Milla Jovovich: Doing Resident Evil is an amazing, life-changing journey

HONG KONG ­— “There’s a sadness to it.”

With that sentence, Milla Jovovich (pronounced Mee-Luh Yo-Vo-Vitch) summed up the end of her 14-year journey as Alice (whose classic line goes, “I am Alice and I remember everything!”), her recurring character in Resident Evil now on the sixth (and final) installment of the most successful video game film franchise ever that has raked in over $1B worldwide, with The Final Chapter calculated to gross more than any of the previous five films.

Opening across the Philippines nationwide on Feb. 1, distributed by Columbia Pictures (the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International), Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is again directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, Milla’s husband by whom she has two children, Ever Gabo and Dashiel Edan.

Aside from Jovovich, the diverse group of actors returning to the franchise are Ali Larter (Resident Evil: Afterlife) as Claire Redfield; Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil: Afterlife) as Albert Wesker; and Iain Glen (Resident Evil: Extinction) as Dr. Alexander Isaacs. The newcomers: Ruby Rose (xXx: Return of Xander Cage); Irish actor Eoin Macken (The Night Shift); Japanese TV star/model Rola as Cobalt; South Korean actor Jee Joon-Gi (My Girl) as Commando; British actor Fraser James (Law & Order); and Latin American actor William Levy (Addicted).

Jovovich and Anderson were in Hong Kong late last year to promote the movie and to receive the prestigious Franchise Achievement Award during the 2016 edition of the CineAsia exhibitors and distributors convention. The honor is in recognition of the tandem’s highly successful sci-fi, action horror film series (Resident Evil).

How has the franchise changed your life?

“It has definitely changed my life in so many ways. You know, I love being in the Resident Evil world. It’s so much fun to be on the set, having all these amazing stages. The movie has been filmed in so many locations. It’s so different from the normal life…going into this fantasy world. I love making action movies.”

How was the 14 years with the franchise?

“It has been such a journey. Through it, I have grown so much. I got married; I had two kids, Ever Gabo and Dashiel Edan. It has been incredible, it was bittersweet. It’s hard to imagine that it’s the last time we’re going to follow Alice. There’s a little sadness there. But at the same time, it has been an amazing run. We wanted to end the franchise with a bang.”

Does the character feel like second skin to you?

“Definitely! I feel like at this point, it’s much easier to go into the character because she lives with me all the time. I’ve been embodying her for almost 15 years now. She has grown with me and it’s fun looking at the world through her eyes.”

Is it even easier since the director is somebody close to you?

“Well…Listen, Paul is wonderful to work with. I have so much fun with him on the set. We have a great working relationship. I love making movies with him, so anytime I work with Paul, it’s easy.”

What scenes in the current movie do you like the most?

“Well, I love the upside-down fight scenes.”

It was you doing those death-defying stunts, right?

“Yes, that was me!”

You were so daring!

“Thank you! There’s a lot more action in this movie. It’s the biggest movie in the Resident Evil franchise. The action is unbelievable…such a huge production. Yeah, it’s amazing. There are so many great sequences and, yes, the upside-down one is my favorite.”

Did you have continuous training from the first Resident Evil to the last one? You are so fit.

“Well, you know, it’s difficult to prepare for any of this movie on the physical level. A lot of training goes into it. But I’ve been doing action movies for so long that I think there are basics that I already know, like the basics of martial arts, the basics of weapons and fighting. It’s just a matter of memorizing the sequences, a lot of them are very long that involve a lot of moves and a lot of choreography.”

How did you learn the basics of martial arts? Have you ever worked with a Filipino trainer?

“You know, I’ve worked with different trainers on different movie sets. The first time I trained for martial arts was for The Fifth Hour. I love to do martial arts, I love to prepare, so I would always come a few months ahead of time to start working with the stunt people and the choreographers. So for the most part, my knowledge of martial arts I got on the sets.”

What has been the hardest scene that you’ve done?

“A lot of the sequences are very difficult…physically. There are some that are difficult emotionally. For this movie, the most difficult physically was the one that we shot in the wind tunnel.”

Did you hurt yourself?

