TITLE
The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich
AUTHOR
Jesse Hassenger
PUBLICATION
The AV Club
YEAR
2025
ARTICLE TYPE
Article
FROM THE ARTICLE
Milla Jovovich was born to be the muse of a doofus. That’s not entirely fair to Jovovich, who is her own person, and must have lived plenty of life before marrying either director Paul W.S. Anderson, who has directed her seven times, or her previous husband Luc Besson, creator and director of her breakthrough role in The Fifth Element. (It’s probably also unfair to Anderson; Besson, you’re on your own.) But putting aside her obvious autonomy, Jovovich’s signature roles do tend to reflect the half-geeky, half-lecherous specifications of a certain kind of popcorn filmmaker.[…]
Besson and Jovovich were married for two years, during which he cast her as no less than Joan Of Arc in The Messenger, failing to launch her career as a serious actress. She returned to genre territory for her next leading role, in the 2002 video game adaptation Resident Evil, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and beginning another major relationship. He and Jovovich dated on and off before starting a family in 2007 and eventually marrying in 2009. Anderson then resumed directing Resident Evil sequels (he only produced and wrote the second and third films), making just one movie without Jovovich in the past 15 years.
GAMES MENTIONED
Monster Hunter
Mortal Kombat (1992)
Resident Evil (1996)
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Paul W.S. Anderson
Milla Jovovich
TOPICS MENTIONED
Adaptations