Milla Jovović paid tribute to her ‘wonderful husband and incredible kids’ while celebrating her milestone 50th birthday on Wednesday.
The actress officially said goodbye to her forties on December 17 while looking back at her life and remarkable career in a lengthy Instagram post.
Jovovich, who raises children Ever, 18, Dashiel, 10, and Osian, 5, with her director husband Paul W.S Anderson, became an international star after playing mute humanoid Leeloo in 1997 blockbuster The Fifth Element.
The Kyiv born actress is now better known for her starring role in the hugely popular Resident Evil film franchise, loosely inspired by the video game series of the same name.
Reflecting on her varied career, she wrote: ‘The big 5 OH!! Wow, what an incredible journey it’s been. I feel like I’ve lived so many different lives over the last 50 years! So many eras come and gone, so many iterations of myself and still iterating lol!
‘I’m a SO GRATEFUL for the good, the bad and everything in between. The explosions and the moments of stillness, the extraordinary and the mundane. Each has its own magic.’
Milla Jovovich paid tribute to her ‘wonderful husband and incredible kids’ while celebrating her milestone 50th birthday on Wednesday
Jovovich also credited her parents, Galina, a Russian former actress, and Bogdan, a Serbian doctor, as well as her filmmaker husband and their three children for keeping her grounded.
She added: ‘Thanks god I have my family, my tribe, the one I was born into and the one I’ve created and chosen along the way. You all know who you are.
‘I’m so interested in what the door to this decade opens into! I’ve changed so much over the the years and the one thing I know is that there is always something new to learn, something interesting to explore and the power to pivot and change is what keeps the creative fire burning!! I couldn’t ask for more.
‘The most wonderful husband, the most incredible kids that teach me how to be a better human everyday. A career that’s constantly leading me to explore different avenues and forms of expression… a fan base that’s always supported me through every crazy choice I’ve made!
‘Thank you thank you thank you god, thank you universe, thank you parents, thank you family, thank you friends, thank you for loving me, for being patient with me, for knowing that I’m all or nothing and still being there through it all.
‘I AM truly blessed and I KNOW IT!’
Speaking to YOU magazine in 2021, Jovovich admitted her first meeting with British director Anderson, her third husband, was one of the most significant moments of her life.
‘He changed me,’ she explained. ‘He’s made me more patient. I feel lucky because he’s a role model to me. He’s smart, calm, logical… I love that.’
Jovovich raises children Ever, 18, Dashiel, 10, and Osian, 5, with her director husband Paul W.S Anderson (pictured shortly after Osian’s birth)
The actress became an international star after playing mute humanoid Leeloo in 1997 blockbuster The Fifth Element (pictured, with co-stars Ian Holm and Bruce Willis)
Jovovich has credited her parents, Galina, a Russian former actress, and Bogdan, a Serbian doctor, as well as her filmmaker husband and their three children for keeping her grounded
The actress would eventually marry Anderson in 2009, but she revealed there were times along the way when they considered ending their relationship.
She added: ‘Relationships aren’t easy. At first there’s so much passion and sex and it’s any time, any place, anywhere and then years pass and you think, “Where’s it gone?”
‘There have been times we could have split but we both want this and toughed it out.’
She added: ‘Passion has nothing to do with looks but mystery, keeping something back. I keep a bit of myself apart from Paul.
I have my music, I paint, I do things that don’t involve him that absorb me, and he has ‘his and we like that about each other.
‘Beauty doesn’t last and it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know who you are.’