Miami Living Magazine

EXCLUSIVE 90 MIAMI LIVING A s Ivana Milicevic walks through the front door of SoHo's Mercer Kitchen, I walk toward her and introduce myself. Bundled up in a coat, Ivana is fresh-faced with her long cappuccino-colored hair loose. We find out that the kitchen is no longer serving –it's a couple of hours before dinner-- so we go across the street to Lure Fishbar. We settle into a comfortable crescent-shaped booth, remove our coats, and immediately order hot toddies, per Ivana's request. I tell her that I just finished watching the second season of BANSHEE, the Cinemax original series she plays the lead in, right before I got here. "Do you like the show?" she asks, "It's crazy." Her face is aglow at the mention of it. BANSHEE is a dark drama where the sexual liaisons are as prevalent as the blood shed. Ivana plays Ana/Carrie Hopewell, who is on the run from her father Rabbit after a diamond heist gone bad. She relocates to the corrupt Amish town Banshee to start a new life, while her accomplice /lover Lucas Hood takes the fall and goes to prison. Fifteen years later, Lucas is released and finds Carrie, who is now a mother of two and wife. "I feel like my character's primary objective is love, so I can relate to that because I love, love so much. Other than that I don't like violence. I don't like to beat people up. However, I could if I had to, but I've never had to. I'm a lover," Ivana comments on how she relates to Carrie. Ivana credits her toughness to being a combination of an immigrant, a "big sister" and eastern European, the latter meaning, "I got a little crazy in me." And once you see her in action on BANSHEE, you will definitely want to stay on her good side. Her most physical and dramatic role to-date, Carrie is a grand departure from her small sexy-girl-roles in films like Love Actually, Paycheck, Casino Royale. In BANSHEE, Ivana wields weapons and launches into her combat scenes like a trained assassin. In other words, she is completely badass and looks amazing doing it. BANSHEE 's multi-dimensional characters are gripping and evocative -- you will cringe during their beatings, and shed tears over their injustices. Our hot toddies arrive. "You've never had one?" she asks me. I haven't. "Mark my words, this is going to be your jam all winter long." She lifts up the snifter to admire the golden elixir garnished with cloves, an orange wedge and cinnamon stick, and jokes with our waiter about wanting to offer him a taste of the fanciest, most glorious hot toddy she has ever encountered. We order salmon avocado rolls and several pieces of spicy tuna on crispy rice, which is what Ivana had initially wanted from Mercer Kitchen. "How good is that crispy rice situation?" she asks. We prattle on about our affinity for the dish and our favorite Los Angeles sushi spots, then make our way back to BANSHEE. Comfortable in her skin, Ivana has no qualms about nudity or rolling around in the sheets to keep Carrie true to form, as an unrestrained, passionate woman. "I'm more surprised with how people have a bigger problem with the sex than the crazy violence. I don't get it. Look, its racy all across the board," she points out. "So, how do you feel about it?" she asks me --the first of many questions. She is so taken with this character that she had to share it with her family. Yes, she watches it with her mom, dad and younger brothers, Filip and Tomo (guitarist in Thirty Seconds to Mars). "I just prepped them," she says nonchalantly. As we talk about season two, I tell her I haven't seen season one yet. "Oh, no way. You gotta see season one. Season one is my favorite because we were so fucking wild. You could see the love story," she coos. "If you enjoyed just seeing season two, you've got to see season one. Do you have a boyfriend? 'Cause this is totally a thing that boys and girls watch together." When she finds out that I am single, the focus turns to me. "We'll find you one. Actually, I might have someone for you." I give her a skeptical look. "I'm serious…" She lingers on the subject for awhile, asking me questions --seemingly genuinely interested in playing matchmaker. I am amused, yet incredulous as many people have good intentions but fail to follow through. Unlike many of my interviews, we have an actual conversation versus me peppering her with question after question and her simply answering. Her inquisitiveness is both re- freshing and charming. Our conversation finds its way to astrological signs. The 40-year-old beauty is a Taurus like her boyfriend, whom she met in New York after season one. "All we do is cuddle," she says, suggesting that being affectionate is a trait common with Taurians. She attributes her proclivity for astrology to living in Los Angeles for about 22 years. She lived in New York partially during that time, she adds. This year, more of her time has been spent in New York (where her boyfriend lives) versus L.A., aside from when filming on location. The mention of L.A. prompts her to pull out a bottle of digestive enzymes from her purse. She swallows the pill and offers me one. "It just helps you digest your food. It's good for you," she says as she hands me the pill. "I always get accused of being "L.A." with that." The topic transitions to favorite TV shows, queried by Ivana. I laugh as it's a question I planned to ask her. Hers include, Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Orange is the New Black. There is a bit of struggle to get our words out over the large pieces of fish and crispy rice, which we both find comical. "I've never actually had an interview while we eat, but it kinda makes it also more, I dunno, natural. I feel like I'm on a blind date," she says. From there it's onto favorite movies. Ivana lists them off: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shawshank Redemption, Her. "I love Her ! So much. I'm also happy that they're tackling subject matters like that: consciousness. In this case it was artificial intelligence, but just consciousness and levels of consciousness. I loved it." She asks for mine, and I name Just Like Heaven – the film she appeared in with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Ivana's character, Katrina plays the sexually charged neighbor of Mark's character who doles out hilarious, random lines like, "I'd get on the phone and I'd be like, 'Hello,

• Cover