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Milla Jovovich (born Milica Jovović; Serbian Cyrillic: Милица Јововић; Russian: Милла(Милица) Йовович; December 17, 1975) is a Ukrainian-American actress, musician and model best known for her role as Leeloo in The Fifth Element and Alice in the live-action films based on Capcom's Resident Evil series.

Biography[]

Work in Resident Evil[]

Jovovich was aware of the Resident Evil franchise through her younger brother, Marco who was an enthusiastic Resident Evil gamer, and wanted to be in the film as a present.[1][2] After hearing a film was in pre-production, Jovovich approached director Paul W.S. Anderson seeking a part, and was first to answer a casting call for the Alice character in October 2000, winning it in December after three callbacks.[2][3][4] Shortly before principal photography, Jovovich received an updated script which gave a greater presence to "Rain", who was until then a minor character who died in Dining Hall B but who became a major character after Michelle Rodriguez got the part. These changes almost led to Jovovich dropping out of the project, but was convinced to stay by Anderson.[5] While in Germany, Jovovich was trained to perform her own stunts by stunt coordinator Jaymes Butler, and was set to perform all but one in the access tunnels that involved wires.[6]

Over the course of the film shoot, Jovovich suffered a number of injuries owing to her costume which prevented padding being worn.[7] These injuries accumulated until they became a problem for both continuity and believability to the audience, who would not have been aware the injuries were real. In one incident, a battery exploded and burning acid landed on her face.[8] In the weekends, Jovovich continued her modelling career with L'Óreal, and suffered a deep cut to her hand in another accident.[8] It was around this time that she also discovered she had cervical cancer and had to get treatment.[9]

Apocalypse[]

After the film's release in early 2002, Jovovich was brought back for the sequel, Resident Evil: Apocalypse. With a closer relationship to Anderson, Jovovich was able to add her own ideas to the film and is credited with having it set during a heatwave as reason for Sienna Guillory to wear Jill's outfit from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.[10] During filming of a rooftop sequence, Jovovich's knuckles were bloodied, further affecting her career as a model as after sustaining injuries in two separate films L'Óreal made sure to use a hand model for close-ups.[11]

Extinction[]

Although ideas were already being conceived of for a third film before Apocalypse's release, Sony's continuing skepticism of Resident Evil being a long-term investment delayed plans. The film was green-lit in June 2005, though Jovovich initially turned down the offer after reading the script, which wanted to turn Alice into a monster of some kind. With Anderson still on board as writer, Jovovich accepted another version of the story without this element.[12]

Personal life[]

Jovovich began dating Anderson not long after filming of Resident Evil concluded, and became engaged in March 2003.[13] On November 3, 2007, Jovovich gave birth to their first child, a girl named Ever Gabo Anderson. The two finally married in 2009. In 2013 the family was threatened by a stalker, resulting in Jovovich taking advice from authorities and responding less to Tweets from strangers.[14] In mid-2014 Milla fell pregnant with their second child, another daughter, which resulted in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter being delayed. She was born on April 1, 2015.

Sources[]

  1. Resident Evil DVD commentary.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Milla Jovovich roundtable interview (2002, iJunkets).
  3. alt.games.resident-evil "RE Movie Characters - Casting".
  4. What's new? (December 2000). millaj.com. Retrieved on 2021-02-24.
  5. RESIDENT EVIL ORAL HISTORY: SET SECRETS FROM ITS 15-YEAR RUN. inverse.com. Retrieved on 2021-07-29.
  6. Resident Evil (2002), DVD commentary.
  7. Resident Evil (2002), "Costumes".
  8. 8.0 8.1 Interview with Milla Jovovich. moviehabit.com. Retrieved on 2021-08-02.
  9. Close to her heart. LA Daily News. Archived from the original on 2005-12-23. Retrieved on 2021-02-24.
  10. Resident Evil: Apocalypse, DVD commentary.
  11. MILLA JOVOVICH BATTLES ZOMBIES, BLOODY HANDS ON 'RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE' SET. MTV (02/12/2004).
  12. Milla Jovovich Resident Evil Interview. female.com.au. Retrieved on 2021-07-29.
  13. What's new? (March 2003). millaj.com. Retrieved on 2021-02-24.
  14. Tweet dated 14 October 2014.
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