CELEBRITIES OF THE YEAR: FROM THE MOST BORING TO THE MOST TALENTED
MOST TALENTED AND LUCKIEST CELEBRITIES
MILLA JOJOVICH
Milla
played Maya Carlton, George Kuffs' (Christian Slater) girlfriend in Kuffs
(1992). The title character addresses the camera throughout the film in a
Ferris-Bueller-meets-Alf style. George loses his job and skips town when he
finds out that Maya is pregnant. He tries to get a loan from his older brother
Brad but Brad is promptly murdered and George is suddenly the owner of Brad's
security agency business. Milla plays Mildred Harris, the second wife of
Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey, Jr.) in Chaplin (1992), the biography of the
legendary silent film comedian. She's in the film for about 15 minutes, but
once she and Chaplin separate she's not seen again. Blink and you might miss
her in Dazed and Confused (1993). Aside from a scene in which Milla sings a
couple of lines from The Alien Song (from her 1994 album The Divine Comedy)
she is all but non-existent in Richard Linklater's cult classic tale of 1970's
high school slackers. This was undoubtedly the low point of Milla's acting
career - she was used extensively in the promotion of the film and was
promised a much larger role.
Discouraged,
she took a temporary hiatus from acting. Milla returned with a bang in her
breakout film, director Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (1997). Set in New York
City in 2214, it's a futuristic science-fiction movie complete with wild
looking villains, funky weapons, a healthy dose of explosions, and the typical
Besson humor. Starring opposite Bruce Willis, Milla's portrayal of the
"perfect being" Lee-Loo received high praise from fans and critics. Milla
married Luc Besson in December 1997. From perfect being to prostitute, Milla's
next role was as Dakota Burns in director Spike Lee's He Got Game (1998). The
film is about Jesus Shuttleworth (Ray Allen), the top high school basketball
player in the country. His father, Jake (Denzel Washington) is serving a life
sentence for murdering Jesus' mother. Jake is released on parole but with one
condition - in one week, he must persuade his son to sign with the governor's
alma mater university, Big State. Milla teamed up with Luc Besson once again
as she played the title role in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
(1999). Besson's unique directing focuses on Joan's visions far more than any
previous version. The film follows Joan's short but incredible life - her rise
from peasanthood to hero as she led the French Army against the invading
British in early 15th century France. Joan was made a Saint 500 years later in
1920. Milla & Luc divorced shortly after the film was released. She plays a
troubled, damaged, yet brilliant character named Eloise in Wim Wenders' The
Million Dollar Hotel (2000). The movie starts when a billionaire's son dies in
a skid row hotel and a federal agent (Mel Gibson) turns the lives of the
miscreant residents upside down to find out if it was suicide or murder. The
name of the film is the nickname for the LA flophouse which was featured in
the U2 video, Where the Streets Have No Name. The premiere was February 9,
2000 at the 50th Berlin Film Festival. Milla also filmed The Claim (2000)
(formerly known as Kingdom Come) in 2000. It is a female version of Thomas
Hardy's 1886 novel The Mayor of Casterbridge: an epic love story set in
California in the 1850s. US release was April 20, 2001. Milla plays the
mysterious Katinka in Ben Stiller's comedy Zoolander. Based upon a character
Ben Stiller created for skits shown during the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards.