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In addition to her modeling and acting career, Jovovich released a music album, The Divine Comedy in 1994. She continues to release demos for other songs on her official website and contributes to film soundtracks; Jovovich has yet to release another album. In 2003, she and model Carmen Hawk created the clothing line Jovovich-Hawk, which ceased operations in early 2008.[7] In its third season prior to its demise, the pieces could be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, and over 50 stores around the world. Jovovich also has her own production company, Creature Entertainment.[8]
Early life and family
Milla was born December 17, 1975 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, the daughter of Bogdan Bogdanović Jovović (Богдан Богдановић Јововић), a Serbian[9][10] pediatrician, and Galina Mikhaylovna Loginova (Галина Михайловна Логинова), a Russian[11][12] stage actress.
In 1981, when Milla was five years old, her family left the Soviet Union for political reasons[15] and moved to London. They subsequently lived in Sacramento, California before settling in Los Angeles seven months later; Milla's parents divorced soon after.
In 1988, as a result of her father's relationship with a woman from Argentina,[16] Milla's half-brother[17] Marco Jovovich, was born.[18] Milla's mother attempted to support the family with acting jobs, but found little success, and eventually resorted to cleaning houses to earn money. Both her father and mother provided house cleaning services for director Brian De Palma.[19] Milla's father was incarcerated for participating in an illegal operation concerning medical insurance; he was given a 20-year sentence in 1994,[20] but was released in 1999 after serving five years in an American prison.[13][21] According to Milla, "Prison was good for him. He's become a much better person. It gave him a chance to stop and think."[22]
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Modeling career
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In an article published in 2002, she was said to be Miuccia Prada's muse[28] and in an article published in 2003, Harpers & Queen magazine claimed Jovovich was Gianni Versace's "favourite supermodel".[8] In 2004, Jovovich topped Forbes magazine's "Richest Supermodels of the World" list, earning a reported $10.5 million.[11] In 2006, Jovovich was picked up by Spanish clothing line Mango as their new spokesmodel and is currently featured in their ad campaigns;[31] she can also be seen in advertisements for Etro. She has noted that "Modeling was never a priority"[32] and it instead enables her "to be selective about the creative decisions [she] make[s]".[8]
Acting career
Early work (1985–1993)
Jovovich's mother had "raised [her] to be a movie star"[22] and in 1985, enrolled Jovovich in the Professional Actors school in California.[15][33][34]In 1988, she appeared in her first professional role in the made-for-television film The Night Train to Kathmandu as Lily McLeod. Later that year, she made her debut in a theatrically released picture with a small role, as Samantha Delongpre, in the romantic thriller Two Moon Junction. Following roles on the television series Paradise (1988) and Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990), Jovovich was cast as the lead as Lilli Hargrave in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). This sequel to The Blue Lagoon (1980) placed her opposite Brian Krause. Return to the Blue Lagoon led to comparisons between her and child model-turned-actress, Brooke Shields (who had starred in the original) – Jovovich was often called by press the "Slavic Brooke Shields".[35] The role also gained her controversy, much like Shields gained in The Blue Lagoon, for appearing nude at a young age.[24] For her portrayal of Lilli Hargrave, Jovovich was nominated for both "Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture" at the 1991 Young Artist Awards, and "Worst New Star" at the 1991 Golden Raspberry Awards.[36]
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Breakthrough (1997–2001)
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International success (2002–2006)
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Recent and future roles (2007–present)
