All is fair in love and war.
Milla Jovovich “punched” her director husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, in the face the first time the pair ever worked on a movie together.
According to Anderson, the surprising incident unfolded in the early 2000s when he and Jovovich were filming the first “Resident Evil” flick – and he wasn’t the only one injured.
“There was one point during the first Resident Evil where both myself and the director of photography had black eyes because Milla had punched us,” Anderson, 60, recounted to Us Weekly this week during an interview alongside Jovovich, 49.
While the famous director clarified that his wife’s punch was not “in anger,” Jovovich interrupted to insist that Anderson “asked for it.”
“They put me in an impossible situation,” the “Resident Evil” star explained. “Paul said, ‘Just punch straight at the camera as if I’m the camera.’ But he didn’t have a camera, so I just punched him straight in the eye.”
However, Anderson reiterated that he did not expect Jovovich to actually punch him, but the incident taught just how strong his then-future-wife could be.
“Well, I imagined that [Jovovich] would imagine there was a camera in front of me,” the “Event Horizon” director said. “It takes her about ‘this much’ space, but she just imagined the back of my head was the lens.”
“And just, wham,” Anderson added with a laugh. “So I saw how powerful her punches could be in real life.”
Jovovich starred as Alice in 2002’s “Resident Evil” before returning to the role six more times in 14 years. The franchise’s final film, “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter,” was released in 2016. Anderson directed all seven movies.
The actress and Anderson met in 2000 while preparing to film the first action horror film. They officially tied the knot in 2009 and have since welcomed three daughters: Ever, 17, Dashiel, 9, and Osian, 5.
However, it wasn’t love at first sight for the pair. Anderson recounted how Jovovich secured the role that would make her a beloved actress to fans across the world – and it involved “The White Lotus” star Jason Isaacs.
“She did,” Anderson responded when asked whether Jovovich had to audition for the role of Alice. “She read with a very good friend of mine, Jason Isaacs. And he was in town and he’s like, ‘I want to come in and help, anything I can do.’ So he read with Milla.”
“Milla left,” the screenwriter continued, “and Jason turned to me and he said, ‘Well, that’s it then.’ And I said, ‘So you think she’s great for the movie?’ And he said, ‘Oh, forget about the movie. You and her.’”
“So he felt there was some electricity in the room,” Anderson concluded, “and he was not wrong.”
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