Milla Jovovich Recalls "Babysitting" Bruce Willis' Kids on the Set of 'The Fifth Element'

"I was like an older sister."

IAN HOLM, BRUCE WILLIS, MILLA JOVOVICH, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, 1997
(Image credit: Alamy)

Actress and model Milla Jovovich is recalling what it was like on the set of the 1997 film The Fifth Element ahead of the cult classic's 27th anniversary.

In an exclusive interview with People, Jovovich waxed nostalgic about her time starring alongside Bruce Willis...including the off-camera moments she spent with his three young children.

"(Willis was) quiet a bit older than me," she told the publication. "I was more friends with his kids, and Demi (Moore). They would come to visit."

Those visits, she explained, included "babysitting" Willis and Moore's three daughters so the then-couple could spent some "mommy daddy time" together.

"We would listen to music together and dance,” the actress added.

IAN HOLM, BRUCE WILLIS, MILLA JOVOVICH, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, 1997

Actors Ian Holm, Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich in the 1997 film 'The Fifth Element.'

(Image credit: Alamy)

Jovovich went on to explain that she "was like an older sister" to Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, adding that Willis' blended family is undeniably "special."

In 2000, Willis and Moore split after 13 years of marriage, but have remained extremely close as they co-parent their children. Willis went on to marry Emma Heming Willis in 2009, and the pair share two daughters, Mable Ray and Evelyn Penn, together.

“They're so cool, and such wonderful girls,” Jovovich said of Rumor, Scout and Tallulah, who she says she has remained close to even 27 years later. "They have such a great relationship with Demi, and I love that. I look at them as a family unit, and I just think it's really wonderful what they've created.”

Chris Tucker, Ukrainian actress Milla Jovovich and US actor Bruce Willis pose for the presentation of the film "The Fifth Element" directed by Luc Besson during the 50th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 7, 1997.

Chris Tucker, Milla Jovovich and Bruce Willis pose for the presentation of the film 'The Fifth Element' directed by Luc Besson during the 50th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 7, 1997.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In addition to revealing her on-set babysitting skills, Jovovich opened up about the adoration she has for The Fifth Element and how unbelievable it is that it's been over 25 years since its theatrical release.

"There's always, in our lives, few moments of brilliance in between all the minutiae—in between all the normal stuff, in between all the failures, and disappointments, and whatever else, the good, the bad, the normal, the ugly," she told People of the film.

"I can't believe I'm at that point,” she continued. "So many anniversaries!"

Danielle Campoamor is an award-winning freelance writer covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mental health, politics, celebrity, and feminist issues. She has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, and more.