Milla Jovovich Biography

Milla Jovovich was born December 17, 1975 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. Her father was Bogdan Bogdanovich Jovovic', a Serbian pediatrician. Her mother, Galina Loginova, was a Soviet stage actress of ethnic Russian descent.

In 1981, when Jovovich was five years old, her family moved first to London, and then to Sacramento, California before eventually settling in Los Angeles seven months later. Jovovich's parents divorced shortly after coming to the United States.

At the age of nine, Jovovich began going to modeling auditions, and was signed by Prima modeling agency. At eleven, she was noticed by photographer Richard Avedon, who was head of marketing at Revlon at the time. Avedon chose Jovovich to appear with models Alexa Singer and Sandra Zatezalo in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements. Her modeling career has continued to flourish, including notable campaigns for L'Oreal cosmetics, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Versace and Banana Republic. She has appeared on more than one hundred magazine covers, including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar and In Style.

In 1988, Jovovich began her professional acting career with a lead role in the television film The Night Train to Kathmandu. Later that year she appeared in her first feature film, with a small role in the romantic thriller Two Moon Junction. Following more minor television and film roles, she garnered controversy for appearing partially nude at age 15 in the romance film Return to Blue Lagoon (1991), the sequel to The Blue Lagoon.

In 1992, Jovovich co-starred with Christian Slater in the comedy Kuffs and portrayed Mildred Harris in the Charlie Chaplin biographical film Chaplin. In 1993, she appeared in the cult film Dazed and Confused. During the production, she eloped with on-screen boyfriend, actor Shawn Andrews, despite being only 16. Her mother had marriage annulled, and sent Jovovich to Europe. While in Europe, she recorded an album of ethereal pop titled The Divine Comedy (released in 1994), which featured a nude portrait of her as its cover art. A long hiatus from acting followed.

Jovovich returned to acting in 1997 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 yielded two sequels: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), with a fourth, Resident Evil: Afterlife, in production in 2009.

A complete listing of Jovovich's films can be found in the Filmography section of this website.

In addition to her modeling and acting career, Jovovich is a musician. In addition to the critically-acclaimed musical album, The Divine Comedy in 1994, she also performed in a band called Plastic Has Memory in 1999, which contributed a song to the Underworld (2003) soundtrack. She continues to release songs for download on her official website (www.millaj.com).

In 2003, Milla Jovovich and model Carmen Hawk created the clothing line Jovovich-Hawk. The Jovovich-Hawk label could be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, Saks and over 50 stores around the world. Beginning in 2008, Jovovich-Carmen Hawk created a limited-edition collection for Target. Jovovich-Hawk ended in 2008.

Jovovich also has her own production company, Creature Entertainment.

In August 2009, Milla Jovovich’s official website confirmed that Jovovich and her Resident Evil director-fiancé Paul W.S. Anderson will be getting married. Anderson and Jovovich have been together for 8 years, and he is the father of her daughter, Ever Anderson, who was born November 3, 2007.