Action Spelled S-E-X-Y

BEVERLY HILLS, California — My first close encounter with Resident Evil was almost 10 years ago at a video store in L.A. to buy a pasalubong for my 12-year-old techie nephew who has all the titles in the videogame universe — name it, he has it.

I didn’t know what Resident Evil was all about, not even a few years later when it was transported to the big screen, larger than life, and not until last week when Wilson Yuloque of Pioneer Films asked me to do the junket for Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth installment of the franchise which must be making money because, I heard, the fifth is now on the final planning stage.

I was sure that jetlag from the 12-hour-plus PAL flight from Manila would send me posthaste to slumber land as soon as the screening (a “must” before the series of interviews) started at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood surprisingly it did not. I enjoyed the movie and became an instant Resident Evil fan.

Who wouldn’t be with a sexy super heroine like Milla Jovovich (pronounced “mee-luh yo-vo-vitch”) up there as the bewitching Alice looking for survivors in a world ravaged by a virus that turns its victims into murderous zombies. Los Angeles has never looked this burned-out, overrun by thousands of the undead facing a threat that the city never anticipated. But don’t worry. Alice/Milla will sort out the mess.

A word about Mee-Luh Yo-Vo-Vitch: She was discovered at age 11 by the iconic photographer Richard Avedon who featured her in Revlon’s Most Unforgettable Women of the World ads. That was in the mid-’80s. Of course, she has come a long, long way since then, having conquered the fashion world as a supermodel for L’Oreal and eventually making a name as an actress whom I personally fondly remember for her memorable portrayal as the title role in The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), especially in the scene where she’s being burned at stake and still looks so breathtakingly beautiful.

The Resident Evil franchise has turned Milla Jovovich into, I believe, one of the only two actresses in the world (the other being Angelina Jolie) who have given the action genre a touch of seductively lethal sex. She seems to have been to that genre born.

Resident Evil: Afterlife) is written, directed and produced by Paul W. S. Anderson who happens to be Milla’s husband. It also stars Ali Larter, Spencer Locke who reprise their roles from Resident Evil: Extinction; and Wentworth Miller (of Prison Break fame) who’s the newest addition to the cast. It’s distributed in the Philippines by Wilson Yuloque’s Pioneer Films, opening nationwide on Friday, Sept. 10, simultaneous with the US showing.

The following Conversation was done, as usual, at a function room of Four Seasons in this city.

I see Resident Evil as a movie about women empowerment.

“Is that so?”

Because of it, and having played the title role in Joan of Arc, you’ve been associated with strong-woman roles. How are you similar to the super heroine Alice?

“You know, I think everybody has everything inside of them, in my opinion. And, you know, as an actor you find that part of yourself in every character that you play. So for me, I’ve always been such a fan of sci-fi and action films. My dad and I would watch those kinds of films every Sunday and I was always so inspired by martial arts and comic books and cartoons like Thundercats and She-Ra which had these amazing women with swords and power, and who could jump higher than anything, who could do crazy gymnastics. They never cease to fascinate me. These movies give me a chance to be like one of my favorite cartoon heroes. I’ve also been such a fan of anime.”

The action scenes in the Resident Evil films are so beautifully executed, so fantastically choreographed. How did you train for them? Does your being a model help?

“You know, I think everything helps in my career. I’ve been lucky enough to do so many different things in my sort of artistic journey. Being a model, definitely know what a picture should look like, and you can always kind of see what the camera is seeing as well. I think just loving to do the stunts and loving to be a real part of the action really helps because I get to do it myself.”

Oh, you do the stunts yourself and you don’t use a “double.”

“Yes, I do my own stunts. There are very few things that I don’t do in these movies when it comes to the stunts and the action. That really makes it believable because the audience is there with me and I’m going through it. And I love it.”

What lesson do you think does the movie try to convey especially to kids who love the video game?

“Lesson? Uhm, I don’t know. You know, we’re not trying to teach anybody any lesson; we are just trying to, you know…have a great time, go see a fun action movie that can be scary and that can blow your mind.”

You kick a lot of asses in the movies. Can you kick ass in real life?

“I don’t know. I’ve never been asked.” (Laughs) “Would you like me to try it on you?”

No, thank you. But I wonder, can you defend yourself in real life?

“I should hope so. After 10 years of shoving zombies, I should be able to do that.”

Haven’t you suffered any injury doing risky scenes?

“You know, even when you train 11 or 12 hours a day, you have to be ready all the time for accidents to happen. There will always be accidents. You have 150 zombies running after you on a gravel floor and when they say, ‘Action!’, and you have five actors shooting guns, how can’t there be an accident?”

Aside from sci-fi and action films, what else do you love?

“Aside from my family? I love to design things. I just did a great bag collection for a company called ICV and it’s coming out in the next few weeks in Tokyo. I love clothes. I’m a girl and doesn’t every girl love clothes? Clothes have always been a huge part of my life. It’s another way of expressing myself. I’m a character and it comes out definitely in the way I dress. I think the way you look says a lot about who you are and it draws a certain type of attention to yourself.”

You certainly do that.

“You know, I’m very much a person who likes to be creative with clothes.”

You are hyperactive.

“You know, I love to play. I’m very much into not being bored, so I keep myself busy. Yesterday, I came home and it was like I’d been living out of a suitcase since March, and I’d been wearing practically the same stuff. Oh my God! So I dressed myself with this weird cape thing and put on some French jewelry and accessories and when I went to the kitchen for tea, my mother was like, ‘Where are you going?’ I said, ‘Nowhere. I’m having tea with you, Mother…right here in the kitchen!’ It was crazy!”

What else have you been doing aside from shooting Resident Evil?

“Well, after that, I started shooting Faces in the Crowd. And then I went straight to Moscow to shoot a Russian film. And from there, I went straight to Europe for some modeling stuff. And then, I went to Oklahoma City for another film and from there I went to Munich for another project. As I said, I’m very much not into being bored.”

How do you find time for all the things that you do, especially being a mother?

“I’m a mother and pretty much an actress…and sometimes, a model. My daughter comes with me everywhere; she comes on the set with me and hangs out so I get to play with her in-between takes as long as I don’t have a very stressful scene.”

Where do you get the energy for all that?

“I haven’t had the time to work out but when you’re chasing your three-year-old after work, it’s quite a workout. You know, I’ve been traveling a lot and that’s a lot of running around. My diet? You know, with this heat, I’ve been eating a lot of salads and soups; it’s just too hot for you to eat anything heavy, you know. After the baby, it’s really hard to keep the weight up. After a few weeks of eating Russian food and burgers in L.A., I gained 10 pounds and I said, ‘Okay!’”

How’s your home life?

“You know, at home I’m in a very respectful relationship with an incredible man who I adore and look up to, and I think he feels the same way about me. It’s been a very calm household. We never scream at each other, we never use bad language with each other. When we have arguments, we do it in a decent manner without being violent.”

Do you talk movies over dinner at home?

“Sometimes. We even discuss scripts.”

Do you go for the same kind of movies?

“Not all the time. When we go watch movies, he goes to the theater showing the movie he likes and I go to the theater showing the movie I like. Then, we meet up and go home together. We compromise.”

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