Milla Jovovich

Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich ( YOH-və-vitch; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich, is an American actress, model and musician. 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. In 2004, Forbes determined that she was the highest-paid model in the world.

Born in Kiev, in what is now Ukraine, Jovovich emigrated with her parents to London when she was five, and then to Sacramento, California; she finally settled in Los Angeles seven months later. In 1987, at the age of 12, she began modeling 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. She reprised her role in five sequels, all in the apocalyptic fiction action horror genre, made between 2004 and 2016. Despite consistent negative reviews, the Resident Evil film series was commercially successful; with six films released, it is the highest-grossing film series to be based on video games of all time, having grossed over US$1.2 billion worldwide.

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.