WHEN you ring Ukrainian-born actress Milla Jovovich’s home number in Los Angeles, there are no publicists to act as gatekeepers.

Instead, a bemused male voice – which probably belongs to her husband, Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson – answers. And then you can almost hear the star herself bouncing over to drawl a lazy hello in her slightly husky voice.

She’s smack in the middle of rehearsing for an acoustic online concert for her Twitter followers and fans, which will be streamed via live feed from an unconfirmed website on Jan 12. But she doesn’t mind being interrupted at all to do this interview.

The relaxed, bohemian vibe she exudes is perhaps indicative of the chilled-out festive season she’s been having.

Though one is used to seeing her as a kick-butt, sexy sci-fi heroine onscreen, she’s taking a break to play a role of a different kind – that of domestic goddess.

“Just being able to sleep with my daughter (two-year-old Ever Gabo) every night and wake up together in the morning,” says the 34-year-old, when asked about the highlight of her festive season. She added: “And (I’m relishing doing) small things, like making dinner.”

She’s on a break, you see, having recently wrapped up shooting for the third instalment in the popular videogame- to-celluloid franchise, Resident Evil: Afterlife (slated for release in 2011).

She stars in alien abduction flick The Fourth Kind, which opens tomorrow in Singapore. In the film, which blends “real, archival footage” with dramatic re-enactments, she plays Dr Abigail Tyler, a psychologist who investigates a series of mysterious disappearances among the population of Nome, Alaska.

The script is based on alleged true events and, while Jovovich does not believe in aliens, the dramatic transformation of these “abductees” under hypnotism was what drew her to the production.

“It was fascinating to me. I believe in the power of the human mind,” she said.

MOTHERHOOD AND THE FUTURE

Motherhood has changed Jovovich in every aspect of her life, as she pours all her passion into raising her little girl.

“When you’ve been up all night with a sick child, everything else seems super easy. That’s made me a lot more relaxed in my career,” she adds.

Yet, audiences will see her in a multitude of films in the near future. She’ll appear in the thriller Stone, as the wife of an arsonist (played by Edward Norton) who targets his parole officer (Robert De Niro). It’s a dark, meaty role opposite two acting heavyweights that Jovovich auditioned hard to get, and she cried when the director rang her up to say that she’d clinched it.

Also in the pipeline is another psychological thriller, Faces In The Crowd, in which she portrays the survivor of a serial-killer attack.

Mention that she might soon join the ranks of actresses like Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Halle Berry, who have successfully played action heroines and won acclaim for their acting, and Jovovich brushes the suggestion aside with a laugh.

“To be honest with you, being nominated for an award is the last thing I’m thinking about. I make movies based on what they can teach me. And to have a great time.”

Her career has been eclectic, too, as she’s played at being a singer as well as a designer, and is currently a spokesman for L’Oreal.

She says: “Even if I get typecast as an actress, it really doesn’t bother me. I still make music, design, write and draw, and have found success in these fields. And that’s pretty amazing for an immigrant from Russia.”

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