Milla Jovovich: Milla Meter

Russian-born Milla Jovovich, the tall glass of vodka who livened up last spring's The Fifth Element, grew up fast. And now she thinks fast, talks fast, loves fast food, and is becoming one of Hollywood's favorite exotic beauties.

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In a warehouse nestled in one of the grungiest parts of Hollywood, Milla Jovovich (pronounced Mee-la Joe-voe-vich) is taking a break from the photo shoot for this magazine, wondering where her next meal will come from. "L.A. is the place for food," exalts the 22-year-old Jovovich. "Like, right now I don't know whether I want Taco Bell, In-N-Out Burger, Carl's Jr., KFC, Carney's or McDonald's. I want it all, all at once, injected. Different tastes passing at three-minute intervals one after the other."

The Russian-born beauty's craving for variety seems to extend to her career as well. She started modeling at age 11 and has worked on and off ever since (you might recognize her recent work as the Banana Republic girl or one of the new Coach faces). In her mid-teens she dipped into acting as well, landing roles in Return to the Blue Lagoon, Kuffs, Chaplin and Dazed and Confused. Her extraordinary beauty did not outweigh her inexperience, though, and none of these movies took her anywhere. By 18, she had added music to her activities, writing and recording songs for her soulful album, The Divine Comedy, which didn't catch on commercially, but for those who bothered to listen, separated her from the superficial supermodel crowd.

When Jovovich decided to go back to acting, she was out to right the wrongs of the past. She signed on to Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, playing a bioengineered alien who teaches Bruce Willis about the power of love and spandex, and was indeed impressive, especially to director Besson, who is now her fiance. Spike Lee must have been impressed too, because he cast her opposite Denzel Washington in his upcoming film, He Got Game.

DENNIS HENSLEY: So when did your obsession with junk food begin?

MILLA JOVOVICH: When I first got to America, I stopped with my mom at a McDonald's in Sacramento [California] and she got me a small fries. I must have held that little package for two hours, eating a bite at a time, trying to get that oily, greasy, salty flavor to last.

Q: Speaking of flavor, you and your Fifth Element director, Luc Besson, seem to have an undying taste for each other. Did you get together before or after filming?

A: I was going out with someone else and he was going out with someone else, so I fell in love with him as a person first. He opened my eyes to what it was to really be an actress. Then after we finished the film we both had some tragedies with our own affairs and I came to his place in Malibu to visit while he was editing the movie. We realized how much we missed each other.

Q: He's French. Do you two speak French at home?

A: I'm learning.

Q: I would think in romantic situations you'd want him to speak French.

A: Yeah, it's always nice to hear things that mean nothing in romantic situations. [Laughs] Sweet nothings, that is.

Q: Your marriage to Luc won't be your first, right?

A: I had a brief marriage when I was 16; it got annulled after a few weeks. It was silly. He's a young actor with whom I worked on Dazed and Confused. It was the first time I wasn't living at home and it was my first grown-up relationship. I definitely thought he was the one.

Q: Did your parents know?

A: No. We eloped and called from Las Vegas. It was all so fast.

Q: I bet the pictures were hilarious.

A: Yeah, they're funny. I have it on video, too, and on the cover I wrote, "My First Wedding," like, not even realizing what I was writing.

Q: Did your husband understand that was a put-down?

A: I don't think he really got it. I don't know what he really got. I haven't talked to him in years.

Q: Getting back to The Fifth Element, has that movie done a lot for you?

A: Definitely. That movie was the first time I ever got a chance to really work as an actress. My character Leeloo gave me so much magic back that I had lost from living in New York and hanging out with certain people, failing in things and getting disappointed.

Q: Did you become jaded?

A: Not jaded, just losing that magic that makes you find beauty in the world instead of seeing what's wrong with everything. Leeloo could stare at something for a million years and it would still be new to her.

Q: Leeloo spoke some futuristic Euro-Asian language. What dirty words do you know in that tongue?

A: None. She never felt the need to swear. The only time she ever feels frustrated is at the end of the film and she hasn't even learned any bad words yet.

Q: Bruce Willis hasn't had time to teach her--

A: No, thank God, not yet. That'll be part two. She'll have a kid on her hip and be cooking food with one hand, cleaning the spaceship and swearing.

Q: Were your futuristic costumes as uncomfortable as

they looked?

A: The Band-Aid outfit was fine. The orange suspender outfit was a bitch. Going to the bathroom was impossible.

Q: You recently finished filming Spike Lee's He Got Game. Any uncomfortable outfits in that?

A: Well, I have this little cherry leather G-string--

Q: Who doesn't?

A: Really. And I have a see-through raincoat. I'm also constantly disguising myself with wigs.

Q: What do you play?

A: A hooker named Dakota who's from Coney Island. I hook up with Denzel Washington, who's been in prison for six-and-a-half years. He gets out on a special work release program. He hasn't been with a woman for a long time, but our relationship goes beyond sex.

Q: So you and Denzel have love scenes?

A: Just one. He said something really great to me right before we shot our love scene. "Don't get offended if I get excited and don't get offended if I don't."

Q: Well, what happened?

A: That's something that you'll have to wonder about. [Laughs] As an actor, Denzel is very understanding and gentle. He doesn't impose himself on you.

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