Mila Kunis
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Having established herself as a rising television star with a series of guest spots and recurring roles, actress Mila Kunis achieved stardom as one of the main characters on the popular sitcom, "That '70s Show" (Fox, 1998-2006), before she even graduated high school. A native of Ukraine who immigrated to America with her family after the fall of the Soviet Union, Kunis served double duty on television, voicing Meg Griffin on the popular animated series "Family Guy" (Fox, 1999-2002; 2005- ) at the same time she donned bell bottoms on the popular Fox sitcom. Meanwhile, she began appearing in movies like "Get Over It" (2001) and the straight-to-DVD sequel "American Psycho II: All American Girl" (2002), while also garnering tabloid headlines for her long-running relationship with former child superstar Macaulay Culkin. Once "That '70s Show" ended its run, Kunis' film career kicked into high gear with roles in smaller films like "After Sex" (2007) and "Boot Camp" (2007), which led to leading roles in bigger fare like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008), "Max Payne" (2008) and "The Book of Eli" (2010). By making her bid as a serious dramatic actress in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" (2010) and a blockbuster star as one of the witches in "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2012), Kunis had transformed herself into one of Hollywood's fastest-rising and sexiest stars.
Born on Aug. 14, 1983 in Kiev, Ukraine, Kunis was raised by her father, Mark, a cab company executive and former mechanical engineer, and her mother, Elvira, a drug store manager and former physics teacher. When she was seven years old, her family moved from the collapsed Soviet Union to the United States, settling in Los Angeles, where she had an initially rough transition not knowing or understanding the language and the culture. Later, Kunis enrolled in after-school acting classes at Beverly Hills Studios while attending Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School. Discovered by a manager while performing in an acting showcase, the young actress was soon cast in children's programs and television commercials including campaigns for Barbie and Payless shoes. Following her small screen debut on a 1994 episode of "Days of Our Lives" (NBC, 1965- ), Kunis began landing work on television shows like "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC, 1993-96), "Unhappily Ever After" (The WB, 1995-99) and "Hudson Street" (ABC, 1995-96). Kunis graduated from guest star to recurring roles with "Nick Freno, Licensed Teacher" (The WB, 1996-98) and "7th Heaven" (The WB, 1996-2006), before playing a young version of Angelina Jolie's titular role in "Gia" (HBO, 1998), the critically acclaimed biopic about the life of doomed supermodel Gia Carangi.
In a bold move, Kunis went on an audition for a role on the sitcom "That 70s Show" (Fox, 1998-2006) which required actresses be at least 18 years old. Lying about her age - she was 14 at the time - Kunis managed to land the career-making role of Jackie Burkhart, a fast-talking, immature rich girl whose superficial advice occasionally turns out to be right. Eventually, producers figured out that she had fibbed about how old she was, but they also realized Kunis was the best actress to play the part, which she did over the course of the next eight years. Though she tired of playing the same character that long, Kunis nonetheless embraced the experience while continuing to branch out into other areas, including animation when she replaced Lacey Chabert in voicing Meg Griffin on Fox's "Family Guy." Though the series was initially cancelled in 2002, its popularity with viewers and performance in DVD sales led to the show's resurrection in May of 2005. Meanwhile, in 2001, Kunis graduated from Fairfax High School during the height of her sitcom's popularity and had a prominent supporting role in the teen comedy "Get Over It" (2001), starring Kirsten Dunst.
Continuing to branch out into other avenues, Kunis starred in the horror sequel "American Psycho II: All American Girl" (2002), playing the sole survivor of the first film's killer, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), who develops an unhealthy obsession with the serial killer mind and eventually becomes one herself. Disappointing to most fans of the original "American Psycho," Kunis' version was roundly panned by critics on its way to a straight-to-DVD release. So bad was the film that even the author of the source material, Bret Easton Ellis, denounced the sequel. In 2002, she began dating former child star, Macaulay Culkin, a relationship that became the subject of tabloid speculation, mainly over the idea of whether or not the two had been married, since they had been an exclusive item for so long. Meanwhile, she maintained a steady course in her acting career, playing the titular lead in "Tony N' Tina's Wedding" (2007), an adaptation of the long-running environmental theater comedy that was filmed three years earlier, screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2004 and finally received a limited theatrical release in 2007, only to quietly depart to DVD shelves soon after.
