Milla Jovovich

That’s what we love about Milla Jovovich, man: We get older, she stays the same stone-cold fox. The barely legal joint-rolling GF she played in 1993’s stoner opus Dazed and Confused made her multisyllabic Ukrainian name somehow easily pronounceable to dudes the world over. Subsequent roles in you-actually-own-the-DVD classics such as The Fifth Element, Zoolander, and the Resident Evil series have ensured her place in the “hot chicks in awesome flicks” hall of fame. As her thriller about a really, really bad vacation, A Perfect Getaway, hits theaters and she gets in shape for (shhh!) Resident Evil 4, Milla tells us about brushes with death (scary!), how it feels to be an object of geeky obsession (listen up, Poindexter!), and the embarrassing item that’s hanging on her grandma’s wall (sorry, Babushka!).

This isn’t your first time on the cover of Maxim. How does it feel the second time around?


It’s very cool. I was so excited for the shoot, and it was funny, because your stylist was like, “It’s up to you how far you want to go. We have dresses and all that.” I was like, “Look, I do Vogue, OK? I’m not doing this to advertise a designer; I had a little girl recently, and I’m doing this to show my post-baby body.” Lingerie and a sheet were all I needed.

Well, we appreciate that!


I know it’s all about my body. I want to give readers exactly what they want, and they want to see me.

A Perfect Getaway seems pretty intense.


Oh, yeah. It’s a thriller, but it’s also a bit of a mystery. Steve Zahn and I play a couple on our honeymoon in Hawaii, and we take this super-rough hike. The movie takes a very frightening turn when we learn that there are killers on the loose. It’s definitely a twister.

Have you ever been on a really bad vacation?


I had a grueling trip to Peru once. I was in the middle of nowhere with my mom and a couple of friends, and we just weren’t prepared for the intensity of the hikes. At one point my mom was like [in Russian accent], “They must send helicopter, or I will have heart attack.” I was worried we might not make it out alive!

You’ve been working since you were very young.


Yup, I’ve been modeling since I was 11 years old. Yet compared with other young celebrities, you pretty much stayed out of trouble. What would you say was the most rebellious thing you did?


Probably being on the cover of High Times as a teen.

Wow, how did that happen?


I was performing music at that time—and smoking pot—and the guys from High Times came to one of my shows. They were like, “Hey, wanna be on the cover?” It was just one of those stupid things you do when you’re young. I thought it was a big joke, but my poor mom was so mortified. But it could’ve been a lot worse. When you look at all the horror stories of young, successful kids, I’m glad I didn’t end up dead.