Biography
Date of Birth
14 December 1983, Chernovtsy, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Chernivtsi, Ukraine]
Birth Name
Milena Markovna Kunis
Nickname
Goldfish
Height
5' 4" (1.63 m)
Mini Biography
Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis was born to a Jewish family in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. The spoken language in her family is Russian, not Ukrainian.
Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher, her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer, and she has an older brother named Michael. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991. After attending one semester of college between gigs, she realized that she wanted to act for the rest of her life. She started acting when she was nine years old, when her father heard about an acting class on the radio and decided to enroll Mila in it. There, she met her future agent. Her first gig was when she played a character named Melinda in Make a Wish, Molly (1995). From there, her career skyrocketed into big-budget films.
Although she is mostly known for playing Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show (1998), she has shown the world that she can do so much more. Since 1999, she provided the voice of self-conscious daughter Meg Griffin on the animated sitcom Family Guy (1999). Her breakthrough film was Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), in which she played a free-spirited character named Rachel Jansen. She has since starred or co-starred in the films Max Payne (2008), The Book of Eli (2010), Black Swan (2010), Friends with Benefits (2011), Ted (2012) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).
Mila Kunis is married to actor Ashton Kutcher, with whom she has two children.
Trivia
Mila and her family moved from Ukraine to Los Angeles, California, when she was age seven. Her father Mark is a mechanical engineer. Her mother Elvira is a physics teacher. Her brother Michael is a biochemist.
Attended and graduated from Fairfax Senior High School in June 2001, with Fernanda Romero. However, she missed her senior prom because of a scheduling conflict.
Auditioned for the situation comedy That '70s Show (1998) at age 14. Though actors had to be at least 18 to get the role, she truthfully claimed she would be 18 on her birthday, not specifying which birthday, and won the role.
Terrified of bugs so much that during her May 2004 appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993), she ran offstage when the Bug Man appeared after her interview.
Ranked #54 on Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2002.
She and Laura Prepon were often filmed sitting down for their scenes on That '70s Show (1998) because Laura, at 5' 10", is six inches taller than Mila, at 5' 4". In other scenes, Mila wore platform shoes to give her four extra inches.
Is a huge fan of the hard rock band Aerosmith.
At age nine, she started to take afterschool acting classes at the Beverly Hills Studios. At one of the Studios' public showcases, Mila was approached by entertainment manager Susan Curtis, who offered to make her a client.
Her best friend was Maria Osadchy when she was younger, an Aries whom she met in second grade. Maria is Russian and helped Mila learn English. In an interview, Mila had Maria with her and talked about how they spent the night together on the weekends.
Her favorite movies are The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Dirty Dancing (1987).
The shark-tooth necklace she wears in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) is designed by Pade Vavra Designs.
Is a huge fan of the famed MMORPG World of Warcraft.
Learned how to use a gun while filming Max Payne (2008).
The nude pictures of her in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) were not real, according to the film's director, Nicholas Stoller.
Auditioned for a role in the romantic comedy Knocked Up (2007).
Was in a relationship with Macaulay Culkin (May 2002-December 2010).
She and Sarah Michelle Gellar have a special credit in every episode of Robot Chicken (2001).
She and Macaulay Culkin were on vacation in Israel in 2006 when a war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They flew out of the country and back to the United States; Mila later stated that they were never in any danger from rocket fire.
On the television show Loveline (1996), she mentioned that when she was younger, she had serious migraines that were caused by an eye condition. She had to insert steroid injections straight into her eye.
Her name is pronounced MEE-luh koon-iss.
Close friends with James Franco, Natalie Portman and Topher Grace.
Mila said that she was blind in one eye due to a condition called chronic iritis. She underwent surgery to correct the blindness. [January 2011]
Won the 2011 Guys Choice Award "Holy Grail of Hot" beating out Minka Kelly.
Was invited via YouTube on July 7, 2011, to a US Marine Corps Ball in Greenville, MC, by Sgt. Scott Moore. At the time of the Internet invite, Moore was stationed in Musa Qala, Afghanistan, with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines. Her Friends with Benefits (2011) co-star Justin Timberlake came into contact with Sgt. Moore after seeing his video and then contacted Kunis about the invite. Kunis accepted the invite on July 12, 2011.
Ranked #6 on FHM Australia's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2011.
Ranked #16 on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2011.
Ranked #14 on FHM UK's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2010.
She and her ex-boyfriend, actor Macaulay Culkin, were close friends with Michael Jackson and his family for many years until Jackson's death. Culkin is godfather of his children. Kunis attended a private funeral for Jackson on September 3, 2009, with Culkin.
Ranked #9 on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2012.
Friends with Emma Stone and Justin Timberlake.
Is a self-confessed huge fan of the Star Trek franchise.
Esquire magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive" in 2012.
Had a body double for her nude scene in Friends with Benefits (2011).
