3, 2006. It was not screened for critics, but when reviewed, it was critically panned. It has grossed $17 million at the domestic box office. She will appear in the third film in the Resident Evil series titled Resident Evil: Extinction.

Personal life

Jovovich married actor Shawn Andrews (played Pickford) in October of 1992, while filming Dazed and Confused together; the marriage was annulled by her mother a month later. She married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1997, but the two divorced in 1999. Jovovich also dated Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante for several months in 2000 and was linked to actor Stephen Dorff. She also had a relationship with Jamiroquai ex-bassist Stuart Zender, during which time they both lived in London. Most recently she has appeared in public with Japanese soccer star Hidetoshi Nakata, but is purported to be engaged to writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson. She is pregnant with Paul W.S. Anderson's child; a girl, expected in November 2007. The couple has stated that they "would love to, but maybe after the baby."

Jovovich is also planning to publish her private diaries as an autobiography. Jovovich says, "I've been keeping a diary ever since I was a little girl. I've written about all the places I've been to and all the mad things that I've done, so it would be good to get it all into a book - like an autobiography, but with more of a diary feel to it. I'm not sure how interested anyone would be in publishing it, or reading it, for that matter."

Jovovich is a polyglot - she fluently speaks Russian, French, English and Serbian (possibly to a lesser extent).

Filmography

Year	Movie	Role	Notes
1988	The Night Train to Kathmandu	Lily McLeod
	Two Moon Junction	Samantha Delongpre
	Paradise	Katie
1990	Parker Lewis Can't Lose - Pilot	Robin Fecknoids
1991	Return to the Blue Lagoon	Lilli Hargrave
1992	Kuffs	Maya Carlton
	Chaplin	Mildred Harris
1993	Dazed and Confused	Michelle Burroughs
1997	The Fifth Element	Leeloo
1998	He Got Game	Dakota Burns
1999	The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc	Joan of Arc
2000	The Claim	Lucia	Limited release
2001	The Million Dollar Hotel	Eloise	Limited release
	Zoolander	Katinka Ingabogovinanana
2002	Resident Evil	Alice
	You Stupid Man	Nadine
2003	Dummy	Fangora 'Fanny' Gurkel	Limited release
	No Good Deed	Erin
2004	Resident Evil: Apocalypse	Alice
2005	Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula	Druscilla
2006	Ultraviolet	Violet Song jat Shariff
	.45	Kate
2007	Resident Evil: Extinction	Alice	Completed
2009	Azazel	Amalia Bezhetskaya	Announced, shooting starts in 2008