Milla Jovovich

Milla Natasha Jovovich was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on December 17, 1975. She spent her early childhood between London, where her father Bogdanovitch Jovovich was studying, and Russia, where her mother, Gallina Loginova lived. Her family soon moved to California, where Milla experienced difficulty adapting to the American way of life.

She began acting at the age of 9, and modeling at 11. Her first cover was for the Italian fashion magazine Lei. A six-page fashion spread by Herb Ritts for a French fashion magazine quickly moved Jovovich, the young and barely-trained model, to the top ranks. In her first year alone, she completed 15 fashion covers and countless other shoots, still managing the time for her studies -including the training necessary for runway work- as well as maintaining her teenage social life.

She released her first movie in 1988, entitled Two Moon Junction, followed by The Night Train to Kathmandu. She took the modeling world by storm, and impressed critics with her uncanny ability to carry herself at such a young age. She's been in Calvin Klein, Escape, and dozens of other high profile ads, as well as in all the major glamour magazines.

She displayed maturity and talent beyond her years, and continued her acting career with the release of Return to Blue Lagoon in 1991, and Kuffs and Chaplin in 1992. At the age of 16, she married 21-year-old actor boyfriend Shawn Andrews (whom she was involved with on the set of Dazed and Confused), only to have the marriage annulled two months later.

After filming Dazed and Confused in 1993, her career was already in full swing. Milla looked to conquer a third domain; the world of music. She released her first album at the age of 18, entitled The Divine Comedy. Unlike most actresses and models that try their hand at singing careers see Caprice here, and end up with a lackluster attempt, Jovovich's album was well-received.

Next on her list was the the Fifth Element, the sci-fi movie starring Bruce Willis that takes place in the future. In this role, Jovovich was appropriately cast as the perfect being. Playing Leeloo, Jovovich's modeling experience came in handy -the character was engineered, and required Milla to use little facial expressions, and portray an innocent and distant look.

In the spring of '98, she starred in a Spike Lee Joint with Denzel Washington, entitled He Got Game. Here she played a prostitute who suffers from a severe beating, but Jovovich gets very little on-screen time. She went on to win the leading role in another Luc Besson film, where she played the role of Joan Of Arc. Soon after the production was complete, she married Besson.

In 1999, Milla starred in the horror film The Boat House. Milla plays a teenager who has seen some evil creature and loses her mind, and is sent to a mental hospital from which she later escapes. Her character is described as a beautiful, yet fragile girl. Next on her list are The Million Dollar Hotel and Kingdom Come.

She also plans to return to school and finish some of the classes she dreaded taking in high school, like math, chemistry, and physics. She stated: All the things I was bored with in high school. I didn't understand the importance of math then, which is stupid. It provides the building blocks of reality.

She also plans to return to the studio to record another album. She is unsure of exactly where she would like her career to go, but remains true to her belief with her integrity, honesty and sincerity. I just want to make one really good movie a year. And when I die, to know I was honest as an artist, and for this we have to respect her.