In 2007, Jovovich reprised her role as Alice in Resident Evil: Extinction, the third of the Resident Evil series. The film grossed an estimated $24 million in 2,828 theaters on its opening weekend, topping the box office gross for that week.[54] It opened stronger than its predecessor, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which opened with $23 million in 3,284 theaters (over 450 more theaters than Extinction).[55] In a March 2006 interview, Jovovich said that she would not appear in another action film "for a long time", expressing a desire to portray more diverse roles, but she added that talks of another sequel in the Resident Evil franchise were a "real possibility".[56][57]Jovovich was set to portray Amalia Bezhetskaya in The Winter Queen in 2007, however, with the announcement of her pregnancy early that year, the film was postponed until Summer 2008. Also in 2009, Jovovich starred in David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway with Kiele Sanchez, Timothy Olyphant, and Steve Zahn. The film is a thriller about a newlywed couple (Milla and Zahn) on their honeymoon in Hawaii. Filming began Spring 2008.[51]
Jovovich played Lucetta, the wife of a jailed arsonist (played by Edward Norton) in Stone, a psychological thriller starring Robert De Niro. Filming began in May 2009 at the recently closed Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan.[58]
Jovovich played the part of Dr. Abigail Tyler in the science-fiction thriller The Fourth Kind[59] and will star in the psychological thriller Faces in the Crowd,[60] which is written and directed by Julien Magnat;[61] in the latter film, she plays the survivor of a serial killer’s attack that leaves her suffering from a condition called prosopagnosia, which renders her unable to recognize faces.[62][dead link]
Jovovich returned as Alice[63] in the fourth movie of the Resident Evil series, Afterlife, which was directed by her husband, Paul W. S. Anderson.[64] She is set to star in David R. Ellis' horror film Bad Luck, based on a screenplay by David Schouw.[65] Jovovich is also set to star in Paul W. S. Anderson's The Three Musketeers as Milady de Winter in 2011, as well as Famke Janssen's debut directional film Bringing Up Bobby, which also stars Marcia Cross, in 2011. Vikrutasi, a Russian film which translates into Tricksters, will also star Jovovich.
Dirty Girl, which premiered on September 12, 2010 at the Toronto Film Festival, stars Jovovich along with Juno Temple, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen and Tim McGraw.
Awards and nominations
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In 2002, she received a nomination for the Saturn Best Actress Award for her role as Alice in Resident Evil and won Best Actress in a sci-fi/action film for Resident Evil: Extinction from the Scream Awards in 2008.
She has also been nominated for Best Horror Actress for playing Dr. Abigal Tyler in The Fourth Kind for Scream Awards 2010 and won the Hollywood Spotlight Award at the 14th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala for her role as Lucetta in Stone.[66]
Music career
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In May 1999, Jovovich along with Chris Brenner formed an experimental band called Plastic Has Memory, in which she wrote the songs, sang, and played electric guitar.[70] The band was "[m]uch heavier and darker than the vaguely Ukrainian folk-sounding elements of her first album" and had a similar sound to a grunge and trip hop Portishead.[71] Plastic Has Memory played about a dozen shows in Los Angeles and New York City for a potential Virgin Records album release,[72] one of which Mick Jagger had attended.[73] Though Plastic Has Memory was featured on Hollywood Goes Wild, a benefit celebrity compilation album, the group never formally released a record and is no longer together.[74]
Jovovich has contributed tracks to several of her film soundtracks, including The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) and Dummy (2002), and has also provided songs for the soundtracks of films in which she has not acted such as Underworld (2003) produced by musician Danny Lohner who was the bass player in Nine Inch Nails for many years. In 2001, Jovovich was one of many celebrities whose vocals were featured in a cover of "We are Family" to raise money for the American Red Cross. She has appeared as guest vocalist on the song "Former Lover" on Deepak Chopra's album, A Gift of Love II: Oceans of Ecstasy (2002) and Legion of Boom (2004) by The Crystal Method.
Since 2003, Jovovich has worked with musician Maynard James Keenan, of Tool and A Perfect Circle, on his Industrial side project Puscifer,[75] contributing vocals to the track "REV 22:20", which was featured on various film soundtracks in its original or a remixed form.[76] As of January, 2009, she can be heard collaborating with Maynard and Danny Lohner on the Puscifer track called, "The Mission."[77] She also performed the song at the first live Puscifer performance on February 13, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Danny Lohner, and longtime music collaborator Chris Brenner currently continue to record and perform with Jovovich who has made several highly praised appearances in recent years.
