"That, however, was my weird little doorway into the modeling world," she said last month at the Toronto International Film Festival. "The modeling really took off in a big way and there was a lot of controversy and brouhaha about my age and what I was exuding in pictures."
The controversy was exacerbated in 1988, when Jovovich got her first movie role - in Zalman King's "Two Moon Junction," one of the director's numerous soft-core sex dramas so popular on cable.
She was 12 at the time. Jovovich, however, not only wasn't involved in any of the adult stuff, she wasn't even aware of the type of film it was.
"I didn't read the script [child actors normally only get their parts to learn] and my mom and I were still very much fresh off the boat, so I don't think she ever read the whole script," she said. "Definitely my mom was kind of shocked halfway through when she walked in on set and there were some hot and steamy scenes going on - 'Milla, don't come in!' she said."
In the 20 years since, Jovovich has been busy building up a resume as more than just a pretty Revlon face.
"Stone," opening Friday, may be her most challenging role to date. Playing opposite two acting powerhouses, Jovovich holds her own on screen with Robert De Niro (Jack, the prison administrator), while trying to seduce him into letting her husband Stone (Edward Norton) out on parole.
Speaking with Jovovich about her character, Lucetta, was like sitting in on an episode of "Inside the Actor's Studio."
