By Joseph McCabe
Milla Jovovich is the kind of woman some men might find intimidating?if she wasn?t so damn down-to-earth. Friendly, fun-loving, and needless, to say, drop-dead gorgeous, the former-teen-model-turned-action-superstar is both someone you?d want to take out to dinner, and have save your ass, should it, for example, be threatened by platoons of post-apocalyptic zombies. But the most pleasantly surprising thing FEARnet discovers upon meeting Milla mere minutes before the world premiere of her latest sci-fi/horror/action extravaganza Resident Evil: Extinction is that she?s a colossal nerd!

Yep, you heard that right. Jovovich tells us that part of the reason she enjoys playing Extinction?s warrior-woman Alice is because she?s a lifelong fan of science-fiction. ?I?ve read the Dune series a few times,? she says, a geek light burning bright in her famous baby blues, ?and I was a big Dragonlance person as a kid. I read all those books, many times. I loved The Stars My Destination?one of my favorites?Damnation Alley? I mean, [I was] more of a literary sci-fi junkie. I wasn?t a big Trek-head or anything like that. But I loved to read sci-fi.?

Jovovich?s love of genre is evident when she describes her reasons for returning to the role of Alice for the third, and possible final time, in Extinction. ?It?s amazing, I would never have imagined that, making the first one, we?d actually get to number 3, so it?s really cool? I have to say, I was very skeptical when I?d gotten a phone call and gotten the script to do a third one. I went, ?I don?t know if I wanna do this?? I wasn?t totally happy with the second one and just didn?t really know where this franchise could go. And number 3 kind of felt, maybe, a bit cheesy. So I was really impressed with the third script and felt like the whole kind of feeling of the film was different. I loved the fact that this movie pays homage to the Mad Max genre and The Birds. I thought that was really cool. Because there?s a lot of young people who don?t really know these films anymore. I mean, my little brother didn?t know

?I thought that was really cool, and we have these really cool set pieces, like Las Vegas half-buried in the sand, which is so creepy, especially with all the issues. With global warming going on, you get this feeling, ?Oh, wow, it could kind of be that way?? I know that?s horrible? And there are some really interesting things as an actor for me too, because I get to channel a female Clint Eastwood a bit in this movie. At the same time, I got to play clones of myself. It just felt like there would be some really interesting things for me to do in this film. And of course I love action, I love sci-fi, I love training and all that. So it?s always fun for me to play. Though I have to say the script really impressed me.?

Jovovich also relished the opportunity to perform scenes from the first Resident Evil film from a whole new perspective?as Extinction?s many Alice clones. ?It was amazing,? she says. ?It was really cool. Especially to be able to go and walk down the old sets again, but then having all this new experience and having Alice change so much since the first movie, where the last time she walked down this corridor she was like this child, almost, and now she?s walking down like a real woman?who?s been subjected to so much persecution by the evil corporation at this point, and so angry and so isolated and so lonely. It really felt very surreal. I mean, to have all these new emotions but seeing the same places all over again. And I think it?s interesting for the character to go through something like that, to have to be constantly put under these extreme tests, and then suddenly see these places that she?s been to before but now she?s completely different. I just felt like?I don?t know. It really rang true to me. I have weird thoughts like that all the time. I had a friend who passed away, and every time I go to places we used to go together, it?s still the same yet I?m totally different.

?This movie profoundly affected me in lots of different ways. It?s still an action film in the end, and pure enjoyment in that sense, but as an actor there?s some personal moments there that were really cool and interesting like this.?

We ask Jovovich to name the most difficult scenes to film in the entire Resident Evil trilogy. No surprise, she doesn?t hesitate before mentioning Extinction?s extended desert sequences, which caused the film?s director to collapse.

?You know, I have to say, in this film the desert sequences were really grueling. Because I thought Toronto in the winter was as challenging as it could get, and then got out into the middle of the desert. Doing my shots, it was a hundred-and-forty-five degrees. Wearing that costume?the boots, the coat, the knives?I mean? There were sandstorms blowing every ten minutes, so, literally, I?d be up on the wires, swinging like a pendulum. In that kind of weather, it?s just really dangerous. Our director, Russell [Mulcahy], he ended up in the hospital for a week from heatstroke. He forgot to drink water and he was running around like the ball of energy that he is and he ended up just falling on the floor, because it just got so difficult. So it was one of those situations where you kind of go, ?Okay, this is make believe, but at the same time you gotta be really careful. Because you could end up in a lot of trouble if you don?t take care of yourself.

?In that sense, it was very challenging, because most action films, yes, they?re hard to do because it?s so physical, but this kind of took it to another level. Because not only is it physical?and you just have to have good stamina and have good training for it?but you literally have to remember to stop, too. I mean, I don?t stop. I?m the kind of person that just keeps going and going. To have to say, ?Okay, you did three takes, take a break, drink some water, sit underneath your umbrella?? is kind of hard for me. Because once you get into it, you just want to go and do it. But then at some point you just can?t, because you?re losing so much water and it?s so hot and you could potentially ruin the production if anything happens.?