August 20th, 2004

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In Praise of Milla

I have an unlikely affection for Milla Jovovich. I suppose it’s not that unlikely, as she’s regularly mentioned about the most gorgeous women on the planet (my wife calls her ‘the best dressed woman in the world’). Still, you’d think her model-turned-actress shtick and choice in movies would discourage a serious cineaste like me. Hey, did I mention I saw Alien vs. Predator this week?

In part, it’s her flakiness. That her first starring role was in Return to the Blue Lagoon. That her and her director/husband invented a language which they could converse in on the set of The Fifth Element. That she once said, “scratch a Russian, and you’ll find a peasant.” That she once put out a record, a strange low-rent Annie Lennox offering. It isn’t very good but it has a charming hokieness that’s grown on me. Don’t worry, I didn’t pay for it–I downloaded a few tracks. You can sample them–a nutty cover of the Lou Reed’s Satellite of Love and a synthy ballad called It’s Your Life.

Then there’s her inexplicable choices of roles. She apparently was once quoted as saying ‘I’m still an artist. I’m never gonna do a shit movie, because I’ve got my modeling to support me.’ That doesn’t really explain much of her movie career, fraught as it is with flops and monster flicks . Surely she gets offered more average love-interest roles than a gun-wielding zombie killer. Yet, for reasons than aren’t apparent, she goes with the zombie killer.

She isn’t the most subtle of actors. In fact, she’s all about the broad, uncomplicated strokes. She’s got a very distinctive voice, which helps things a bit. Still, she possesses a rare quality among actresses–she seems to truly give 110% to every role. For all its wackiness, her performance in The Messenger is tremendously fierce and full of passion. She’s the antithesis of actresses like Neve Campbell, who seem to sleepwalk their way through films, keeping all their cards close to the chest.

A final note, and it’s a minor thing, but it always irks me. Milla Jovovich can handle her guns. Some actors seem able to do this, and some don’t. Halle Beryy, for example, looks rather awkward, as does Kate Beckinsale.

Comments: 8 Responses so far

filmgoerjuan
August 21st, 2004
1:16 am

I’ve always found Milla to be a little too androgynous for me to ever be attracted to her. I mean I accept in a general way that she is supposed to be one of the hawtest women on the planet, but me, I just don’t see it.

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AhBook
August 21st, 2004
12:14 pm

You know, for some reason I’ve always liked her album. I don’t know what it is but I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard it back when it first came out and it’s been sort of a “guilty pleasure” ever since. I’ve been outed!

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Paolo
August 21st, 2004
5:51 pm

“That doesn’t really explain much of her movie career…”

A mainstream actor tends to have three main career councillors in their lives: their manager, their lawyer, and their agent. The lawyer and the manager field the scripts that the agent sends along. They advise the actor to take what is a career mover and discard and never speak of the rest.

I’m afraid that’s the rub. The actor often doesn’t get to see what we’d like them to see and make decisions on what to act in based on the counsel given them. Actors are well known to be easily influenced by their “people” because of business-instilled insecurities. It’s the nature of the beast of Hollywood.

I really don’t think Milla avoids art house films. I think it’s likely her “people” that do that for her.

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Darren
August 21st, 2004
6:36 pm

Paolo: If Ms. Jovovich was a naive, American 18-year-old, I accept that reasoning. However, given her stature, I’d imagine she could more or less choose what she wanted to audition for. When I’m sure there are people around her filtering the scripts she receives, if she put her mind to, say, do a “You’ve Got Mail”, she would.

After all, the manager, the agent and lawyer are all going to recognize the probably box office take of Resident Evil. If they’re simply out to maximize their revenue, why are they having her do a sequel to a film that only grossed $40 million on an apparent $40 million budget?

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'nee
August 21st, 2004
7:55 pm

I have to admit I rather liked the album too :) Don’t forget that Hollywood accounting is like black magic, except evil.

Lots of amazing actors just can’t ‘pick a script,’ for some reason. And some bad actors have the knack of choosing great films. I don’t know why, but scripts that read well don’t necessarily play well. Read William Goldman’s “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” for the full scoop about why actors do what they do, why agents do what they do. He didn’t work for ten years after it was published :)

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Anonymous
August 22nd, 2004
3:57 pm

I think you misunderstood my meaning. I didn’t say any decisions were being made on revenue alone (or at all). I simply suggested that there are people in her life that direct (or suggest) what would help her career in whatever pre-determined direction was discussed between them. You and I don’t know what that is. If she’s got a goal in mind to be an action star then perhaps that would explain things but I simply don’t know.

As for Milla choosing to audition for whatever she wants, well, let’s just say you’re right about her not being some naive 18 year old running off to auditions for her big break. I mean c’mon. The same logic still stands. She hears about scripts and opportunities through the people she hires to keep her aprised of such things. Which means there is a filter between her and oportunities.

I was simply hoping to shed some light on why she may be acting in films that aren’t necessarily Oscar material.

By the way, as you may or may not know, the exact total of revenue earned by Resident Evil in Box Office and VHS is unclear but here is some info I dug up but this does not cover DVD rental, merchandise, nor sale of VHS/DVD either.

Box Office Total: $39,532,308
VHS Rentals Total: $5,860,000

Get the September issue of GQ for a very enlightening article about this very topic. I think you’ll be both amused and informed.

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harpoon
August 23rd, 2004
5:50 am

milla played a free gig at the Town Pump to tour her album and I recall seeing it live. It was interesting with a bunch of traditional Russian instrumentation. But she was high out of her gore and posing like a twit over the music. There were a few good tracks on that disc though…

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KüBrA
March 13th, 2008
10:09 pm

hello milla jovovich.I love you very much.I am sitting down İstanbulda.I am liking very much you.I wish you the success.Don’t forget me.I love you milla.I love you milla jovovich.We see.

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