The scene that changed Milla Jovovich’s life: “It still makes me cry”
The world of action movies has provided some kickass female heroes over the years. Sigourney Weaver blazed trails with her performances as Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise; Angelina Jolie brought Lara Croft to the big screen in two films; Linda Hamilton went from damsel in distress to certified killer in the gap between The Terminator and T2: Judgment Day. However, you could argue that the title of ‘Queen of Bloodshed’ belongs to one person and one person alone: Milla Jovovich.
Born in Ukraine, Jovovich first took on her most prominent role in 2002. Starring as Alice in her husband Paul WS Anderson’s version of Resident Evil, she would end up reprising the part five times in total, racking up an ungodly kill count by the time she was done. Alongside her tussles with the Umbrella Corporation, Jovovich has also kicked butt and taken names in films like Survivor, In the Lost Lands, and a different video game adaptation, Monster Hunter.
The zombie-slaying icon’s first big action role came in Luc Besson’s sci-fi adventure, The Fifth Element, where she plays Leeloo, a resurrected woman who becomes a key piece of a plot to destroy the Earth. This was Jovovich’s débutante ball. Not only was she in the same movie as Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Ian Holm, but she was now associated with a memorable and original science fiction character, something damn-near impossible in this day and age.
Speaking to GQ about some of her most important gigs, Jovovich acknowledged how essential Leeloo was to her career. She highlighted the scene in which the character is brought back to life from the wreckage of a spaceship, and how it became a genesis point for her rise to superstardom. “That was the scene that changed my life as an actress,” she admitted, continuing, “That’s where I really understood what it was to leave myself behind and become something else. And it’s still like when I watch it, it makes me cry because I see Leeloo and her innocence and her vulnerability. I feel so bad for her being trapped that way and not understanding what’s going on. Yeah, it still makes me cry.”
Jovovich was one of several hundred applicants chosen to play the role. Both Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Berkley were considered for the part, but it was handed to this relative unknown instead. This turned out to be game-changing. After opening the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, it ended the year as the ninth highest-grossing film worldwide. It was a particular hit in Besson’s native France and would hold the record for the highest-grossing French film of all time for over a decade.
Nevertheless, the movie doesn’t hold entirely happy memories for the rising star. She and Besson began an affair during shooting, when he was 35 and she was just 19. They ended up marrying shortly thereafter, but would only stay together for just over a year.
Despite this turbulent period of her personal life, Jovovich clearly still has a great deal of respect for The Fifth Element and her first scene as Leeloo. Without it, she almost certainly wouldn’t be where she is today, which makes her love for it a no-brainer.
