"Ultra-Hot" Milla Jovovich
Gorgeous Ukraine-born model/actress Milla Jovovich has a face to die for. In her new sci-fi actioner Ultraviolet, any bad guy who crosses her path does just that...die with flair!
The actress worked long and hard to train in a combo of martial arts skills and the result is like a graceful but deadly ballet on screen. Milla was very memorable in her role as an amusing but sad savior of Earth in the 1997 S.F film The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis. She was a critically-acclaimed Joan of Arc in The Messenger and kicks butt as another action heroine Alice in the "Resident Evil" films based on the series of video games.
In Ultraviolet, Milla looks ultra-sexy in tight tummy bearing outfits, long wigs, lots of weaponry and throwing out plenty of "I'd just as soon kill ya" stares. We caught up with the star at Sony Studios in L.A. and were delighted to meet a smiling, friendly woman in a 1930's style "bob" hairstyle wearing a lady-like white lace blouse, black jeans, black coat, red sandals and flashing a giant, 3-diamond dinner ring and a demure silver cross necklace. And, thank God, she didn't want to kill us. Milla was candid about her desire to have kids, love of martial arts, her cool costumes, her affection for video games and fun stuff like her favorite clothing designers and shopping addictions.
TeenHollywood: What initially drew you to this film that was different from the other futuristic ones you've done?
Milla:
I definitely thought the story was really touching because she's actually fighting for a cause against this totalitarian government who's trying to destroy a group of people. And through this, she meets this sick child and has to make the choice whether to save his life or continue with her crazy mission. So I thought this was really kind of important. There's something really special about that relationship, which I related to as well.
TeenHollywood: How did you relate?
Milla:
I'm getting to that place where I'm going to think about kids and family and stopping the totalitarian machine of my life to have kids. (laughs) So of course I felt as a woman, it's kind of the norm today that women are in their 40s and still not even thinking of having kids. It's like in this new generation, those issues are so different today. My mom had me when she was like 24.
TeenHollywood: As a model and sexy actress, do you worry what childbirth would do to your body?
Milla: For sure it will change my body, but I think I'll be alright. I mean, women today, honestly either they're like in their 40s with no kids or they're in their 40s and you would never know they have kids. Especially in LA or New York, you don't see women getting out of shape anymore after kids. That's kind of like a last generation thing maybe. My friends and I still feel like kids. [There is a car commercial] and the poster said it was "adult-ish". That to me was like a perfect nutshell of what my whole generation is. We're like 'Come on, I'm different. I'm cool.'
TeenHollywood: Do you see yourself as a role model for female fans like Sigourney Weaver was in the "Alien" films?
Milla:
I think it's a bit different. There are so many amazing martial arts in this movie. I think women really have to do martial arts because they don't need to be strong. It's really about being fast and using other people's strength against them. So it's kind of a perfect sport for women. You get in great shape. It's fun, so you don't feel the time go by. It's not like the stairmaster. I really recommend it, so I think it would be great for someone like Violet to be a role model.
TeenHollywood: Does doing martial arts give you more personal confidence and help you get in better touch with your body?
Milla: Definitely, definitely. I think it's so important to have a physical and sort of psychological kind of balance in your life, which I definitely don't have but I try. With the movies, it makes it much easier to go and train and discipline yourself. So I find that anytime I'm depressed or anytime I don't feel good, as soon as I go and train, it's fine. You really get that endorphin rush going. It's really healthful, makes you feel really good.
TeenHollywood: Do you take this physical training/awareness with you to the modeling world?
Milla: I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. But I've definitely been able to do a couple of commercials for L'Oreal where I do wire work.
TeenHollywood: Did you feel maternal toward the little boy, Cameron Bright who you protect in the film? Was he more like an adult or kid?
Milla:
Well, definitely a bit of both. Of course young actors are crazy in that sense because they're so mature and so professional. On the one hand, it's kind of like sad because I remember myself being that age and having to work and stuff. I have a feeling he's going to be alright. I think he's 11 or 12.
TeenHollywood: Did you play games off set with him?
Milla: Yeah, are you kidding? He's like a little hacker too, so he'd show me all the tricks on some of the games I like to play; how to cheat your way into getting more weapons or more land for your villages. I'm a very "Age of Empires" strategic player. I would build up the city, and he would go to war. He's great.
TeenHollywood: Did you have input into the great costumes?
Milla: Definitely.
I have a lot of suggestions when it comes to fashion, for sure. They gave me a lot of input. She was really crazy, sexy, which is what I wanted because I've never really played a part that is that sophisticated on film before. All the action movies I've done in the past have been kind of funny parts, but not sexy per se in a typical way. I wanted to be more straight ahead, a sophisticated hot chick.
TeenHollywood: Well, it worked! Were the outfits uncomfortable?
Milla: Yeah, definitely. I don't ever want to wear it again for sure. If they ever do a second one, we'll have to think of something else, something better. It was really cool but really insane-looking in real life. Like, my design partner in my clothing line went to China to visit me. She came over for a few weeks to do some drawings and talk about things. And she came on set, and was like, 'Oh my God. This is so insane.' I mean, it looked like clowny.
