Mila Kunis

Milena Markovna Kunis, better known as Mila Kunis, is an American television and movie actor. She is best remembered for her portrayal of Jackie Burkhart in period sitcom That 70s Show co-starring Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace. Among her other notable and most recognized works is that of her voicing the character of Meg Griffin from popular American animated sitcom Family Guy.

Apart from appearing on television, Kunis has also been a part of movies like neo-noir action film Max Payne, the romantic comedy Friends with Benefits, and the drama Black Swan, for which she garnered worldwide praise, received various nominations, and also went on to win the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actress.

Kunis is associated with various charitable organizations and causes. Her causes work towards the betterment of homeless people and helps them in becoming self-sufficient, and also works towards helping terminally ill children and people who are either suffering from cancer or have fought cancer. She raises funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and non-profit organization Chrysalis.

EARLY LIFE

Kunis was born on the August 14, 1983 to Elvira Kunis, a physics teacher who ran pharmacy, and Mark Kunis, a mechanical engineer who worked as a cab driver, in Chernivtsi in the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, now Ukraine. She also has an elder brother called Michael Kunis. When Kunis was eight years old, her family moved to Los Angeles, California due to the growing antisemitism in Ukraine. Upon moving to the United States, Kunis was enrolled at the Rosewood Elementary School and struggled with the English language. She found it difficult to speak, read, and understand the language given her roots.

When she was eight years old, she joined an acting school, which she would attend after her school, at the Beverly Hills Studios. She then attended Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School, however, by then she had managed to bag her first major television role in That 70s Show. During high school, Kunis always had an on-set tutor. She attended the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies but since her school did not want provide her with flexible timings, owing to her acting commitments, she was transferred to Fairfax High School. After her graduation, she attended the UCLA and Loyola Marymount University for a short period of time.

PERSONAL LIFE

In 2002, Kunis started dating Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin when she was 16 years old. However, the two ended their eight-year-long relationship and continue to remain friends. Soon after splitting with Culkin, the actor started dating her former That 70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher in 2012. The two started dating on an extremely casual note since they had come out of long-term relationships. After two years of being together, the two got engaged in 2014 and in the same year Kunis gave birth to their first child Wyatt Isabelle. The following year, the two got married with Kunis expecting their second child in 2016.

TELEVISION CAREER

Before appearing on television series, a nine-year-old Kunis started auditioning for commercials and was first seen in a Barbie commercial, following which she did a commercial for the Lisa Frank product line. In 1994, she was seen in television series Days of Our Lives, after which she also made an appearance on Baywatch. She has small roles in Santa with Muscles, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, and played the role of young Gia in the Angelina Jolie-starrer Gia.

Kunis gained recognition only after she was cast for the role of Jackie Burkhart in the popular sitcom That 70s Show in 1998. She was only fourteen years when she bagged the role and went on to win the Young Star Awards as Best Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series for two consecutive years in 1999 and 2000. The series ran for a total of eight seasons. In 1999, the young actor then lent her voice for the character of Meg Griffin in the adult animated sitcom Family Guy, for which she received an Annie Award nomination in the category of Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production in 2007.

MOVIE CAREER

After a successful and brief stint on television, Kunis appeared in the movie Get Over It in 2001 opposite Kirsten Dunst. She then appeared in the sequel of the 2000 horror film American Psycho named the American Psycho 2 cast opposite William Shatner, however, the movie was criticized by the critics. After a series of not very successful movies, she starred in comedy-drama After Sex in 2007 co-starring Zoe Saldana, whom she had worked with in Get Over It.

The actor portrayed the role of Rachel Jansen in the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which went on to become a commercial success and also opened to positive reviews. Kunis performance was also very well-received and also received a Teen Choice Award nomination. In 2008, Kunis played the role of an assassin in the action film Max Payne, for which Kunis had to undergo training in boxing and martial arts. Although the movie was relatively successful at the box office, it was criticized by the critics, calling Kunis a miscast.

Kunis was next seen in 2009 comedy Extract co-starring Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman, and the movie opened to mostly positive reviews with Kunis performance being well-received. The following year, she was seen opposite Denzel Washington in the action book The Book of Eli, which performed considerably well at the box-office. Kunis then garnered praise for her work in the 2010 comedy film Date Night, where she has a small role. One of Kunis best performance came with Darren Aronofskys psychological thriller Black Swan, where she played the role of a ballet dancer. For the role, she underwent rigorous training and enrolled for ballet lessons. Cast alongside Natalie Portman, her performance earned her several nominations. The movie opened to positive reviews and received five Academy Awards. Kunis performance earned her Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, while she went on to win the Saturn Award for the Best Supporting Actress award and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

Kunis was then seen in romantic comedy Friends With Benefits opposite Justin Timberlake in 2011, which went on to be a box-office success and was also praised by the critics. However, her most commercially successful movie as in 2012 was Ted where she shared the screen space with Mark Wahlberg. She was then seen in Oz the Great and Powerful where she played the role of the youngest of the three witches, Theodora, and was cast opposite James Franco. Although the movie opened to mixed reviews, it went on to become a commercial success. The actor was also seen in crime thriller Blood Ties, the comedy film The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, and the romance Third Person. In 2015, she was seen cast alongside Channing Tatum in the sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending, which opened to mostly negative reviews. The following year, the actor was seen in comedy Bad Moms co-starring Kristen Bell and Christina Applegate.
Did you Know?
DID YOU KNOW

Trivia

Kunis co-star on That 70s Show, Ashton Kutcher, was the first man that she ever kissed and in 2015 the actress went on to marry him.

Kunis was named Knockout of the Year for 2011 by GC Magazine.

In 2011, Mila Kunis was also named one of the 100 Hottest Women of All-Time by Men`s Health.

While Mila Kunis ranked number 9 on FHM Magazine`s Hot 100 list in 2012, she went on to top the list the following year, bringing an end to the list being topped by a British lady.

Ventures

In 2014, Kunis, along with her partners, co-founded Orchard Farm Productions, which works mainly towards developing and producing television projects for broadcast and cable.

Social and Humanitarian Work

Kunis is associated with various charitable organizations and causes. Her causes work towards the betterment of homeless people and helps them in becoming self-sufficient, and also works towards helping terminally ill children and people who are either suffering from cancer or have fought cancer. She raises funds for St. Jude Children`s Research Hospital and non-profit organization Chrysalis.

In 2012, Nazanin Boniadi started a petition to free, what she felt was, the wrongly imprisoned filmmaker Behrouz Ghobadi. This petition was signed by directors Martin Scorsese and Paul Haggis, as well as actors Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, and James Franco, amongst others. In January 2013 due to overwhelming pressure, Ghobadi was released from jail.

Endorsements

Kunis was the face of Christian Diors 2012 Spring Fashion Campaign.

In 2013, she was announced to Gemfields global brand ambassador, a luxury company that produces emeralds, rubies, and amethysts.

Lawrence was named the face of Dior in 2012, succeeding Mila Kunis.