Ranked #1 on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2013.
Attended the San Diego Comic-Con in 2008, alongside director John Moore and Mark Wahlberg, to promote Max Payne (2008). She returned in 2009 to promote Extract (2009), The Book of Eli (2010), and Family Guy (1999).
Sister-in-law of Alexandra Blacker, who trained her for her role in Black Swan (2010).
Has played two characters named "Rachel": Rachael Newman in American Psycho II: All American Girl (2002), and Rachel Jansen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008).
Despite having different last names, she and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, have consecutive IMDb profile numbers. Mila has nm0005109 and Ashton has nm0005110.
Has appeared with Seth Green on two situation comedies: That '70s Show (1998) and Family Guy (1999).
She was included in Maxim magazine's list of Hot 100 Women in 2001 (#62), 2003 (#79), 2006 (#47), 2008 (#81), 2009 (#5), 2010 (#22), 2011 (#5), 2012 (#3), 2013 (#4), 2014 (#9), 2015 (#11) and 2016; and AskMen's Top 99 Women of 2011 (#2), 2012 (#13) and 2013 (#2).
Attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for a semester, and then transferred to Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California, before dropping out to continue her acting career.
Has two children: daughter Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher (b. October 1, 2014) & son Dimitri Portwood Kutcher (b. November 30, 2016) with husband, Ashton Kutcher.
She describes her role as Jupiter Jones in Jupiter Ascending (2015) as unhappy with her job and life, but also lazy and with no aspirations to do anything about this until Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) finds her.
Not long after her relationship with Macaulay Culkin ended, she admitted that Ashton Kutcher was her celebrity crush. During that time, Ashton was married to Demi Moore.
Her first kiss was onscreen with Ashton Kutcher during That '70s Show (1998). She was really nervous. To help her own confidence, she perfumed herself and acted cool towards Ashton. Ashton did not knew about this until three years later.
Returned to work 16 months after giving birth to her daughter Wyatt to begin filming Bad Moms (2016). Also returned to work five months after giving birth to her son Dimitri to begin filming A Bad Moms Christmas (2017).
Was one month pregnant with her son Dimitri when she completed filming Bad Moms (2016).
Counts Free Willy (1993) as the first movie that made her cry and this was also the very first movie she saw in the United States.
Fifth highest paid actress of 2017 with $15.5 million.
She holds dual American and Ukrainian nationality and citizenship.
She is of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry on both sides of her family.
Speaks English and Russian fluently.
Born at 5:00 PM (EEST).
Trademarks:
Has one green eye and one brown eye.
Seductive husky voice.
Long brown hair.
Quotes
Blondes definitely do not have more fun. Trust me.
[on her That '70s Show (1998) character, Jackie Burkhart, switching boyfriends from Michael Kelso to Steven Hyde] I think her relationship with Steven has taught her to be less selfish.
[Denying reports of marriage] I've been engaged, I think I've already been married, And I'm sure I have a child somewhere. I'm waiting to have something else happen. No, I'm not married. And, no, I'm not engaged. And, no, I do not have a child. No one seems to listen. And next week I'll be engaged again. I think, at one point, they were like "Seen shopping in Beverly Hills for engagement rings." We were in Japan working. What is wrong with these people? Half the time you can say they misconstrued facts. But more often than not, they just make stuff up.
Well, I was born and grew up in Russia. I wasn't allowed to be religious. My whole family was in the Holocaust. My great-grandparents passed [away] and not many survived. After the Holocaust in Russia, you were not allowed to be religious. So my parents raised me to know I was Jewish. You know who you are inside. You don't need to tell the whole world. You believe what you believe, and that's what's important. And that's how I was raised. My family was like "You are Jewish in your blood." We can celebrate Yom Kippur and Hannukah in Russia--but not by the book. We do it to our own extent because being in Russia... Bar Mitzvahs weren't held. When I was in school over there, up until I was seven, you would still see anti-Semitic signs. One of my friends who grew up in Russia... she was in second grade... and she came home one day crying. Her mother asked why she was crying and she said on the back of her seat there was a swastika. Now this is a country that obviously does not want you. So my parents raised me Jewish as much as they could and they came to America. I love my religion. I think it's a beautiful religion, but I took parts of it that I want for myself. I don't need to go to temple. I will, but I don't need to.
I never dated Wilmer Valderrama. I never dated Danny Masterson. They're like my brothers. That's disgusting. That's wrong.
I started acting when I was nine as a hobby because it was fun and I could get out of school. I didn't ever think that I would have it as a job because I didn't know you could have a job in acting. But now I really love what I do and I can't even imagine doing anything else.
No-strings sex is great in theory but falls short in execution. You can't sustain a friends with benefits relationship for a long time. It's inevitable it will either go one way or the other. I have plenty of males who are my friends... without the benefits. If you're friends with someone, let's just leave it at that. There needs to be nothing more.
