Actor: Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich was a model from eleven and moved to film with The Fifth Element, playing a character who speaks an invented language Luc Besson wrote for her.

Resident Evil then gave her a six-film franchise directed largely by her husband Paul W S Anderson, in which she is the sole continuous presence, and the series grossed over a billion dollars.

The Messenger, playing Joan of Arc, is the serious attempt and it did not work commercially.

She has performed most of her own stunts across the franchise and has been open that the series funded everything else she wanted to do.