American Actress Milla Jovovich

Milica Bogdanovna "Milla" Jovovich born on December 17,1975. She is an American actress, model, musician, and fashion designer. She has appeared in numerous science fiction and action films, leading the music channel VH1 to deem her the "reigning queen of kick-butt" in 2006.

Born in Kiev, Jovovich immigrated with her parents to the United States when she was five. In 1987, she began modeling at the age of 12 when Herb Ritts photographed her for the cover of the Italian magazine Lei. Richard Avedon featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements. In 1988, Jovovich had her first acting role in the television film The Night Train to Kathmandu, and that year also appeared in her first feature film, Two Moon Junction.

Jovovich gained attention for her role in the explicit 1991 romance film Return to the Blue Lagoon, as she was then only 15. She was considered to have a breakthrough with her role in the 1997 French science-fiction film The Fifth Element written and directed by Luc Besson. She and Besson married that year, but soon divorced. She starred as the heroine and martyr in Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999).

In 2002, Jovovich starred in the science fiction horror film Resident Evil, adapted from the video game series of the same name. It was disliked by critics, but was commercially successful. She reprised her role in four sequels, all in the apocalyptic fiction action horror genre, made between 2004 and 2012.

Jovovich released an album, The Divine Comedy, in 1994. She continues to release demos for other songs on her official website and contributes to film soundtracks. In 2003, she and model Carmen Hawk created the clothing line Jovovich-Hawk. Jovovich has her own production company, Creature Entertainment.

 Early life and family:

Milla Jovovich was born in 1975 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.

In 1980, when Milla was five years old, her family left the Soviet Union for political reasons and emigrated to London. They subsequently immigrated to Sacramento, California, settling in Los Angeles seven months later. Milla's parents divorced soon after their arrival in Los Angeles.

In 1988, her father had a relationship with an Argentine woman, and they had a son, Marco Jovovich. Due to her parents' divorce years before, Milla saw little of her half brother.

In Los Angeles, her mother, Galina Jovovich, tried to get acting jobs, but found little success because of language barriers, and eventually resorted to cleaning houses to earn money. Both parents served as cooks and housekeepers for director Brian De Palma. Milla's father was convicted and imprisoned for participating in an illegal operation concerning medical insurance; he was given a 20-year sentence in 1994, but was released in 1999 after serving five years. According to Milla, "Prison was good for him. He's become a much better person. It gave him a chance to stop and think."

Milla attended public schools in Los Angeles, becoming fluent in English in three months. In school, she was teased by classmates for coming from the Soviet Union: "I was called a commie and a Russian spy. I was never, ever, ever accepted into the crowd."^] At age 12, Milla left seventh grade to focus on modeling, which she had started at age nine. She has said she was rebellious during her early teens, engaging in drug use, shopping mall vandalism, and credit-card fraud. In 1994, she became naturalized as a U.S. citizen at the age of 19.

Modeling Career:

When Milla was eleven and living in Los Angeles her mother Galina wanted a new set of head shots for her, they were recommended to a male model turned photographer Carlos Reynosa. He became intrigued by her deep presence. After the shoot Carlos Reynosa recommended Galina take young Milla to the modelling agency he was represented by in Los Angeles called Prima / East West. Milla was signed to the agency upon arrival. A few days later, after shooting her first test, her pictures were shown to famed photographer Herb Ritz who immediately recognized the child Milla's beauty and strong persona. The next day Ritts booked the 11-year-old Milla for the cover of Italian magazine Lei, and London style magazine The Face. The covers gave the young Milla her launch and soon after legendary photographer Richard Avedon hired her for the American Edition of Mademoiselle. When the magazine became aware of Milla's age they refused to run the cover insisting that the magazine was a Women's magazine. Avedon threatened to stop shooting for the publication if they did not honor his artistic choice and the magazine relented and ran the cover, making eleven-year-old Milla the youngest model to ever appear on the cover of an American Women's Fashion Magazine. Avedon was also head of marketing at Revlon at the time, and chose young Milla to appear with established models Alexa Singer and Sandra Zatezalo in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements.

Acting Career (early work 1985-1993):

Jovovich's mother had "raised [her] to be a movie star." In 1985, Galina enrolled Jovovich at the age of 10 in the Professional Actors School in California.

In 1988, Jovovich appeared in her first professional role as Lily McLeod in the made-for-television film The Night Train to Kathmandu. Later that year, she made her debut in a feature film as Samantha Delongpre in the romantic thriller Two Moon Junction. She had several roles in television series, including Paradise (1988), Married... with Children (1989) and Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990).

At age 15, she was cast as the lead as Lilli Hargrave in Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), opposite Brian Krause. Given her age and beauty, she was often compared to Brooke Shields, a child model-turned-actress who had starred in the original Blue Lagoon. The role was controversial, as Jovovich appeared nude in the film, as had Shields in The Blue Lagoon.. For this role, Jovovich was nominated both for "Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture" at the 1991 Young Artist Awards, and "Worst New Star" at the 1991 Golden Raspberry Awards. In 1992, Milla Jovovich co-starred with Christian Slater in the comedy Kuffs. Later that year, she portrayed Mildred Harris in the Charlie Chaplin biographical film Chaplin. In 1993 she acted in Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused. She played Michelle Burroughs, on-screen girlfriend to Pickford (played by her then-boyfriend Shawn Andrews). Strongly featured in promotions for the film, Jovovich was upset to find her role much reduced in the released film. Discouraged, she took a hiatus from acting roles, moving to Europe. She started to work at music.