Milla Jovovich talks babysitting for Fifth Element co-star Bruce Willis’ family on set of the 1997 film: ‘I was more friends with his kids’

Milla Jovovich reminisced over the ‘special moments’ she had while starring alongside Bruce Willis on The Fifth Element ahead of its 27th anniversary.

The 48-year-old actress – who strongly believes ‘Beauty is meaningless if you don’t know who you are’ – gushed over her almost 30 year acting career telling PEOPLE, ‘I can’t believe I’m at that point, so many anniversaries!’

The Breathe star says she remembers everything about being on set back in the day, ‘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 said that being Willis’, 69, co-star ‘would have to be one of those shining moments in my life, in my career as something that really mattered to me as a human and an actress.’

‘It was a special moment. It was a special character,’ she gushed.

The 48-year-old actress – who strongly believes ‘Beauty is meaningless if you don’t know who you are’ – gushed over her almost 30 year acting career telling PEOPLE , ‘I can’t believe I’m at that point, so many anniversaries!’ 

The actress went on to share that she ended up spending quite a bit of time connecting with Willis’ children while they shot the film in 1996.

Because he was ‘quite a bit older than me, I was more friends with his kids, and [his then-wife] Demi Moore, they would come to visit.’

In turn, she practically babysat Willis and Moore’s three daughters Rumer, Scout, Tallulah.

‘We would listen to music together and dance,’ Milla recalled, ‘giving the parents “some mommy daddy time.”‘

‘I was like an older sister,’ she said calling the actor’s clan ‘a special family’.

The movie star especially gushed over the actor’s daughters saying she was closest to them.

The actress went on to share that she ended up spending quite a bit of time connecting with Willis’ children while they shot the film in 1996

Because he was ‘quite a bit older than me, I was more friends with his kids, and [his then-wife] Demi Moore, they would come to visit’; Willis and Moore seen with daughters Scout and Rumer in 1996

In turn, she practically babysat Willis and Moore’s three daughters Rumer, Scout, Tallulah; the family seen in 2001

‘They’re so cool, and such wonderful girls, they have such a great relationship with Demi, and I love that,’ she gushed.

‘I look at them as a family unit, and I just think it’s really wonderful what they’ve created,’ Jovovich said, noting they were still in touch. 

Chris Tucker – who famously played Ruby Rhode in the 1997 film – told the outlet that he had ‘great, great times’ with Willis and Jovovich while on set.

‘Of course, I keep him in my prayers,’ the 52-year-old actor said of Willis’ recent health battle which lead to his acting retirement. 

Willis was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 and later frontotemporal dementia.

‘Seeing him was always awesome. I’ll never forget it. Working with him, it was an awesome time,’ he finished. 

Willis’ longtime friend and director M. Night Shyamalan recently spoke to PEOPLE about how the actor’s family is coping with his diagnosis.

The 1997 will celebrate its 27th anniversary in May 

Willis was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, prompting him to retire from acting, and later frontotemporal dementia; seen in 2019

Shyamalan, 53, shot to fame in 1999 with his breakthrough film The Sixth Sense, starring Willis, and they would team up a year later in 2000’s Unbreakable.

More recently, Willis had a brief cameo in the post-credit scene as Unbreakable’s David Dunn in 2016’s Split, before reprising that role in 2019’s Glass.

‘He has a very loving family. They’re doing the best they can,’ Shyamalan said at a recent press event promoting his new movie Trap, in theaters August 9. 

The director was referring to Willis’ wife of 15 years, Emma Hemming Willis, their daughters Mabel and Evelyn, and Bruce’s kids with Demi Moore.

Willis was already a household name when he signed on to play Malcolm Crowe in Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, which took the director’s career to new heights.

The film – with its now-iconic twist ending – was a box office juggernaut, taking in $293.4 million domestic and $672.8 million worldwide from just a $40 million budget.

Willis’ longtime friend and director M. Night Shyamalan recently spoke to PEOPLE about how the actor’s family is coping with his diagnosis 

‘He has a very loving family. They’re doing the best they can,’ Shyamalan said at a recent press event promoting his new movie Trap, in theaters August 9; the pair seen on set of Unbreakable (2000) 

Shyamalan and Willis’ second collaboration, 2000’s Unbreakable, was also a hit, taking in $95 million domestic and $248.1 million worldwide from a $75 million budget.

16 years later, fans were stunned when Willis returned in a post-credits cameo at the end of 2016’s Split, connecting that film to the events of Unbreakable.

Willis returned as Dunn alongside Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah Price a.k.a. Mr. Glass and James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb a.k.a. The Beast in 2019’s Glass.

Split ended up taking in $278.5 million worldwide from just a $9 million budget while Glass earned $247 million worldwide from a $20 million budget.