Milla Jovovich: “Alice is back”
Jovovich did a little press at WonderCon to let everyone know that Alice is back and still kicking zombie butt.
Q: What could you do in this Resident Evil that you haven’t done in the first three?
Milla Jovovich: Just lots of crazy stunts. It’s just really gone to the next level I feel like character wise, action wise. It’s full of really, wonderful actors playing great people and really interesting characters. Shooting in 3-D is so different, it took a lot longer to do everything and made things very difficult for us. It was definitely a challenge.
Q: Were you happy about how it turned out?
Milla Jovovich: Actually, last night was the first time I had seen the full on finished trailer with all the special effects added. I actually have to see the movie with everything done. I’ve yet to see it but it looked amazing last night. I was like, “Yeah!”
Q: Each film ends with a teaser of the next. Where do we pick up Alice in this one?
Milla Jovovich: Kind of like a year and a half later.
Q: Well, are we seeing a more aggressive Alice?
Milla Jovovich: Just as aggressive as ever. Always really super aggressive and she still is but now it’s even more so. I think there’s a relaxation in this one for her as a character that she hasn’t had in the other movies because in a way she’s earned some freedom. She’s taking advantage of it and making some good relationships within the movie.
Q: What keeps you coming back to Alice?
Milla Jovovich: It’s Resident Evil, man. Please. Besides, at this point, we just have this evil world that we live in and what’s more appropriate than these movies? I spent the last 10 years of my life doing them, so why not? It’s so fun and I get to kick butt. I mean, it’s awesome. The fact is, what I’ve always said is it’s amazing to do really serious movies but what’s amazing about Resident Evil is you get a chance to do a really, great fun story and have fun. It’s like going to Disneyland, going to Magic Mountain. You get to make a movie where you’re flying, you’re kicking butt, you’re training and you’re just doing so much stuff that you could never do in real life. I love that, just living in this different world.
Q: Why do you think the Resident Evil series has been so successful, when other movies based on video games have not?
Milla Jovovich: It is true. From the first film, when it was me and Michelle it started out and all the actors just loved the games. Now it’s me and Ali. It’s really one of those things where if you come from a fan kind of place where you’re like, “Oh, Resident Evil, awesome, I want to do this, I love that game so much!” I think that passion really shows on screen. It’s number four so something works. We really love to do it and we’re just so lucky to have Ali back on this one. This one is almost the closest to the video game too. [Paul W.S. Anderson] brought in so many cool direct shots and different things. There’s a fight sequence that Ali’s in that’s literally from the game. It’s sick. You guys are going to flip out.
Q: How did new cast like Wentworth Miller add to the franchise?
Milla Jovovich: Wentworth Miller is such a doll. He’s amazing. He was so fun and so sweet that I’m sure you saw on my Twitter page, we did a little video with him. Anyway, he’s a sweetheart and I think he was a really great person to play Chris Redfield. He really embodied the part. He had so much fun doing it.
Q: Will future sequels continue to explore those characters from the video game?
Milla Jovovich: Listen, we would love to show you where all these relationships go and how it all develops. It’s going to be really rad by part seven.
Q: Is there any other action hero you’d like to play?
Milla Jovovich: Gosh, I feel like I’m sort of at the limit that I could do action wise. It would be almost disloyal to Alice to be another action Heroine so I’m kind of just doing independent films and comedies and fun things that just help me kind of grow as an actress and get better for the next Resident Evil.
Q: Do you feel you were onto something with all the zombie movies that have come out since the Resident Evil series?
Milla Jovovich: I don’t know. I don’t know if you keep up with me on Twitter but I’m pretty kind of in my world. I don’t really keep track of many movies that are coming out or doing stuff, so I definitely have to get out there and see more stuff. Yeah, I’m not a big zombie movie person. I never really was. For me it was like the Resident Evil game was different. It was like my brother’s favorite game and we’d play together. I really love the franchise because of the game. It wasn’t because I was a big zombie movie fan. So yeah, now I’m seeing all these zombie movies and watching some of them like oh. It’s always fun. I think these movies, people have a great time at them. They’re such a great fan base of people who are fascinated with the undead. It’s a lot of fun to play. It’s a lot of fun to make these movies, to watch the zombies smoking off set and drinking coffees and eating snacks.
Q: What’s next for you?
Milla Jovovich: Well, I’ve got a movie that I’m working on right now called Dirty Girl which is fun. It’s a comedy, not an adult film, okay? It’s with a child. I’m working with a child. I’m working with Juno Temple, Mary Steenburgen, Bill Macy, Tim McGraw, a really wonderful cast of people, really fun. I play Juno Temple’s mom which is really funny. I’m like an Oklahoma girl that had a baby at 16. Stone, which is pretty crazy, man. I just watched it the other night actually. It’s not for everybody but it’s a pretty crazy movie. It’s very tense, very dramatic, just deep. It’s about a man who’s in prison and he’s trying to convince his parole officer to pretty much say, “Look, I’ve done my time. Are you the only one that can judge me? How can you judge me? You’ve never done anything wrong.” It’s really talking about good and evil and where we stand in life.