"I think that the franchise has definitely made me who I am today," Milla said.
Most of us have a unique love story. It's a special story that we keep close to our hearts, but not many of us can claim to have met the love of our life on the sets of a zombie movie. Actress Milla Jovovich gets to brag that she found her husband while shooting for Resident Evil where she plays a badass role.
Jovovich, 45, was born in Ukraine but grew up in the US after her family fled the country. "My family are all crazy, fanatical idealists, but my parents are the real heroes to me. They moved from Russia to America without anything. The Soviet state basically disowned them because they fell in love. We had to work hard and everyone did their bit to move forward in a new country, including me. That was how I was raised," she told Daily Mail.
Her mom egged her onto show business at a young age, and the Return to the Blue Lagoon actress created some controversy after appearing in provocative photographs by Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts when she was just a child.
"I wouldn’t allow my daughter to do what I did," Jovovich said. "But at the same time, my circumstances were different. We didn’t have much and my mum taught me to do what she did: act and entertain. That’s my mother’s milk," she added.
The actress started off as a model and even worked for Donna Karan, Christian Dior, and Versace, before her breakthrough as an actress in 1997’s The Fifth Element. 1999's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc propelled her career further and eventually, she landed up as the lead in the Resident Evil series, directed by her future husband Paul WS Anderson.
She met Anderson in 2002 on the sets of the first Resident Evil movie. The franchise gave her huge stardom, marriage as well as motherhood. "I think that the franchise has definitely made me who I am today," she told People. "And I have two kids and an amazing husband because of it. I think that I’ve definitely become a stronger person through it," she said in 2016. The actress has since had her third daughter, Osian, in 2020. She has two other children, Ever Gabo, 13, and Dashiel Edan, 5.
Jovovich was previously married to Shawn Andrews for less than a year and Luc Besson from 1997 to 1999. The marriage to her Dazed and Confused on-screen boyfriend Andrews lasted only two months since she was only 16 and he was 21. Apparently, the marriage was annulled by Jovovich's mother two months later, as per Livingly.com.
"I was 16 and feeling emancipated, so I ran off to Vegas and got married to an actor (Shawn Andrews). I’m not even into actors; I can’t bear men who are constantly aware of themselves and their looks. Basically, it was to prove a point to my mum. I’d been working since I was nine, but I didn’t have a bank card. I was a big girl as far as I was concerned and I wanted to establish myself as an adult, as I was working like one and being treated like one by everyone else. It wasn’t about being in love, but when you’re 16 you have to take three rights to make a left," she told Daily Mail.
She is now a proud mom, who gets to see her daughter follow in her footsteps. In 2016, Ever was part of the last Resident Evil film making it a family affair. "It’s always exciting to do a Resident Evil movie, but this time was quite special because I got to work with my daughter and I had a new baby on the shoot," she said, as per Toronto Sun.
"Ever loves acting and she was really incredible," she continued. "It’s amazing as a mother to see her as a professional, enjoying being on set, memorizing lines. And with the baby (17-month-old Dashiel Edan) it was just surreal. I’d be covered in blood and fake dirt and have zombies walking around (and then) I’d be nursing a baby on a little pink blanket in this destroyed post-apocalyptic background, so it was hilarious. The zombies would come up and say, ‘Oh, she’s so cute.'"
References:
https://people.com/parents/milla-jovovich-credits-resident-evil-for-her-family/
