Milla Jovovich facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Milla Jovovich
Jovovich in 2019
Born	Milica Bogdanovna Jovović (1975-12-17) December 17, 1975 (age 49) Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	US (naturalized in 1994)
Occupation	Actress model singer
Years active	1988–present
Spouse(s)	Shawn Andrews ​ ​ (m. 1992; ann. 1992)​ Luc Besson ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 1999)​ Paul W. S. Anderson ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	3, including Ever Anderson
Parent(s)	Galina Loginova (mother)

Milla Jovovich (born December 17, 1975) is an American actress and former fashion model. She is famous for her roles in many science-fiction and action films. In 2006, the music channel VH1 called her the "reigning queen of kick-butt." In 2004, Forbes magazine said she was the highest-paid model in the world.

Milla was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and grew up in Los Angeles. She started modeling at a young age. In 1987, she was on the cover of the Italian magazine Lei. She also appeared in ads for Revlon. In 1988, she started acting in the TV movie The Night Train to Kathmandu. Her first feature film was Two Moon Junction.

She became well-known for her role in the 1991 movie Return to the Blue Lagoon. Her big break came in 1997 with the French science-fiction action film The Fifth Element. She starred as Alice in the Resident Evil film series from 2002 to 2016. This series became the highest-earning film series based on video games.

Jovovich also released her first music album, The Divine Comedy, in 1994. She has also contributed to film soundtracks. In 2003, she started a clothing line called Jovovich–Hawk with model Carmen Hawk.

Early Life and Family Background

Milla Jovovich was born on December 17, 1975, in Kiev, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Her mother, Galina Loginova, was a Russian actress. Her father, Bogdan Jovović, was a Serbian doctor. Milla spent her early childhood in Moscow, Russia. She has said she was born in Ukraine "pretty much by accident." She remembers a lot about her life in Russia.

In 1980, when Milla was five, her family moved to London. They later moved to Sacramento, California, and then settled in Los Angeles. Milla's parents divorced after they arrived in Los Angeles. Her mother worked hard cleaning houses to earn money. Both her parents also worked as cooks and housekeepers for director Brian De Palma.

Milla went to public schools in Los Angeles. She learned English very quickly, in just three months. At school, some classmates teased her because she was from the Soviet Union. She said, "I was called a commie and a Russian spy." She felt she was "never accepted into the crowd." At age 12, Milla left seventh grade to focus on modeling. She had started modeling when she was nine. In 1994, at 19, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Acting Career Highlights

Milla's mother wanted her to be a movie star. In 1985, her mother enrolled her in acting classes. When Milla started getting acting jobs, she went to a special school for young actors.

First Roles and a Break

In 1988, Milla had her first professional film role in Two Moon Junction. Later that year, she was in the TV film The Night Train to Kathmandu. She also appeared in TV shows like Paradise (1988) and Married... with Children (1989).

At 15, she played the main role in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). People often compared her to Brooke Shields, another child model who became an actress. Milla was nominated for "Best Young Actress" for this role. In 1992, she co-starred with Christian Slater in Kuffs. She also played Mildred Harris in the film Chaplin. In 1993, she acted in Dazed and Confused. After this, she took a break from acting and moved to Europe.

Becoming a Star

Milla Jovovich at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival

Milla returned to acting in 1997 in the French science-fiction action film The Fifth Element. She starred alongside Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman. She played Leeloo, an alien who helps save the planet. Milla worked very hard to get this role. She even helped create a special alien language with over 400 words for her character.

The film was very successful, earning over $263 million worldwide. Critics often praised its visual style. Milla was nominated for "Favorite Female Newcomer" and "Best Fight" awards. In 2003, Milla said Leeloo was her favorite role.

In 1998, Milla appeared in Spike Lee's drama He Got Game. In 1999, she played Joan of Arc in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. She cut her hair short and wore armor for many battle scenes. The film did well at the box office. In 2001, she played the evil Katinka in the comedy Zoolander.

International Success with Resident Evil

Milla Jovovich at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival

In 2002, Milla starred in the horror-action film Resident Evil. This movie was based on the popular video game series. She played Alice, the hero who fights zombies. Milla took the role because she and her brother were fans of the video game. She did almost all her own stunts. She trained in karate, kickboxing, and combat. The film was a big success, earning over $102 million worldwide.

In 2004, Milla played Alice again in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. She trained three hours a day for this role. Even though critics didn't love the film, it was a huge commercial success. It was the number one movie at the box office when it came out.

In 2007, Milla returned as Alice in Resident Evil: Extinction, the third film in the series. This film also did very well, earning $24 million on its opening weekend. In 2009, Milla starred in the thriller A Perfect Getaway and the science-fiction thriller The Fourth Kind.

Recent Film Projects

In 2010, Milla played Alice again in Resident Evil: Afterlife. Her husband, Paul W. S. Anderson, directed this film. She also appeared in the comedy Dirty Girl and the psychological thriller Stone.

Milla Jovovich at WonderCon in 2012, promoting Resident Evil: Retribution.

In 2011, Milla starred as Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers. She also played a woman who couldn't recognize faces in Faces in the Crowd. In 2012, she returned for the fifth Resident Evil film, Resident Evil: Retribution.

Milla Jovovich at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival

In 2016, Milla made a quick appearance in Zoolander 2. She also starred in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016), the last film in the Resident Evil series. This film was the highest-earning in the franchise, making over $312 million worldwide.

