Milla Jovovich (pronounced; Serbian:
Milica Jovović/
Милица Јововић; Russian:
Милла Йовович; Ukrainian:
Мiлла Йовович; born as
Milica Jovović, on December 17, 1975) is a Serbian-Ukrainian model, actress, musician, and fashion designer.
Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".
Jovovich began modeling at eleven, when Richard Avedon featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements, and she continued her career with other notable campaigns for L'Oreal cosmetics, Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Donna Karan and Versace. In 1988, she had her first professional acting role in the television film
The Night Train to Kathmandu, and later that year she appeared in her first feature film,
Two Moon Junction. Following more small television and film roles, she gained notoriety with the romance film
Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), the sequel to
The Blue Lagoon. Jovovich then acted alongside Bruce Willis in the science fiction film
The Fifth Element (1997), and later played the title role in
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). In 2002, she starred in the video game adaptation,
Resident Evil, which has gone on to spawn two sequels:
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).
In addition to her modeling and acting career, Jovovich released a critically acclaimed musical album,
The Divine Comedy in 1994. She continues to release demos for other songs on her official website and contributes to film soundtracks as well; Jovovich has yet to release another album. In 2003, she and model Carmen Hawk created the clothing line Jovovich-Hawk. The line ceased operations in early 2008. Jovovich also has her own production company, Creature Entertainment.
