Now playing: Resident Evil: Afterlife

According to Milla, working with old friends definitely made her more comfortable: "It was so much fun, not only being an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz which is the epitome of luxury and style and elegance and performance, but working with friends. To have known Miles as long as we've known each other, and Philip [Treacy] I've known for so many years, it was really like a group of friends getting together and expressing themselves and having a good time."

"The music is super important too. We had a good soundtrack that day, I was playing Fever Ray," Treacy said. "I heard it when I was getting my makeup done and I was like, 'ugh, yes!' It's so important to have that vibe on set to get everybody in the state of mind. When you are performing, that sensational feeling -- everything you're hearing, and everything you're seeing, it adds to it, you have to create a mood, and that's what Miles is great at -- creating a mood on set," Milla said.

Milla she was almost overpowered by the feathered headpiece crafted by Philip Treacy: "When Philip put the hat on my head, I was like, 'Alright, hat cut!' Everyone was like, 'We can't see her face! we gotta see Milla, we actually hired Milla'."

"The costume is a big deal for the girls on this picture and I have to do some action sequences with it too. We've [the women on set] been trying to figure out the best way to fit in our dresses. I sent the assistants out to Ikea to get big, overstuffed arm chairs so we could prop ourselves up and get little coffee tables so we can put our stuff on there."

"At one point I remember they put all this body makeup on my hands to make me pale and they looked beautiful, but once I got the costume on I came in and she the makeup artist was like, 'What happened to your hands?' and I was like 'What do you mean?' and I looked down and my hands were blue and looked bruised! We were trying to find all these different color combinations to put on my hands cause all of a sudden my hands were blue and bloated and then we realized the arms of the costume were so tight it cut off my circulation so we had to cut the costume open to get the blood flowing and they finally went back to normal."

"I was actually able to get a pedicure recently, which is awesome. It's that new gel stuff and it doesn't chip and it doesn't crack. I was very proud because I get manicures for work all the time, but it's very rare that you really get a pedicure because you're always wearing shoes and not a lot of people see your feet. A lot of times, for fashion shoots or whatever, the feet are the last concern."

About the Philip Treacy hat she wears in the Mercedes-Benz campaign: "It was a little terrifying when I first saw it, to be totally frank, because I didn't know how they would put it on without poking my eyes out. It took three people to put it on and it completely cut my face. So Phillip had to do a 'hatcut' rather than a haircut on me. He cut the feathers until you could sort of see my face. And I was like, is anyone going to see my face or what's going on? Phillip cut a few more pieces, so I can actually sort of break through."

"This new Resident Evil is the first one to ever open at No. 1 worldwide. It's the biggest movie in the franchise. So we're definitely going to make another one," she said, adding that director Paul W.S. Anderson, her husband, already has some ideas for the fifth Resident Evil installment, and this time he wants the audience's ideas, too. "We've been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it's probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see. It's going to be a more interactive process."

Describing her character Lucetta:"Resident Evil movies are easy because they're so fun, with the excitement and the action; with a movie like Stone it was such a hard character to play. It was one of those people I would never want to know in my real life. To have to give her love and compassion and not judge her took its toll by the end of the day. By the time I'd get home, I just felt so — you just want to get in the shower and scrub off the day because she's just so different from who I am. She's this wild kind of animal."

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Q: How have you seen women from different cultures react to the "Resident Evil" films over the past decade?
Milla: "In Japan, literally 95 percent of the viewers are girls that go see these movies, and in America it's the opposite. Girls in Tokyo really, really need these strong role models, where I think women in America think the films are too violent. Japanese girls are normally so polite and so quiet that they need that outlet."

Q: What did having a larger budget with this fourth film open up creatively?
Milla: We were able to film in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Alaska and Toronto, which really gives the movie this big feeling that we never had in any of the films. All the other films always took place in one location. Because we were able to go to all these different places, it's very different visually and the stunts are just bigger, and the characters are just wonderful. You get a chance in this movie to take some time with characters. It's not just action, action, action."

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Stone: "Everybody needs to feel they have some control over their world, it's all a question of how you do it. I think Lucetta is a very joyful human being. She has no regrets. She's into the only thing she knows, which is the power of her womanliness, her sexuality. She's very tactile. That's her world. She's a teacher's assistant. She can make coloured eggs and weave little baskets. She's not a well-read girl. She's simple. She's a very flawed individual. That's what makes her interesting."

Resident Evil: Afterlife: "I love all the training it's given me in martial arts. I've gotten a really beautiful collection of swords, and I live with and am married to the creator of the franchise."

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Putting Alice's superpowers on hold: "Paul and I had a bit of an argument about that. I was sort of whining, 'I don't want to give them up.' And he's like, 'Put your superpowers away, okay?' I was all into being a superhero and just doing bigger and badder things. And he's like, 'How is an audience going to really relate to you or have fear for you when all you need to do is blast everything away with your psychic powers? I want you to get your hands dirty again and really fight.' I think he was totally right to make me vulnerable in this one."

