Chicago Tribue June 21, 1994

Milla's No Poser

"People talk about the hardships of modeling - oh, please!" That's what Milla Jovovich has to say about her former career as a supermodel.

by Brenda You - Chicago Tribune - 6.21.94

"There are people in the world who have to pick strawberries all day for $1.50 a day while some model complains about standing in a bikini in cold water for a few minutes. Big deal!"

The 18-year-old beauty from Russia started modeling at 11 and, by age 14, was one of Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women" and posing alongside Cindy Crawford. Even so, Milla says she was never a supermodel.

"That's a silly word," she says. "It's like Superman. By day, she's an ordinary woman. Then, she goes into a dressing room and - pow! - she's a Supermodel!"

Whatever, it's all behind her now. Milla gave up modeling at 16 to pursue a new passion: music. Her first album, "The Divine Comedy," came out this spring on EMI Records.

The record features Milla singing her own songs about life, and is very old-world style - lots of acoustic guitars and mandolins. It's already being played on some alternative rock radio stations.

If such a folksy style seems strange for a teenager, well, that's just Milla.

"I grew up fast," she says, noting that she moved to Los Angeles at age 5, when her actress mom and doctor dad came to the U.S. "L.A. is more superficial than anywhere else. Kids there act so much older, they go to clubs and start acting old. They think they're mature, but they're not."

"I did a lot of partying when I was younger, like around 14. The partying was stupid. I was wasting my time. But I guess I got it out of my system."

Now, the more-mature Milla spends her time reading and rehearsing with her band. She's also got a musician boyfriend in Europe she visits when she can.

"I can count my friends on one hand," she says. "It's hard for me now to go to a party and make small talk. I think it's all so fake. I'd rather spend my time alone or with the people I really trust than try to be popular or on the club scene."

Movies

Milla's been in "Two Moon Junction," "Return to Blue Lagoon," "Chaplin" and "Dazed and Confused."

Memories

" 'Blue Lagoon' got bad reviews, but it was a movie for kids, not critics," Milla says. "I had the time of my life making it."

Modeling

"I never took it seriously. It was just a side career to make money while I was acting," Milla says. "There was nothing challenging or interesting about it."