Milla Jovovich (born Milica Jovović; Serbian Cyrillic: Милица Јововић; December 17, 1975) is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. She has appeared in numerous science fiction and action-themed films, earning her the sobriquet "reigning queen of kick-butt" from the music channel VH1 in 2006. In 1987 Jovovich began modeling at the age of 12 when Herb Ritts photographed her for the cover of the Italian magazine Lei ("She"). Richard Avedon featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements, and she also starred in campaigns for major companies. In 1988, Jovovich had her first acting role in the television film, The Night Train to Kathmandu, and that year also appeared in her first feature film, Two Moon Junction. Jovovich gained attention for her role in the explicit 1991 romance film Return to the Blue Lagoon, as she was then only 16. She was considered to have a breakthrough with her role alongside Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman in the 1997 science-fiction film The Fifth Element, directed by Luc Besson. She and Besson married that year but soon divorced. She starred as the heroine and martyr in Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999).