By Chris Betros

Arts & Culture Sep. 16, 2010 - 05:14AM JST ( 12 )

TOKYO —

If flesh-eating zombies ever take over the world, we know who to call: Milla Jovovich. The 34-year-old actress has been battling them for the past eight years in the four “Resident Evil” movies, the latest being “Resident Evil Afterlife 3D” (titled “Biohazard Afterlife 3D” for Japan). “The zombies are almost part of the family now,” she joked during a visit to Japan this month with two of her co-stars, a heavily pregnant Ali Larter (of “Heroes” fame) and British actor Wentworth Miller (star of “Prison Break).

“Resident Evil” debuted as a game for Sony’s PlayStation in 1996. Since then, it has become a media franchise, consisting of a video and PC game series, comic books, novellas, action figures and, of course, four films—“Resident Evil” (2002), “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004), “Resident Evil: Extinction” in 2007, and now “Afterlife.”

The films deal with the desperate struggle of a small band of humans to battle a mutant virus accidentally unleashed by the sinister Umbrella Corp that threatens to turn the whole world into flesh-eating zombies. Jovovich plays Alice, a former Umbrella security agent and one of the few survivors of the virus outbreak. As the virus threatens to make every human being undead, Alice must kick zombie butt and elude Umbrella goons in her quest for justice and salvation. Tokyoites will be amused with the latest film which has hordes of zombies overrunning Shibuya crossing (no salaryman jokes, please). “It was a great pleasure to destroy Tokyo. ‘Biohazard’ belongs in Japan,” said Jovovich.

Born in Kiev, Jovovich moved to California with her family when she was five. She did some modeling as a child for Revlon and tried her hand at professional singing (including an album release) before making her film debut in “Return to the Blue Lagoon” (1991). She joined the ranks of action heroes in 1997 with “The Fifth Element,” and then followed that with “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc” (1999), “Zoolander” (2001), before starting the “Resident Evil” series, all four of which have been produced by her husband Paul W S Anderson. “These movies are so much fun. We’re all like big kids at an amusement park with monsters and explosions.”

“Afterlife” was filmed in 3D which was an extra challenge for the actors, said Larter, 34. “The fight scenes have to be filmed differently. When you do a 2D movie, you throw a punch and there is an obvious gap between your fist and someone’s face. You can’t get away with that in 3D. The punches have to connect. So it helped us get more in character. As much as 3D immerses the audience, it immerses actors as well.”

Miller, 38, said it is important for actors to embrace the latest technology, but emphasized that the story comes first. “There has to be a balance. The characters have to be fully believable people whom you can get behind.”

Jovovich said she never dreamed the franchise would be so popular. “We made this European horror movie eight years ago and nobody expected much. Women action heroes weren’t big drawcards at the box office then,” she said. “But the fan base grew and each movie has been built on inspiration and passion. I think back to when I used to watch sci-fi and fantasy movies when I was growing up, and it was my dream to be a superhero. The ‘Resident Evil’ franchise has made my dream come true.”

While in Tokyo, Jovovich took time out from her movie PR duties to launch her clothing line Capsule Collection by Milla at Matsuya department store in Ginza. “I love Tokyo and its fashions,” she said. I’ve been coming here for fashion or movies since I was 14. If you don’t mind me doing a little product placement, I never miss a chance to have teppanyaki at Hama,” she said.