Milla Jovovich recalls how “demoralizing” it was to be a child actor in Hollywood and how this defined her Dazed and Confused

role. Jovovich’s acting career dates back to the late ’80s and early ’90s, with roles in projects like Paradise, Married…with Children, Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), and Chaplin (1992). Released in 1993, Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused features a cast stacked with an impressive array of actors, many of whom would go on to become major stars. Jovovich appears in the film as Michelle Burroughs, who plays a guitar at a fire in one memorable sequence.

During a recent interview with GQ in which she looks back at the most iconic roles from her career, Jovovich reveals that her role as Michelle in Dazed and Confused was informed by her “soul-sucking” experience as a child actor. She doesn’t get into any specifics in terms of what projects or people were tough on her, but she does say that her child actor experiences turned her into something of a “loner,” which was seemingly exactly what Linklater was looking for. Check out Jovovich’s explanation below:

“I’d had a really hard time as a child actor in Hollywood. I guess I’d never realized how savage adults could be when they criticized a child. It was just one of the most soul-sucking, demoralizing experiences I’ve ever had. And especially being 15 at the time, it was such an integral part of my development. And it just made me very insecure and really solidified in my own head that I was not a good actress and that I was just a pretty face.

“When I went into Dazed and Confused, I was shocked that I got the part. It was a big audition, all these really great actors were there. It was terrifying because I was at a really low point with my confidence levels in myself, and it was hard to feel comfortable with the amount of incredible talent on that movie because I just didn’t feel like I was anywhere close to being able to go head-to-head with any of them.

“So I was kind of a loner and I brought my guitar and I just played music on my own. And I think Richard [Linklater] liked that. It’s probably why he hired me was to just be that loner chick that smokes weed and plays guitar because that’s really what I was and what I played in the movie.”

What Dazed & Confused Meant For Milla Jovovich’s Career

The Richard Linklater Movie Paved The Way For Some Major Jovovich Roles

After a series of smaller roles and roles in projects that perhaps didn’t make much of a mark, Dazed and Confused was an interesting turning point for Jovovich. She may not be the star of the film, but it was critically acclaimed at the time, and it has since become a major cult classic. Dazed and Confused arguably paved the way for Jovovich’s big break as a star.

Four years after appearing in Dazed and Confused, Jovovich starred as Leeloo in The Fifth Element (1997), a sci-fi cult classic starring Bruce Willis that solidified Jovovich’s status in Hollywood. She would go on to appear in Zoolander in 2001, but it was 2002’s Resident Evil that determined the direction of Jovovich’s career for the next 15 years. In addition to various other projects, including Ultraviolet (2006) and The Three Musketeers (2011), Jovovich would return as Alice for five more Resident Evil movies, finally bidding farewell to the franchise in 2017 with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.

Our Take On Jovovich’s Dazed & Confused Role

Jovovich Isn’t Alone In Her Child Actor Struggles

Jovovich is far from the only person to struggle as a child actor. In fact, she arguably ended up being a notable success stories in this regard, with many child actors either disappearing from the business entirely or, in tragic cases, falling into addiction troubles with drugs and alcohol. Still, it’s unfortunate that Jovovich was subjected to this harsh treatment, and it would seem that, while conditions for child actors have improved, there’s still work to be done in this area.

While Jovovich may not be the star of the show in Dazed and Confused, she certainly nails her scenes as Michelle. It’s not surprising that she went on to play more leading roles, but it is perhaps surprising that she went from playing Michelle to becoming a major action star a decade later.

Source: GQ