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July 2007
SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2007 | RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION
An Interview with Milla Jovovich

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2007 | RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION
An Interview with Milla Jovovich

By Denzel Walkes

 

 

 

July 31, 2007

Coming back to a role in sequel should feel old to Milla Jovovich, but when you have a different director for each film, it does add a new flavor, and Milla loves to have fun in doing them. At theSan Diego Comic Con, Jovovich delighted the fans with her presence as they showed a new trailer to her latest film, ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’. Once again, she’s there to play Alice. Now, in hiding in the Nevada desert, once again joins forces with Carlos Oliveira (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps), along with new survivors Claire (Ali Larter), K-Mart (Spencer Locke ) and Nurse Betty (Ashanti) to try to eliminate the deadly virus that threatens to make every human being undead... and to seek justice. In speaking with blackfilm.com, Jovovich talks about the franchise lasting this long, having a new director for each film, and doing her own stunts.



Did you expect the movie to make it this far?

Milla Jovovich: I know its crazy I never expected it to still be here making these movies it’s very exciting, very um… incredible thing to trilogy to have a three DVD box set.


Did you feel that there was any kind of progression in the character Alice?

MJ: I think this movie there’s a progression in the sense that she’s really trying to figure out what’s going on with her what has umbrella done to her and that she knows some how that she’s dangerous to the people that she cares about so she has to isolate herself and I think in a way too she feels guilty for causing this accident to happen so in a way she is trying to redeem herself too so I think this forced isolation is some form of punishment and she’s trying so hard to become a good person in her own mind.


How do you feel about each movie having a different director?

MJ: You know I think one of the really cool things is about the resident evil franchise is that each movie does have a different director and that gives each movie it’s own special flavor and it’s own special world so it always keeps it exciting it always keeps something new happening you know so working with Paul he’s very calm, he knows what he wants and he’s very direct about it. He’s very involved with every single aspect, of the script writing to the monsters to the set everything he’s every much in control of. Alexander was really great too because he’s very much involved with the stunt choreography and with setting up these very interesting cool shots that are very new and unexpected. Russell was really great because he was just the huge ball of energy, he was the little Australian dude, that was just like screaming at everybody, running tgh the desert and he ended up passing out and being in the hospital for a week because he was just so insane and he got dehydrated. I mean it was 145 degrees out there so it was very easy for that to happen.


Did you challenge yourself to do any stunts that you’ve wanted to do in this film?

MJ: The whole part of shooting in the desert was such a challenge, it was the first time in these movies that we were out in nature, it was really different because suddenly you have to watch out for things that you never had to usually on a film set you can do what ever you want, you can sit where ever you want, everything is fake every monster is fake, here literally an hour after we had finished a scene in the hotel they found two scorpions where I was sitting, so you really have to be aware because you are kind of intruding into these animals territory so it’s not just like a movie you are in the wild and you have to watch out for natural phenomenon and also the stunts were so crazy because it’s one thing to do it in an air conditioned studio with a nice flat floor and a everything and you’ve got your sweat pants on but suddenly in 145 degree weather you’ve got the sand shifting beneath your feet, the boots and your coat it changed everything suddenly it felt like a whole new choreography I had to learn it all over again in some sense it was hard you know and you have to do those things over and over to get all the different angles it was crazy. Me and my stunt double had to trade off because neither of us could do it for very long without getting completely dehydrated.


Did you end up having any nightmares?

MJ: It’s weird I have a lot of zombie dreams (laughs) I do I don’t know why. They are pretty insane, very real. I’m constantly killing zombies in my dreams.


How was it working with the Mexican crew and with Eugenio Caballero?

MJ: It was such an amazing thing to work with him because he is so talented and he showed me all the books for Pan’s Labyrinth which were just unbelievable. He had all these diaries where he kept all the photographs, the feelings of the inspiration, his writing, just incredible and he’s just such a cool guy. I think it’s funny because the Mexican people in general were very cultural and there is a lot of cultural diversity over there. They have really great museums and a really sophisticated city in Mexico city and you’ve got a lot of young artists there and it was a really great feeling in that sense like a lot of young people that are very creative which I love and it reminded me of Berlin actually, it was like “oh you can actually compare those too cities”. I had an amazing time too because I got a chance to go see the pyramids. So I went a few times and it was unbelievable. The second time I went it was pouring down with rain which was really great because no one was there so we were like the only people there and I have some great pictures of the pyramids that almost look like blade runner. I almost feel like blade runner took inspiration from the pyramids for their building because they look so modern… I loved it.


What is your favorite place that you have ever visited?

MJ: In general I try, when I go to an exotic local of course, I try an take advantage of being there. When I was shooting Ultra Violet in china I took my brother to come visit me and he’s 18 and we went from Hong Kong, we went to Beijing, saw Tiananmen Square we saw the forbidden palace, and I took him to Mongolia. So we took this crazy trek through Mongolia with backpacks and water canteens it was just insane, like nothing you’ve even seen before. Literally we went through many different landscapes and we started in the southern Gobi desert and made our way up to the capital of the city where we passed desert rocks that look like mars like red rocks and this whole part that was just red clay, unbelievable and these natural hot springs in the mountains that’s all green with wild horses like Disney stuff. Stuff that you would say Walt Disney used this inspiration for Bambi because it’s like the green hills with wild horse and little streams running through the grass, crazy, so beautiful, and the people. It makes you come back to Los Angeles with a whole new view of society because here on rodeo drive and if I see anyone with a smile on their face I would be so lucky and you go to In Mongolia and these people have nothing and they’ll literally will share the last bit of camel cheese with you and their animals die in the winter and yet they are smiling and their cheeks are cracked from the wind but they are smiling and their so happy. Then you come to this western world where everyone has so much that they are choking they have so much crap.


What compelled you to play a strong female character?

MJ: I feel like times have changed, I’ve been doing this for 20 years already I started doing this when I was 11 in this industry, acting and modeling… The outlook is very different today from what it was. I don’t know many people that look at models and say they are just stupid anymore. There are some girls that are really stupid like everyone. Everywhere you go you have people who take the time to educate themselves and people who are lazy and don’t. I think I see a lot more girls who are “stupid” who don’t do anything, they’re not modeling, they’re not acting, they’re not having any jobs they’re just kind of rich. Do you know what I mean? Just to have a career and to have something in your life that you are going towards I think is the beginning of education and to focus and to have a dream rather not just sit and doing nothing.


 

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION OPENS ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2007

 

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