Channeling Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen: "On the first Resident Evil, Paul was talking to me about actors to draw from, and he was mentioning male action stars like Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood. I didn't completely get it. I remember going to do some recording for the second movie and my voice freaked me out because it sounded so girly. So I ended up lowering it and re-recording the whole movie. It really changed everything because I seemed completely different. So that's when I channeled Clint and Steve to find Alice."

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The official buzz is that Stone is your "breakthrough" role. What does that mean for you, and did you have to read for the role?
Oh yeah, I got it out on tape for the casting director, and then I got called back to meet with the director [John Curran]. He wanted me to do a test reading with Robert De Niro and Edward Norton, so we hung out, and before I knew it, we were adding lines and talking about the characters. When I left, I felt like, Oh my God, I can't believe I might never see those guys again! But how lucky am I to have spent two hours in a room with them?! I was trying to have a really positive outlook on it, and then John called me and said, "Are you ready to go?" It's funny, because I've had "breakthroughs" my whole career. I tell my manager, "I am, like, your constantly new face!" First there was the breakthrough with The Fifth Element-like, "Oh, she can act." And then with Joan of Arc, "Oh, she can do drama." And then with Dummy, "Oh, look! She's a comedian!" No one ever expected me to be good, I guess. I feel on top of the world.

Your Wiki says your mother "raised you to be a movie star." What does that entail?
It's being educated, working hard on your talents from a very early age—acting classes, dance classes, music classes. I worked really hard. I studied art, photography. But it didn't really go the way my mom wanted. She was super disappointed when I was 16 and quit acting to be a musician. And then I quit everything to be a designer. And she was pissed off! She would say, "Why can't you be more like Gwyneth Paltrow?" And I would say, "I don't know! I wish I could help you, but I'm me!" More than anything, Mom raised me to be a compassionate, intelligent person. She started me reading books at a very young age. She was always telling me that this modeling stuff isn't going to last, that I'd better be ready, be an educated person, because what am I going to do when the looks fade? Looks can get you into a room, but what are you going to do once you get there? That was the main thing she gave me. And from my dad, [I got] that you have to have discipline. Opportunity knocks, but you have to be ready to answer.

You have some 10 movies in the works. And yet, other than Resident Evil: Afterlife, I see no roles involving backflips or uppercuts to any jaws, undead or otherwise. Is the Queen of Kick-Butt abdicating?
Well, the only other action film I have really done was Ultraviolet, and that was just something I especially wanted to do. I've always been the kind of girl who admired people in the army and boot camp. I'm a very physical person. When it comes to Resident Evil, I guess people just associate me with that kick-ass role.

You were very upfront about gaining 70 pounds when you were pregnant. Would you like to share how you got the weight off?
It took a year to put on that weight and a year to take it off. Basically, I lost 10 pounds a month for four months. Since I was around 200 pounds when I gave birth, losing 40 pounds was just a drop in the ocean. I knew after the 40 that I really had to discipline myself or this was the new me. Basically, I worked out a few times a week and did the Five Factor Diet. I put away the cake and pizza. But the weight didn't slip off. It took me another eight months to get it all off.

Did you enjoy being a little curvy?
The rule when you get older, it really is a choice between your a-- and your face. It's a little cellulite on the booty or you look like a hag. As you get older, you need a little weight on your face to look better and younger. If you get too skinny and don't have a little bit of curves, you look old, haggard and tired. I don't want to get so toned that you see the bones in my chest. That's gross. Still, there were some guys who were rude and told me, "Hey, your arms don't look as toned now." I'm like, "Whatever."

FANGORIA: Do you see Resident Evil: Afterlife as the best of the four RESIDENT EVIL movies?
MILLA JOVOVICH: Definitely. The setpieces are incredible, the characters go through so many different worlds within this one movie -- it's going to be super-exciting for the audience. On the last film it was pretty much one place; it was the desert all the way through. And even though it was great and it was the best one until then, Resident Evil: Afterlife really takes you to so many different sets, and you think you've gotten used to something and boom! You're somewhere completely different than the last place.

FANG: What appeals to you about playing Alice?
JOVOVICH: She's just so cool. I love the action, training, flying elements...I love doing wirework. She's like the female Clint Eastwood or Dirty Harry. It's really nice to see a woman playing a part like that, and different. It's usually the femme fatale kind of action stars, and she's not that. She's hot, but she's definitely more of a Dirty Harry than an X-Man or Marvel girl. She's down to earth.

FANG: Is it a trip having Paul involved again as director?
JOVOVICH: Well, Paul's involved in every movie. This is his baby, in a sense -- he's written and produced all of them, [helped] with the editing. Especially on the first and the third, he was there every step of the way. The first one he obviously directed, and the third he was there every day...he has always been such an integral part of all these films. I don't think you could make them without Paul. Or someone could, but they wouldn't be what they are now. It's great, because it's a family affair at this point.

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