Milla Jovovich Biography

Milla Jovovich was born Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich on 17 December 1975, in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, to a Serbian doctor, Bogdan Jovovich, and a Russian actor, Galina Loginova Jovovich. Jovovich’s family moved to Sacramento, California, USA when she was five years old. She completed her education at ‘Excelsior High School’ in Los Angeles.

She started modeling at a very young age. One of her initial assignments, which was to model for ‘Revlon,’ was shot by the iconic photographer Richard Avedon.

At the age of 11, she posed for her first magazine cover for an Italian magazine named ‘Lei.’

She made her film debut in 1988 when she played ‘Samantha Delongpre’ in a film titled ‘Two Moon Junction.’ At the age of 15, she played the lead role in ‘Return to the Blue Lagoon,’ which was released in 1991.

She also played small but memorable roles in many films. Some of her roles in these films include Charlie Chaplin's child-bride in ‘Chaplin’ (1992) and a guitar-playing hippie in ‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993).

As a singer and songwriter, she came up with her debut album ‘The Divine Comedy’ (1994) when she was just 18 years old.

She took a small break from acting to focus on her music career. She returned to the big screen in 1997 with a lead role in the Luc Besson-directed science fiction film 'The Fifth Element' where she appeared alongside Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman. She played the orange-haired ‘Leeloo,’ a genetically engineered woman with supernatural powers.

She worked with Besson once again for the 1999 historical drama ‘The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.’ The film had extensive battle scenes and Jovovich had to cut her hair short for the role.

In 2002, she starred in the movie 'Resident Evil,' which was based on the eponymous video game series. She was trained in karate, kickboxing, and combat training to perform the stunts in the film.

She also starred in the sequels of the ‘Resident Evil’ series. These films were released in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2016.

Apart from making her mark as an action heroine, she also earned great appreciation for her roles in dramatic thriller films, such as ‘A Perfect Getaway’ and ‘Stone’, released in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Since 2013, Milla has acted in several science-fiction and action thriller movies, such as ‘Cymbeline’ (2014), ‘Shock and Awe’ (2017), ‘The Rookies’ (2018), and ‘Hellboy’ (2019). In 2020, she played the role of ‘Captain Natalie Artemis’ in the monster film ‘Monster Hunter.’ The film was based on the eponymous video game series and received mixed reviews from critics.

She made her debut as a voice actor when she voiced the character of ‘Savva’ in the English version of the Russian animated film ‘The Warrior’s Tail’ in 2015.

In the meantime, she also continued her modeling career, representing cosmetic brands like ‘L’Oreal.’ She also worked with prominent designers, including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Ann Taylor.

During the period between 2003 and 2008, she worked alongside Carmen Hawk in designing the women’s fashion line, ‘Jovovich-Hawk,’ which was well-received by the fashion world.

She is also a member of numerous philanthropic groups which include, ‘The Foundation for AIDS Research’ and the ‘Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.’

‘The Divine Comedy’ is her first studio album which was released in 1994. The album earned positive reviews and its single ‘Gentleman Who Fell’ charted at number 21 on the ‘Billboard Modern Rock Tracks’ chart.

‘The People Tree Sessions’ is an electronic or folk or rock album by Emit Bloch and Milla Jovovich. The album was released in 1998. In 2000, the album was chosen as the 'Pop CD of the Week' and was given 3 out of 5 stars by the ‘Guardian’ newspaper.

‘Resident Evil,’ one of her highly successful movies, earned her worldwide fame. After the film’s release, she became one of the A-list action stars in Hollywood.

In 1992, she was nominated for ‘Young Artist Award’ for her performance in the film ‘Return to the Blue Lagoon.’

In 1998, she was nominated for the ‘Saturn Award’ for ‘Best Supporting Actress,’ ‘Blockbuster Entertainment Favorite Newcomer Award,’ and ‘MTV Movie Best Fight Scene Award’ for her performance as ‘Leeloo’ in ‘The Fifth Element.’

In 2003, she was once again nominated for the ‘Saturn Best Actress Award’ for her role in ‘Resident Evil.’

She won the ‘Best Actress in a sci-fi/action film’ for her role in ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’ in 2008 at the ‘Scream Awards.’

She married thrice; her first marriage was to Shawn Andrews in 1992. This marriage ended in an annulment two months later. Her second marriage was to director Luc Besson in 1997; the couple divorced two years later.

She married film director and writer Paul W. S. Anderson on 22 August 2009. The couple has two daughters, Ever Gabo Anderson and Dashiel Edan Anderson. They welcomed another daughter named Osian Lark Elliot in 2020.

The famous actor had to shoot for a scene in ‘Resident Evil: Apocalypse’ where she had to remain alone in a small tank. Being claustrophobic, she said that shooting for the scene was the scariest thing she ever did.

Fluent in English, this prominent celebrity also speaks French, Serbian, and Ukrainian.

This actor practices martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.