TeenHollywood: Bright colors or.....?
Milla: Well, everybody was dressed in these super crazy outfits.
It looked like some bad Eurotrash bar; all these men in these kind of like raincoat material in different color jackets. Weird stuff, and then me with that weird kind of crazy, like stripper-friendly sort of old Christina Aguilera [kind of clothes]. But, I find with modeling and with acting, a lot of things look ridiculous in real life, but then on film, something translates. It's really that movie magic thing that happens. Things can look good in a picture but don't always work in real life, so you've gotta really be careful.
TeenHollywood: Do you have any favorite designers?
Milla: Oh gosh, I love so many different types of designers and clothing. I definitely love big ones like Prada and Donna Karan I think are great. Alexander McQueen is awesome.
TeenHollywood: Do you have any shopping addictions?
Milla: Yeah. I get a lot of vintage clothes online. So I'm doing it constantly. I have to stop.
TeenHollywood: You do some awesome fighting in the film and Violet rides a hot motorcycle but we hear that you are afraid of them?
Milla: Yeah, I didn't do any of those stunts. No.
I did pretty much everything else, except for the motorcycle sequences. Because even though I like to be in a very safe, controlled environment, I am not safe or controlled in any way, shape or form. I like to have boundaries and people watching and taking care of me when I take risks like that. So, me and a huge, real motorcycle just doesn't make sense.
TeenHollywood: How different is the preparation for this from the "Resident Evil" films?
Milla: It was very different actually. I'd never worked with swords and weapons in the way that I did on this movie. I had to do all this sword spinning and using a wide cornucopia of weaponry in this movie, which is really fun. In "Resident Evil," it's much more straight ahead fighting. This was a lot more like a very Eastern-style martial arts. So there was a lot of elements, like Chinese filmmaking in the action sequences.
TeenHollywood: Didn't you work on this new Ultraviolet action a long time?
Milla: I ended up learning the choreography before I even started Resident Evil 2. So I was learning and working on it for like six, seven months before I got to China. And then we worked on it for like three months there and then filmed the movie and pretty much did the choreography throughout the shoot because all the fight sequences are so spread out. Like a year and a half In the end, doing all this stuff. But it's cool because I can still do everything, which is crazy. I have all my swords at home. I have my kali sticks next to my bed.
TeenHollywood: Whoa. Nobody better break into your house! Ever play the "Resident Evil" video game?
Milla: I did.
That's why I ended up doing the movie because I have a younger brother. He loves "Resident Evil," of course. It's something he really wanted me to do. He would play the game, and I would sit with him and talk him through it. I'd joke around and be like, 'Oh, you killed this other thing. Isn't that funny'? We would end up sitting for hours and playing this kind of together. I would end up getting into it. I'd be like, 'Go over there. See what's in that closet thing. Okay, open the thing. Oh, you have a choice between an ax and a machine gun. Look through your weapons.' So I was talking him through. I ended up having a really great time playing with him. So he was like, 'Oh, you'd be so perfect as the girl from 'Resident Evil.' So when it came up I had to say yes.
TeenHollywood: Are you getting ready to shoot in a couple months?
Milla: In May, yeah. Yeah I just started training recently, but it's been hard to because I've been doing press for this movie.
TeenHollywood: What do you do to stay in shape when you aren't training for films?
Milla: I'm going to start doing yoga for sure because it's great for your white brain mass, to meditate. Proven fact there. I do a lot of stretching.
I still have all my swords and stuff, so I definitely give them a spin every once in a while just to make sure I still have it. But mostly stretching. I just need to be limber because I'm not the most limber person.
TeenHollywood: Are you on a special Diet?
Milla: No. I try and cook. I try to eat fresh. Diet for sure is important. I take vitamins. I definitely don't eat trash ... regularly. (laughs) To be perfectly honest with you, I've been really into Brussels sprouts recently. I've just had this thing, like steak and Brussels sprouts. I don't know, like, I saw them in the store, and I was like, "Oh my God. They look like alien pods." I had to get them and steam 'em up.
TeenHollywood: What do you think the future will be like? Flying cars?
Milla:
I don't know. I've been wondering that myself recently. I think the only way that flying cars would work is if GPS becomes really super-advanced. But then we would have to lose control of the car because it'd have to be on some grid. Government-controlled cars? The next step is like the iron fist comes down .
TeenHollywood: Do you have a favorite action movie?
Milla: I would have to be a throw up between, for the moment, Crouching Tiger [Hidden Dragon] and well, I guess Hero.
TeenHollywood: You are in a film called .45. What is that about?
Milla:
.45 is a really small movie about domestic violence. The writer and director wrote one of my favorite plays called "Blackout." It was really incredible to work on the part because it's something I've experienced growing up and, knowing lots of Eastern European people, domestic violence is a very normal part of life. So it was really important for me to make a movie about a woman who is trying to escape this vicious cycle.
TeenHollywood: Do you think it can really change the world with a serious issue like that?
Milla: It can change somebody's world I think.
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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.