 Milla
Natasha Jovovich was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on December 17, 1975. She spent her
early childhood between London, where her father Bogdanovitch Jovovich was studying,
and Russia, where her mother, Gallina Loginova lived. Her family soon moved to
California, where Milla experienced difficulty adapting to the American way of
life.
She began acting at the age of 9, and modeling at 11. Her first cover
was for the Italian fashion magazine Lei. A six-page fashion spread by Herb Ritts
for a French fashion magazine quickly moved Milla Jovovich, the young and barely-trained
model, to the top ranks. In her first year alone, she completed 15 fashion covers
and countless other shoots, still managing the time for her studies -including
the training necessary for runway work- as well as maintaining her teenage social
life. She released her first movie in 1988, entitled Two Moon Junction, followed
by The Night Train to Kathmandu. She took the modeling world by storm, and impressed
critics with her uncanny ability to carry herself at such a young age. She's been
in Calvin Klein, Escape, and dozens of other high profile ads, as well as in all
the major glamour magazines. She displayed maturity and talent beyond her
years, and continued her acting career with the release of Return to Blue Lagoon
in 1991, and Kuffs and Chaplin in 1992. At the age of 16, she married 21-year-old
actor boyfriend Shawn Andrews (whom she was involved with on the set of Dazed
and Confused), only to have the marriage annulled two months later. After
filming Dazed and Confused in 1993, her career was already in full swing. Milla
looked to conquer a third domain; the world of music. She released her first album
at the age of 18, entitled The Divine Comedy. Unlike most actresses and models
that try their hand at singing careers see Caprice here, and end up with a lackluster
attempt, Jovovich's album was well-received. Next on her list was the the
Fifth Element, the sci-fi movie starring Bruce Willis that takes place in the
future. In this role, Milla Jovovich was appropriately cast as the perfect being.
Playing Leeloo, Jovovich's modeling experience came in handy -the character was
engineered, and required Milla Jovovich to use little facial expressions, and
portray an innocent and distant look. In the spring of '98, she starred
in a Spike Lee Joint with Denzel Washington, entitled He Got Game. Here she played
a prostitute who suffers from a severe beating, but Jovovich gets very little
on-screen time. She went on to win the leading role in another Luc Besson film,
where she played the role of Joan Of Arc. Soon after the production was complete,
she married Besson. In 1999, Milla Jovovich starred in the horror film
The Boat House. Milla plays a teenager who has seen some evil creature and loses
her mind, and is sent to a mental hospital from which she later escapes. Her character
is described as a beautiful, yet fragile girl. Next on her list are The Million
Dollar Hotel and Kingdom Come. She also plans to return to school and finish
some of the classes she dreaded taking in high school, like math, chemistry, and
physics. She stated: All the things I was bored with in high school. I didn't
understand the importance of math then, which is stupid. It provides the building
blocks of reality. She also plans to return to the studio to record another
album. She is unsure of exactly where she would like her career to go, but remains
true to her belief with her integrity, honesty and sincerity. I just want to make
one really good movie a year. And when I die, to know I was honest as an artist,
and for this we have to respect her.
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