Milla Jovovich is an American model, actress, musician and fashion designer born in 1975 in Kiev, Ukraine. All these career hats she now wears were added on after Jovovich began her career as a model for such products as Revlon, Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Donna Karan and Versace. Her first real acting opportunity was a role in the television film The Night Train to Kathmandu (1988). That opportunity was followed by a part in Two Moon Junction. Jovovich’s big breakout role, however, was when she played the lead role in 1997’s The Fifth Element, which partnered her with Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman.
For Married… with Children fans Jovovich is best known because of her role as Yvette in the 1989 episode, “Fair Exchange (Season 4, Episode 6). This episode featured Jovovich visiting Chicago to be a high school exchange student staying with the Bundy family. Although Kelly at first welcomes Yvette as a friend and fellow student, their relationship quickly sours once Kelly realizes Yvette is attracting all the cute boys. Kelly may be hot, but Yvette is hot with a foreign accent. The youngest, Bud Bundy, of course, makes a play for Yvette, only to be turned down. Al and Peggy, are slightly courteous to Yvette, but only seem to be interested in this temporary student for the money they will earn from her stay at their place.
Although foreign exchange students are a fascinating phenomenon — just to see how young people from one culture get along with people in far off lands — Married… with Children has never been big on seriously exploring culture. Therefore, this introduction of Yvette to our Bundys marks just one more opportunity for the dysfunctional TV family to behave poorly and selfishly, like they always do.
Jovovich performs well on the program, although she mainly sticks to her stereotypically foreign girl role. She speaks with a thick accent, and looks confused before settling into American norms. She’s funny, but if you think about it, this part is really not much of a stretch. She merely needed to draw upon her own personal experiences as a young Russian girl, growing up in America.
