Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich (born 17.12.1975)

Milla Jovovich is an American actress and model. She is Ukranian by birth.

Milla Jovovich: Childhood

Milla Jovovich was born in Kiev, Ukranian SSR. SSR. Her father is Bogdan Bogdanovicj Jovovich (he is a Serbian pediatrician) and her mother is Galina Loginova. (a Soviet stage actress).

Milla Jovovich's family moved to London for political reasons in 1981. They later moved to Sacramento, California and eventually settled in Los Angeles. Bogdan and Galina divorced shortly after settling there. Although Galina tried to support the family through her acting, she eventually had to take on cleaning jobs. One person whose house she cleaned was Brian De Palma.

Jovovich has a half-brother, Marco, from her father's relationship with a woman in Argentina.

Milla Jovovich left school at 12 to focus on her modelling career.

Milla Jovovich: Career

Milla Jovovich started to attend modelling auditions at the age of nine. She was soon signed by the Prima agency. At age 11, she was also spotted by the photographer Richard Avedon, head of Revlon's marketing at the time. He chose Milla Jovovich to appear in the 'Most Unforgettable Women in the World' ad campaign, along with Alexa Singer and Sandra Zatezalo.

Milla Jovovich's first cover shoot came when Herb Ritts shot her for the cover of the Italian fashion publication Lei. She signed her first professional contract in 1988 and became embroiled in the debate about the suitability of using young models in fashion shoots.

Milla Jovovich's career went from strength to strength and her image has graced the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and The Face, among others. She has also been the face of advertising campaigns for fashion houses such as Donna Karan. Gap, Versace, Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani and Christian Dior. Both Miuccia Prada and Gianni Versace have claimed Milla Jovovich as a muse.

When Bret Easton Ellis made Glamorama, a satirical take on the cult of celebrity, Milla Jovovich had a cameo role in the film.

In 1988, the same year that she signed her first modelling contract, Milla Jovovich also landed a role in The Night Train to Kathmandu, a low budget TV film. The following year, she also had a small role in Two Moon Junction, which starred Sherilyn Fenn.

Jovovich then performed in a couple of television series, such as Paradise and Parker Lewis Can't Lose and followed this with a lead film role, in Return to the Blue Lagoon in 1991. Jovovich found herself being compared to Brooke Shields, who had starred in the original, The Blue Lagoon. The following year, she starred opposite Christian Slater in Kuffs and then took on the role of Mildred Harris in the Charlie Chaplin biopic Chaplin. The title role was played by Robert Downey Jr.

Milla Jovovich was then cast in Dazed and Confused, the Richard Linklater film that became a cult hit. The film also starred Shawn Andrews (her boyfriend at the time), Parker Posey and Ben Affleck.

After taking a break from acting (in which she focused on her music career), Milla Jovovich returned in 1997, when she starred in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. The film also starred Gary Oldman and Bruce Willis and proved to be Milla Jovovich's breakthrough role.

Milla Jovovich played an abused prostitute in Spike Lee's He Got Game. Denzel Washington and Ray Allen also starred in the film. She then returned to action movies with an appearance in The Messenger: The Story of Joan the Arc, again with Luc Besson at the helm. In 2000, she was chosen to appear in Bono's concept film The Million Dollar Hotel. The film was directed by Wim Wenders and starred Jeremy Davies and Mel Gibson. The following year, she made a cameo in Ben Stiller's Zoolander.

Jovovich played Alice in all of the Resident Evil films - a hugely successful trilogy.

In 1994, Milla Jovovich released a solo album entitled The Divine Comedy.

Milla Jovovich: Personal Life

Milla Jovovich is married to the director Paul W. S . Anderson. In 2007, Jovovich gave birth to their daughter Ever Gabo Anderson.

Milla Jovovich had previously been romantically linked with Shawn Andrews, Stuart Zender of Jamiroquai, Mario Sorrenti and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chilli Peppers. She was also married to Luc Besson for about a year.