Ahead of the 27th anniversary of the Willis classic ‘The Fifth Element,’ his costar remembers the “special moment” it played in her life
Milla Jovovich is remembering the “special moment” that was The Fifth Element.
The trippy science fiction classic starring Bruce Willis will celebrate its 27th anniversary on May 7 — a fact that Jovovich, 48, finds inconceivable. “I can’t believe I’m at that point,” she tells PEOPLE, that her work as an actress and musician is reaching a milestone of almost 30 years. “So many anniversaries!”
Jovovich, who now stars in the sci-fi thriller Breathe (in theaters and on digital now), recalls everything about filming The Fifth Element fondly. “There’s always, in our lives, few moments of brilliance in between all the minutiae — in between all the normal stuff, in between all the failures, and disappointments, and whatever else, the good, the bad, the normal, the ugly.”
Starring opposite Willis, 69, “would have to be one of those shining moments in my life, in my career as something that really mattered to me as a human and an actress,” says Jovovich. “It was a special moment. It was a special character.”
In French writer-director Luc Besson’s film, Jovovich played Leelo, a humanoid embodiment of the titular element. In between similar sci-fi flicks 12 Monkeys and Armageddon, Willis starred as special forces major-turned-cab-driver Korben Dallas, who embarks on an intergalactic adventure after Leelo escapes the clutches of Gary Oldman’s industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg.
Because Willis was “quite a bit older than me,” recalls Jovovich, “I was more friends with his kids, and Demi [Moore]. They would come to visit.”
That meant “babysitting” Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, the three daughters Willis and Moore, 61, share. “We would listen to music together and dance,” says Jovovich, giving the parents “some mommy daddy time” while on The Fifth Element’s set.
“I was like an older sister,” says the Resident Evil star, calling Willis’ extended clan “a special family.” (Willis shares two more daughters, Mabel Ray and Evelyn Penn, with wife Emma Heming Willis.)
“They’re so cool, and such wonderful girls,” adds Jovovich, who 27 years later remains in touch with Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. “They have such a great relationship with Demi, and I love that. I look at them as a family unit, and I just think it’s really wonderful what they’ve created.”
The Fifth Element also starred Chris Tucker as the hilariously flamboyant deejay Ruby Rhod. Tucker told PEOPLE in November he had “great, great times” with Jovovich and Willis on set.
“Of course, I keep him in my prayers,” Tucker, 52, said of Willis following the Die Hard star’s aphasia diagnosis and retirement from acting. “Seeing him was always awesome. I’ll never forget it. Working with him, it was an awesome time.”
Jovovich stars in director Stefon Bristol’s Breathe alongside Jennifer Hudson, Quvenzhané Wallis, Common, Raúl Castillo and Sam Worthington.
