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Milla (Militza) Jovovich (born 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") was born in Kiev, Ukraine to
Bogdan Jovović, a Serbian medical doctor, and
Galina Loginova, a Russian 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. Seven months later, they settled in Los
Angeles, California. She also has a brother named Marco
Jovovich born in 1988.
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 [we] 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 [her]
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.
Jovovich received 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 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.
Singing: In 1994, Jovovich, billed under her
first name, released her critically acclaimed first
musical album, The Divine Comedy. Featuring
unique-sounding songs that fused pop with traditional
Russian folk music influences, the album led to
comparisons with musicians Tori Amos and Kate Bush.
Jovovich also led a band called Plastic Has Memory, that
played about a dozen shows in Los Angeles and New York
City, in 1999. Though Plastic Has Memory was featured on
Hollywood Goes Wild, a benefit celebrity compilation CD,
the group never formally released a record and is no
longer together.
1998 saw the release of The Peopletree Sessions, a CD of
"electronic folk music." Jovovich now claims
that she did not authorize this CD, but its producer
counters that she personally approved both the cd and
the liner notes and photos in its packaging, and
authorized its release to the "underground"
market (online and indie record shops). The CD featured
electronic beats merged with scattered lyrics, a big
change from her wistful first release.
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. Milla continues to write songs,
which she calls "demos". These demos are
provided for free in MP3 format on her website and
Jovovich provides license to freely download and remix
the tracks, but reserves the right to sell and issue the
tracks.
Jovovich has reportedly been working with Maynard James
Keenan of Tool on his side project Puscifer.
Fashion design: Jovovich and fellow model Carmen
Hawk have launched a line of clothing called
Jovovich-Hawk in 2003. The two also opened a showroom in
New York City's Greenwich Village on September 13, 2005.
The line is currently in its third season and pieces can
be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols,
and over 50 stores around the world.
The pieces were sold exclusively at Fred
Segal stores, where the line sold out almost instantly.
The line's second season was equally, if not more
successful, with Fred Segal reordering its stock midway
through the season.Jovovich-Hawk, with Jovovich modeling
select pieces, was featured on the cover of the May 2006
issue of C (California Style) Magazine.
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.
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). |
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