“Hmmm, I didn’t injure myself. But at that time, it was very cold and we were shooting at night. Everybody was on wires so it was very challenging. The wind was coming from a very strong machine, so you can just imagine how cold it was.”

With the risky scenes that you are doing, you must have been insured for this movie.

“Doing stunts is definitely very safe on one hand and crazy on the other hand. But a lot of risks is involved. Some things could get wrong, you know, like it did during the shoot for this movie. It should have been a normal day and the accident was unforeseen.”

You are famous for playing strong-woman roles (as Joan of Arc, etc.); you are the paradigm of women empowerment. Are you as empowered in real life as your on-screen persona is?

“I think I love to play strong women because it helps me be stronger in real life. I look up to Alice. You know, she’s somebody who represents the best of me; she’s very much a hero. As women, we have to face the fact that some days, they are strong; other days, they are not. So, in your mind you have to try to be confident. Nobody is perfect, so no woman can be strong every day.”

How are you as a mother? Your daughter is appearing in this movie.

“Ever is an incredible actress. She has always wanted to act since she was five years old. I want her to do whatever makes her happy and at the same time I want her to work hard. And she does. She goes to acting classes and she reads a lot. We feel that she deserves it. She’s really such a talented girl and she loves acting so much, so I guess working with her dad must be an incredible experience.”

What about your second child?

“Dashiel was four months old during the shoot of Final Chapter. Ali (Larter) also had her six-month-old baby. We would bring our babies to the set where we would have a little area on the set, enclosed behind blankets, and we were having our mommy time between takes.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having your husband as director?

“There are no disadvantages at all. Paul and I have an amazing working relationship; we have so much fun working together. Ali was saying, ‘I can’t believe that he tells you to do something different and you just say yes. If my husband would tell me that, I would argue with him!’ I think it depends on your personality. I trust Paul and I respect him. He always tells me to do what I want to do and if he wants to change anything, I’m fine with that.”

Oh, you are a good follower.

“Yeah, I am. I trust Paul that’s why I married him. It’s not like he’s stopping me from what I want to do, in the same way that I’m not stopping him from what he wants to do. It’s his job to direct and it’s my job to be directed. I don’t want to take that away from him. It’s part of the fun of doing a movie, what makes it an amazing job for all of us.”

Do you talk movies at home?

“Oh yes, we do talk movies quite a bit. We are a typical Hollywood family so movies are part of our discussion.”

How did a Supermodel like you become an Action Superstar?

“You know, my life kind of went in a very organic way. I mean, I took advantage of the opportunities in front of me. My mother was an actress in the Soviet Union in the ‘60s and ‘70s and she taught me what she knew. A little bit later, I got photographed and people liked the pictures. I got the opportunity to model, to make music and to deign. I love to create things. I’m very creative and expressive. If I’m interested in something, I go for it.”

You are really a strong-willed woman in real life.

“I think it’s being a strong woman. A strong woman is somebody who takes advantage of the opportunities that open for her. When you are asked, ‘Can you come in and do this?’ Never say, ‘Oh, I’m scared!’ Then it’s bye-bye to the opportunity. It’s better to say, ‘Oh, I’ve never done that. Let’s do it! Let’s try it!’ That’s what life is. You should be open and productive.”

Are you raising your children the way you were raised by your parents?

“To some extent, yes. We are all products of our upbringing. At the same time, you learn from your parents’ mistakes…hopefully…and learn to make your own decisions as an adult. For me, motherhood has been the most important experience in my life. When I was pregnant, I read a lot of books on child rearing so it’s kind of you make things up as you go along. You know, we have a very close relationship with our children at home. We are very open, there’s always conversation. We have rules but if our daughters have something to say, we encourage them, we listen to them. We try to be fair and respectful.”

No regrets, so far?

“None; no regrets at all. I’m living a life that I can be proud of. I hope that people can learn from my achievements and even from my mistakes. I’m so grateful for all the good things in my life. I’m very happy that I think part of my work has helped women in Hollywood achieve different types of roles, different types of work. I’ve met many young girls who told me, ‘I look up to you; you helped me become strong.’ We just have to be the best that we can be.”

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