I think than an actor is more likely to be forgiven in the public's eye than an actress. There will always be a double standard between males and females, so I think that an actress is more likely to protect her public persona, so to speak, than an actor would be. An actor goes crazy in a hotel room, gets trashed, throws a bench, breaks a window, and he is considered a rock star. An actress does that and she's sent to rehab and is thought to have problems and issues and can't get a job.
I think the second you think that you're funny is when you stop being funny.
[on Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)] This is the first film that I've ever done that kids are allowed to see.
You have to laugh at the absurdity of this entire industry and the absurdity of what it is we do. If I didn't, I'd go crazy.
Over the course of That '70s Show (1998), you can see me go through puberty, and who wants to watch that? No one should have that part of their life on record.
I've always been a big proponent of not working for the sake of working because I don't want to work for the rest of my life; I want to live.
There are two people out there, Star Trek fans and Star Wars fans... I'm a Star Trek fan. I respect Star Wars, I'm a bit of a Sci-Fi nerd but, geared towards one or the other, I'd choose Star Trek.
[on two of her early movies, Santa with Muscles (1996) and American Psycho II: All American Girl (2002)] I was too young to fully understand the importance of working with Hulk Hogan. I just thought he was this huge man. William Shatner was different. I'm a massive Trekkie, so that was crazy. He's exactly what you think he is.
[on her ancestry and guilt] The amount of guilt that I've perfected the use of - already on my 3-year-old - is magical... I took a 23 and Me test, where you find out... what's your DNA... and I'm thinking "I'm going to be exotic... there's going to be something wonderful about me." No, ya'll, I am 96% Ashkenazi Jew. You know what that means? I'm inbred. I am really Jewish, you guys. There is nothing about me that's exotic. I am a Jew. You know what that means? Guilt.
[on being asked what it is like working with other women] Never in my twenty years has anyone asked what it's like working with a man. No one goes to Will Ferrell and says "Hey, Will Ferrell, what's it like making a buddies comedy?" With Bad Moms (2016), I literally was like "Oh my God, I can't." What's it like making a movie that's all women? Gosh, women are 51% of us in this world. It's not like it's a snow leopard coming onto set - it's just a woman.
If I killed somebody, I have zero doubt that if I called my best friend and was like "Hey, grab a shovel", she wouldn't even ask the question.
Comedy is very hard and I don't know if it's where my heart necessarily is but doing comedy is one of those things where if something is funny right now does not necessarily mean it's going to sustain itself for a year in production and be funny when the movie comes out and that to me is the hardest thing. I love playing different characters and I love doing fun things and I love to entertain people, whether that be in a comedy or a drama. If I get you to laugh or I get you to cry I'm super stoked, as morbid as that might sound.
I think anyone who at 26 is going to attempt to be a professional ballerina is going to physically kill themselves. Baths are what I looked forward to, every single night! And a glass of wine!
People have interpretations of what you're supposed to be like. If you're unattractive and overweight, you must have a great personality. If you're attractive, then you must not be the nicest person. People are always taken aback that I'm easygoing but not necessarily stupid.
I wanted to quit the industry when I was eighteen and finish That '70s Show (1998), finish my contract on the show and go to college because I was pretty convinced that after 70's and after being on a show for eight years that I would be very much pigeonholed for something specific that I didn't want to be a part of anymore. So my attempt at college failed miserably and I dropped out and decided that this is what I wanted to do for a living. When I made that decision I had to convince myself to disassociate myself from the industry, if that makes any sense, to be who I am and to have this just be what I do and that the paths could never cross. If they did then I think that given after '70's it was like a good year of just pure rejection. So if I didn't disassociate myself from what I did I would probably go through depression, I would assume, or go through some hard times. But I didn't and I always had some other things that were more important to me. I had family that was more important. I had my life that was more important. I had hobbies that were more important and this was just my job.
I very much have always felt like an American... People were like, 'Oh, you're so Eastern European.' I was like, 'I'm so L.A.!
I didn't fail school. I dropped out. I did not fail. I was actually a pretty good student. My problem was that I didn't know what I wanted to study. What was I going to go in? Undecided? I took a class on Zionist theory. I took classes that interested me, that weren't necessarily for a specific degree. Then I realized and spoke to my parents and I said, 'I do love what I do and I want to pursue it.' They were like, 'Oh, why don't you just drop out.'
I turned to my kids and I was like, 'You are half-Ukrainian, half-American!' I literally was like, 'Look, you!' And my kids were like, 'Yeah mom, I get it.' And I was like, 'No! You are Ukrainian and American. You are half-Iowa, half-Ukraine.'
It's all perspective. Your version of normal and my version of normal is different. My kids' version of normal is incredibly different. So it's perspective. You try to surround them with diversity. We try to surround ourselves with all aspects of life and try not to stay in our bubble, but it's hard. It is really hard! And anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.