More recently, Milla has appeared in films like Shock and Awe (2017), Future World (2018), and Paradise Hills (2019). She also played the evil Blood Queen in the Hellboy reboot movie in 2019. Milla is also a co-founder of a production company called Creature Entertainment.

Other Talents

Music Career

Milla started working on a music album in 1988. She wrote the lyrics and composed the music for most of her songs. In 1994, she released her first album, The Divine Comedy. The album was well-liked by critics. It featured traditional Ukrainian folk songs mixed with pop music.

Milla toured the United States and Canada in 1994 to promote her album. She often performed in smaller, more personal settings. In 1999, Milla formed an experimental band called "Plastic Has Memory." She wrote and composed songs, sang, and played electric guitar for the band. The band played several shows but never released an album.

Milla has also sung songs for the soundtracks of her films, like The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) and Dummy (2002). She has also been a guest singer on other artists' albums. She writes songs she calls "demos" and lets people download them for free from her website.

Modeling Work

Milla's early modeling work helped her become very successful in advertising. She has been on the cover of over 100 magazines. These include famous magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Elle. She has also walked in fashion shows for top designers like Versace and Fendi.

She has been part of advertising campaigns for many big brands. These include Christian Dior, Chanel, and Revlon. Since 1998, Milla has been a global spokesperson for L'Oréal cosmetics. In 2004, Forbes magazine named her the world's highest-paid supermodel. She has said that modeling was "never a priority" for her. The money she earned from modeling allowed her to choose the acting roles she wanted.

Fashion Design

In 2003, Milla and fellow model Carmen Hawk started a clothing line called Jovovich–Hawk. They opened a showroom in New York City in 2005. Milla and Carmen designed all the dresses for their line. Their clothes were sold in many stores around the world.

In 2006, their clothing line was nominated for a special fashion award. In 2007, Milla and Hawk designed the costume for Milla's character Alice in Resident Evil: Extinction. Later, they designed a collection for Target's Go International campaign. In 2008, Milla and Carmen decided to end the business. Milla explained that she is an artist and found it hard to deal with the business side of things.

Personal Life and Interests

Family Life

Milla Jovovich has been married three times. Her first marriage was to actor Shawn Andrews in 1992. She was 16 at the time, and her mother had the marriage canceled two months later. She then married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1997. They divorced in 1999.

Milla met film writer and director Paul W. S. Anderson while working on the 2002 film Resident Evil. They got engaged in 2003 and married on August 22, 2009. They have three daughters. Their first daughter, Ever Anderson, was born in 2007. Their second daughter, Dashiel Edan, was born in 2015. Their third daughter, Osian Lark Elliot, was born in 2020. Milla lives in Los Angeles and New York City.

Hobbies and Views

Milla speaks Russian, English, French, and Serbian. She grew up in a Russian household. She has said that her Russian roots are very important to her. She still speaks Russian with her daughters and reads them Russian stories. She believes that education and intelligence are a big part of Russian culture.

Milla practices yoga and meditates often. She tries to live a healthy lifestyle. She considers herself a "spiritual person" and prays. She also enjoys playing the guitar and writing poems and song lyrics.

In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Milla shared her support for Ukraine on her Instagram page. She wrote that she was "heartbroken" by the events in her birthplace. In October 2023, Milla signed an open letter asking for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Two Moon Junction	Samantha Delongpre
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 de Sabat
1998	He Got Game	Dakota Burns
1999	The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc	Joan of Arc
2000	The Claim	Lucia
	The Million Dollar Hotel	Eloise
2001	Zoolander	Katinka Ingaborgovinanana
2002	Dummy	Fangora "Fanny" Gurkel
	Resident Evil	Alice
	No Good Deed	Erin
	You Stupid Man	Nadine
2004	Resident Evil: Apocalypse	Alice
2005	Needlework Pictures Presents Francesco Vezzoli in Gore Vidal's 'Caligula'	Julia Drusilla	Short film
2006	Ultraviolet	Violet Song jat Shariff
	.45	Kat
2007	Resident Evil: Extinction	Alice
2008	Palermo Shooting	Herself	Uncredited
2009	A Perfect Getaway	Cydney Anderson
	The Fourth Kind	Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tyler
2010	Stone	Lucetta Creeson
	Resident Evil: Afterlife	Alice
	Dirty Girl	Sue-Ann Edmondston
2011	Lucky Trouble	Nadya
	Bringing Up Bobby	Olive
	The Three Musketeers	Milady de Winter
	Faces in the Crowd	Anna Marchant	Also executive producer
2012	Resident Evil: Retribution	Alice
2014	Cymbeline	The Queen
2015	Survivor	Kate Abbott
	A Warrior's Tail	Savva	Voice; English dub
2016	Zoolander 2	Katinka Ingaborgovinanana
	Resident Evil: The Final Chapter	Alice / Alicia Marcus
2017	Shock and Awe	Vlatka
2018	Future World
2019	Paradise Hills	The Duchess
	Hellboy	Vivienne Nimue, the Blood Queen
	The Rookies	Senior Agent Bruce
2020	Monster Hunter	Captain Natalie Artemis
2020	Showbiz Kids	Self
2024	Breathe	Tess
2025	In the Lost Lands	Gray Alys	Post-production
TBA	Midnight	TBA
	World Breaker	TBA

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Video Games

Music Videos

Discography

Studio Albums

Singles

Soundtrack Appearances

Compilation Appearances

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Milla Jovovich para niños