Ivana Miličević was born on April 26, 1978 in Sarajevo, and is a Bosnian actress (ethnically Croat) born in the republic which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. Miličević's family emigrated to the United States when she was a child and she was raised in Michigan.

Miličević worked as a model while attending Athens High School in Troy, Michigan. Ivana Miličević subsequently began acting after graduation, with guest appearances in several television shows like Seinfeld, Felicity, The Nanny, Unhappily Ever After, House Rules, Nash Bridges, Secret Agent Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Just Shoot Me!, Yes, Dear, Friends, Charmed, CSI: Miami, One on One, and Las Vegas. Milicevic also appeared with series regular roles in Love Monkey, The Mind of the Married Man, and The Army Show.

Milicevic has also appeared in numerous film projects including Jerry Maguire, The Big Brass Ring, Crazy Six, Postmortem, October 22, Enemy of the State, Love Stinks, Kiss the Sky, Head Over Heels, Vanilla Sky, Impostor, Four Reasons, Mail Order Bride, Down with Love, Love Actually, Paycheck, The Optimist, Slipstream, Her Minor Thing, In Her Shoes, Just Like Heaven, Running Scared, and The Plague.