Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich, 26, at Cannes, 2002

Milla Jovovich
Born
17 December 1975 Kyiv, Ukraine
Occupation
Actress, Model, Clothing designer, musician

Milica Natasha Jovović (Serbian: Милица Јововић (Milica Jovović) Ukrainian: Мілла Йовович; born December 17, 1975), better known as Milla Jovovich, is a Ukrainian-born American supermodel, actress, musician, singer, and fashion design.

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".

Biography

Early life

Jovovich (pronounced "Yo-vo-vitch" ( in IPA)) was born in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) to Bogdan Jovović, a Serbian doctor, and Galina Loginova, a Russian actress. Her paternal family is Montenegrin Serb in origin, their estate being at Metohija in Zlopek near Peć. Many Croatians claim Jovovich is a Croat, but this assertion is in fact erroneous. Her paternal great-grandfather, Bogić Camić Jovović, was flag-bearer of the Vasojevići tribe and officer of the guard of the King Nicholas I of Montenegro; his wife's name was also 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 Kyiv. 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 Kyiv, where he and his sister graduated in medicine..

In 1981, The family moved to London, and subsequently lived in Sacramento, California. Seven months later, they settled in Los Angeles, California.

Career

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. She continued to model 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). Most of Jovovich's film appearances during the early 1990s were in supporting or cameo roles.

In 1994, Jovovich, billed under her first name, released her critically acclaimed first musical album, The Divine Comedy. Featuring many original songs, the album led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos and Kate Bush. After leading a band called Plastic Has Memory, Jovovich returned to her acting career, receiving top billing and 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 vocals appeared on the 2004 album Legion of Boom by The Crystal Method. She also recorded the single Rocket Collecting, which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Underworld.

Jovovich and fellow model Carmen Hawk have launched a line of clothing called Jovovich-Hawk; the two opened a showroom in New York City's Greenwich Village on September 13, 2005. Jovovich is also an "international spokes model" for L'Oreal cosmetics and was the highest paid Supermodel in 2004. In 2006 Jovovich was picked up by Mango, a Spanish clothing line, as their new spokes model. Mango tells Vouge.com, that Jovovich is "the image of the woman that wish to dress: a very modern woman, with personality and self-confidence".^* looks", which allow her to "make really great film choices".

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.

Jovovich is also planning to publish her private diaries as an autobiography. The autobiography could possibly recall her experiences in Hollywood and in the modeling world. 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."^*

Personal life

Jovovich married actor Shawn Andrews in October of 1992, while filming Dazed and Confused together; the marriage was annulled 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 years 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. She has been appearing in public lately with Japanese soccer-star Nakata Hidetoshi and now she's engaged to writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson.

Jovovich is multilingual and speaks Russian, French and English fluently.

Selected filmography

Year	Movie	Role	Notes
1988	Two Moon Junction	Samantha Delongpre
1991	Return to the Blue Lagoon	Lilli Hargrave
1992	Kuffs	Maya Carlton
1992	Chaplin	Mildred Harris
1993	Dazed and Confused	Michelle Burroughs
1997	The Fifth Element	Leeloo
1998	He Got Game	Dakota Burns
1999	The Story of Joan of Arc	Joan of Arc
2000	The Claim	Lucia	Limited release
2001	The Million Dollar Hotel	Eloise	Limited release
2001	Zoolander	Katinka Ingabogovinanana
2002	Resident Evil	Alice
2002	You Stupid Man	Nadine
2003	Dummy	Fangora 'Fanny' Gurkel	Limited release
2003	No Good Deed	Erin
2004	Apocalypse	Alice
2006	Ultraviolet	Violet
2006	.45	Kate	Post-production
2007	Extinction	Alice	Filming
2007	The Winter Queen	-	Announced

Discography

The Divine Comedy - released April 1994 (single: "Gentleman Who Fell")
The People Tree Sessions - unauthorized 1998 release that still turns up with Amazon and other retailers

Compilations including Jovovich

The Million Dollar Hotel - "Satellite of Love"
Hollywood Goes Wild benefit compilation - "On the Hill" by her band, Plastic Has Memory
Underworld - "Rocket Collecting"
The Prince and Me - "Separate Worlds"
The Rules of Attraction - "The Gentleman Who Fell"
Dummy - "Shein VI Di l'Vone" and "Mezinka"

References

External links

Official site
Milla Jovovich's profile in the Fashion Models database
Milla Jovovich at MovieWorld.ru (Russian)
Milla at TheCelebrityCafe.com
Milla Jovovich interview for Ultraviolet at Dread Central

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