Jovovich continues to write songs which she refers to as "demos", and which are provided for free in MP3 format on her official website. She provides license to freely download and remix the tracks, but reserves the right to sell and issue them.[78]
Fashion design
Jovovich and fellow model Carmen Hawk launched a line of clothing called Jovovich-Hawk in 2003. The pair opened a showroom in New York City's Greenwich Village on September 13, 2005, and the line lasted for four years. All of the dresses for Jovovich-Hawk line were designed by herself and her partner Carmen Hawk, in The atelier is based in Los Angeles, but pieces could be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, and over 50 stores around the world. Vogue has praised the line for its "girl-about-town cult status most designers spend years trying to achieve."[79]In November 2006, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and US Vogue nominated Jovovich-Hawk for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award. Jovovich-Hawk was nominated as a finalist, although Doo-Ri Chung took the top prize.[80]
In 2007, Jovovich and Hawk designed the costume for Jovovich's character in Resident Evil: Extinction. The shorts Alice, her character, wears are a variation on the 'Alice Star' Shorts from the Spring 2007 collection.[81] In late 2007, Jovovich-Hawk signed a deal to design a diffusion collection for Target's Go International campaign, following in the footsteps of Luella, Paul & Joe and Proenza Schouler.[82]
In late 2008, Jovovich and Hawk mutually agreed to end the business due to increased demands on their time. Jovovich explained, "I'm an artist. I'm not someone who can deal with shipping rates and taxes."[83]
Media personality
Jovovich has been noted for her careers as a model, singer, and actress. Music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt" for her roles in various sci-fi and action films[84] and Rebecca Flint Marx of Allmovie said that despite the negative critical response for the Resident Evil films, the franchise has turned Jovovich into an "A-list action star."[85] Her action roles have given her a geek[86][87] following for which MTV said she was "Every Geek's Dream Girl."[86][88]In 2004, Jovovich was ranked #69 on Maxim magazine's "Top 100 Hot List",[89] ranked #82 in 2005 and ranked #21 in 2010.[90] Maxim also named her #11 on their list of "Hottest Nerd Crushes."[91] In 2008, she was ranked #90 on Ask Men's Top 99 Women of 2008 List.[92]
Personal life
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Prior to her relationship with Anderson, Jovovich married on-screen boyfriend Shawn Andrews in 1992 while filming Dazed and Confused together. Andrews was 21, while Jovovich was 16; the marriage was annulled by her mother two months later.[102] Shortly after the annulment, Jovovich moved to Europe with her friend and musician Chris Brenner where she met and then lived with her new boyfriend, Jamiroquai ex-bassist Stuart Zender, in London from May 1994 to October 1995.[20][37][103] From 1995 to 1997, she was serious with noted photographer Mario Sorrenti. In Las Vegas, she married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1998 where they went skydiving directly after the ceremony; they divorced in 1999.[8] Between 1998 and 2001, she befriended the young poet and musician, Anno Birkin, and each was the other's inspiration behind many of their compositions. Jovovich became involved with Birkin romantically just before his death in a car accident in late 2001. Jovovich also dated[13] former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, for seven months in 2000.[35]
In 2006, Jovovich mentioned her interest in publishing her private diaries as an autobiography. She had kept a diary since childhood, writing about the locations she has traveled and "all the mad things that [she's] done". Jovovich has stated that she views publication as a way to "get it all into a book — like an autobiography", and it would have a "diary feel to it". However, she also commented that she was "...not sure how interested anyone would be in publishing it, or reading it, for that matter."[104] However, in 2010, Jovovich claimed the autobiography to be pure rumor stating, "I have no idea where that came from. I guess somebody said something about me publishing my diaries online and when I heard that I was like, 'No way.'"[105]