Over the years, the raven-haired beauty appeared in several music videos, including Aerosmith's single "Jaded" (2001) and for The Strokes' single "The End Has No End" (2003). Following "That '70s Show" leaving the air in 2006, her film career began to take off, with major roles in movies like "After Sex" (2007) and the decidedly unfunny comedy "Moving McAllister" (2007), which also starred Jon Heder and Rutger Hauer. After starring in the straight-to-DVD thriller "Boot Camp" (2007), Kunis had a suitable role as a love-struck receptionist who falls for a slovenly television composer (Jason Segel) unable to get over his longtime girlfriend (Kristen Bell) in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008). Turning to video game adaptations, she co-starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in "Max Payne" (2008), playing the Russian spy, Mona Sax, who seeks revenge for her sister's murder. She next played a con artist who lands a job at a flavor-extract company in order to scam a recently injured employee (Clifton Collins, Jr.) in "Extract" (2009), starring Jason Bateman and directed by Mike Judge. Following supporting turns in the comic book-turned-action movie "The Book of Eli" (2010) and the winning comedy "Date Night" (2010), Kunis was paired opposite Natalie Portman as rival ballet dancers in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" (2010). While the lion's share of praise fell on Portman for her role as the more innocent ballerina, Kunis earned her share of accolades for her darker turn, as well as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Always one to do her level best to stay out of the tabloids in order to keep her private life private, it was something of a shock when word leaked that Kunis and Culkin had split in 2010, which her publicist confirmed early the following year. Meanwhile, Kunis starred opposite Justin Timberlake in the romantic comedy "Friends with Benefits" (2011) - as well as endure rumors she had broken up Timberlake's relationship with Jessica Biel - and played the new girlfriend of a rental car company employee (Mark Wahlberg) who still has a strong attachment to his teddy bear (voiced by Seth McFarlane) in the hit comedy "Ted" (2012). On the blockbuster side of the ledger, she played Theodora, the Wicked Witch of the West, in "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2013), a prequel of sorts to "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), starring James Franco as the young man behind the curtain. Meanwhile, the tabloids again tried their best to pry into her personal life by asking about her romantic entanglement with a post-Demi Moore Ashton Kutcher, whom she had known since her days on "That '70s Show." Reportedly Kutcher had always harbored a crush on his then co-star but did not see fit to pursue her until his marriage to Moore was over. Even the normally open Kutcher became guarded about their relationship, which was rumored to have started in early 2012, to the delight of "70s" fans. Kunis and Kutcher's daughter, Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher, was born September 30, 2014, several months after her parents announced their engagement. (Their wedding was made public over the July 4 weekend, 2015.) After a role in the thriller "Blood Ties" (2013), Kunis starred opposite Liam Neeson in Paul Haggis' drama "Third Person" (2013) and Robin Williams in one of the comedian's final roles in the comedy-drama "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn" (2014). She next starred as Jupiter Jones in the Wachowskis' sci-fi fantasy "Jupiter Ascending" (2015) with Channing Tatum; the critically-maligned film was a box office failure.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1995
Made TV movie debut in Showtime's remake of "Piranha"; aired as part of "Roger Corman Presents"
1995
Guest starred on sitcoms "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC) and "Hudson Street" (ABC)
1996
Acted in Hulk Hogan Christmas movie "Santa With Muscles"
1996
Cast in recurring roles on The WB series "7th Heaven" and "Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher"
1997
Appeared in direct-to-video release "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves"
1998
Played a young Gia Carangi (Angelina Jolie) in HBO biopic "Gia"
1998
Landed minor role in feature "Krippendorf's Tribe"
1998
Cast in breakthrough role as spoiled Jackie Burkhardt on Fox sitcom "That '70s Show"
1999
Voiced misunderstood teen Meg Griffin on animated Fox series "Family Guy"
2001
Landed prominent featured role in comedy film "Get Over It"
2002
Starred in direct-to-video release "American Psycho II: The Girl Who Wouldn't Die"
2007
Co-starred with New Kid on the Block member Joey McIntyre in "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding," based on long-running play
2008
Cast in Judd Apatow produced "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," co-starring and scripted by Jason Segel
2009
Played a temp worker opposite Jason Bateman in Mike Judge's "Extract"
2010
Co-starred alongside Denzel Washington in "The Book of Eli," a post-apocalyptic drama directed by the Hughes brothers
2010
Cast in supporting role opposite Tina Fey and Steve Carell in "Date Night"
2010
Co-starred with Natalie Portman as rival ballet dancers in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
2011
Teamed with Justin Timberlake for romantic comedy "Friends with Benefits"
2012
Co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in buddy comedy "Ted," directed by Seth MacFarlane
2013
Played supporting role in thriller "Blood Ties."
2013
Co-starred opposite Liam Neeson in Paul Haggis drama "Third Person."
2013
Played Theodora, Wicked Witch of the West in fantasy adventure "Oz the Great and Powerful" opposite James Franco in title role
2014
Starred opposite Robin WIlliams in comedy-drama "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn."
2015
Starred as Jupiter Jones in The Wachowskis' sci-fi fantasy "Jupiter Ascending"
2016
Starred as Amy in ensemble comedy "Bad Moms"
2017
Reprised Amy role in "A Bad Moms Christmas"
2018
Starred opposite Kate McKinnon in the action comedy "The Spy Who Dumped Me"
Family
Companions
