Multi-talented Milla Jovovich talks about juggling acting with modelling, singing and martial arts.
Multi-talented Milla Jovovich has always been a dab hand at everything she sets her mind to. From acting and singing to modelling and martial arts.
But now she has a new challenge ahead of her – motherhood.
In her new thriller A Perfect Getaway, Milla gets back to her butt-kicking best when she plays Cydney – a newly-wed whose honeymoon turns dangerous when she discovers she and her new husband (Steve Zahn) are being stalked by a pair of killers.
Here she talks about being the perfect role model and working her butt off – literally.
Q: Your new movie A Perfect Getaway looks like it was a lot of fun. . .
MJ: “Yeah, it was. It’s a thriller and we had so much fun filming it. The scenery was pretty amazing too.”
Q: You have a few new movies coming out don’t you?
MJ: “I do. I have a lot on my plate right now with work and being a mom. But it’s all great. Obviously being a mommy is the best job in the world!”
Q: Having been in a scary movies, is there anything you’re scared of in real life?
MJ: “Are you kidding? I’m scared of everything. I think the reason I make this kind of movies is to get away from my own fears, to challenge myself to kind of be stronger, to learn how to defend myself. Of course I have a lot of fears that are just very normal – from death and illness to spiders and having an accident. Going to the dentist is a big one.”
Q: Do you have a high tolerance for pain?
MJ: “It depends if I’m working or not. When I work, I have a very high tolerance for pain because it’s as if I’m not myself. I’m in a different mode. I’ve done crazy stuff on movies, and when your endorphins are rushing, it’s like you don’t feel stuff. But in real life, I have no tolerance for pain. It took me three years to get my wisdom teeth pulled out. I just got them done before Christmas, all four at the same time, and it was a disaster. I can’t deal with it.”
Q: Do you see yourself as a role model for female fans?
MJ: “There are so many amazing martial arts in this movie. I think women really have to do martial arts because they don’t need to be strong; it’s really about being fast and using other people’s strength against them so it’s a perfect sport for women. I really recommend it, you get in great shape and it’s fun.”
Q: How do you stay in shape?
MJ: “I try to cook and I try to eat fresh food. I take vitamins. I definitely don’t eat trash … regularly (she laughs). To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve been really into Brussels sprouts recently. I’ve just had this thing for steak and Brussels sprouts. “I’m going to start doing yoga for sure because it’s great for your brain, to meditate. I do a lot of stretching. I do push-ups sometimes, but I don’t need to. I’m built very sturdily in that sense, so I do a little bit of work and I become really big, so I don’t need that. I just need to be limber because I’m not the most limber person.”
Q: Do martial arts give you more self-confidence?
MJ: “Definitely, definitely. With the movies, it makes it much easier to train and discipline yourself. So I find that if I’m depressed or if I don’t feel good, as soon as I go and train, it’s fine. You really get that endorphin rush going and it makes you feel really good.”
Q: You’ve done many things, modelling, acting, and designing. Do you think you will settle down more in the future?
MJ: “I think my life will be very different – especially when my daughter starts going to school. I think that will be the main difference. That’s when I’ll really have to park and stop for a while and do the whole like school thing. That’s when I’m not going to be able to travel so much.”
Q: You were one of the first people to be a success at modelling and acting at the same time. Now everyone seems to be making movies and fronting ad campaigns.
MJ: “Absolutely, everything’s changed. When I first started in this industry just the fact that I was like acting and modelling was like this huge deal. Today, my god, if you don’t have multiple careers you’re kind of passé. Everybody’s doing more than one thing now. Times change and in America now it’s a lot more like Japan in that sense actors are doing water commercials and sooner than later they’ll be doing coffee ads.”
A Perfect Getaway is now showing at Irish cinemas