In addition to being a smoker,[106] Jovovich has advocated the legalisation of cannabis, and appeared in a spread and on the cover for High Times.[28] In an article published in 1994, she admitted that her only vices were cigarettes and cannabis.[37] She practices yoga and meditates often in attempts to live a healthy lifestyle; although not affiliating with any specific religion, she prays and considers herself a "spiritual person".[51] She avoids junk foods and prefers to cook for herself. She practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in addition to other varieties of martial arts.[107] Jovovich also enjoys playing the guitar, writing in a diary, and writing poems and lyrics for songs.[108]
Jovovich has establish a charitable foundation to help Ukrainian children in 2005.[109] At the time she referred to herself: ”I am a strong Ukrainian girl, that is why I work a lot”.[109]
Jovovich can speak Russian and English fluently, and a little French.[37][110][111][112]
Discography
- Official studio album
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Sales |
---|---|---|---|
UK | |||
1994 | The Divine Comedy
| – |
|
- Unauthorized album by Jovovich
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Sales |
---|---|---|---|
UK | |||
1998 | The People Tree Sessions
| – |
|
- Compilations, soundtracks and albums featuring Jovovich
- The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture (2000) – "Satellite of Love" (with the MDH Band)
- Hollywood Goes Wild Benefit compilation (2001) – "On the Hill" (with her band, Plastic Has Memory)
- The Rules of Attraction Soundtrack (2002) – "The Gentleman Who Fell"
- Dummy Soundtrack (2002) – "Shein VI Di l'Vone" and "Mezinka" (with Botanica Bulgar Ensemble)
- A Gift of Love II: Oceans of Ecstasy (by Deepak Chopra) (2002) – "Former Lover" (with Deepak Chopra)
- Underworld Soundtrack (2003) – "Rocket Collecting" (with Danny Lohner)
- Legion of Boom (by The Crystal Method) (2004) – "I Know It's You" (with The Crystal Method)
- Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Soundtrack (2009) – Underneath the Stars (Renholder Mix) (by The Cure, also featuring with Maynard James Keenan)
- "The Mission" (2008 single by Puscifer, a side project of Maynard James Keenan, vocalist of Tool) (also featuring Renholder)
Filmography
Year | Title | 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 Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc | Joan of Arc | |
2000 | The Claim | Lucia | |
2001 | The Million Dollar Hotel | Eloise | |
2001 | Zoolander | Katinka Ingabogovinanana | |
2002 | Resident Evil | Alice | |
2002 | You Stupid Man | Nadine | |
2003 | Dummy | Fangora "Fanny" Gurkel | |
2003 | No Good Deed | Erin | |
2004 | Resident Evil: Apocalypse | Alice | |
2005 | Gore Vidal's Caligula | Drusilla | Trailer/Short film |
2006 | Ultraviolet | Violet Song jat Shariff | |
2007 | .45 | Kat | |
2007 | Resident Evil: Extinction | Alice | |
2008 | Palermo Shooting | Herself | |
2009 | A Perfect Getaway | Cydney Anderson | |
2009 | The Fourth Kind | Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tyler | |
2010 | Stone | Lucetta | |
2010 | Resident Evil: Afterlife | Alice | |
2010 | Dirty Girl | Sue-Ann | |
2011 | Vykrutasy (Frills) | Nadya | Russian Movie |
2011 | The Three Musketeers | Milady de Winter | Filming |
2011 | Bringing Up Bobby | Post-production | |
2011 | Faces in the Crowd | Anna Marchant | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | The Night Train to Kathmandu | Lily McLeod | (TV movie) |
1988 | Paradise | Katie | Episode "Childhood's End" |
1989 | Married... with Children | Yvette | Episode "Fair Exchange" |
1990 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Robin Fecknowitz | Episode "Pilot" |
2002 | King of the Hill | Serena | Episode "Get Your Freak Off" |
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