Milena "Mila" Kunis (born Milena Markovna Kunis; (Russian: Милена Маркοвна Кунис, Ukrainian: Мілена Марківна Куніс; Milena Markivna Kunis); August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Her television work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy. She has also played roles in film, such as Rachel Jansen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and as Mona Sax in Max Payne.
Early life
Kunis was born in Chernivtsi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union to a Jewish family. Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher and drug store manager, and her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer and cab company executive. She also has an older brother. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991. Despite reports to the contrary, Kunis did not learn English from watching The Price Is Right. In Los Angeles, she attended Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School. She was mostly taught by an on-set tutor for her high school years while taping That '70s Show. When not on the set, she attended Fairfax Senior High School. She briefly attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Early career
At age nine, Kunis took acting classes after school at the Beverly Hills Studios, where she met her first and current manager Susan Curtis. She began appearing in print-ads, catalogues, and TV commercials for children's products like Lisa Frank products, Mattel's Barbie, and Payless Shoes. She also modeled for a Guess girls' clothing campaign. Her first TV role was as the young Hope Williams on an episode of the popular soap opera Days of our Lives. She had a minor role on 7th Heaven as Lucy's nemesis and supporting roles in Santa with Muscles, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, and the Angelina Jolie film Gia, as Gia Carangi's younger self, prior to her breakthrough role on That '70s Show.
Kunis was cast as Jackie Burkhart in the television series That '70s Show in 1998. During the auditions, all people auditioning for the roles in the show were required to be at least 18 years old, so Kunis told the casting staff at the audition that she was going to be 18 "on her birthday" not specifying to which birthday she was referring. She was actually 14 at the time of the audition and after receiving the part, she was able to continue in the role despite having misled the directors. She had been considered the best fit for the character and was thought to have been creative in her way of gaining the audition despite her age.
Family Guy
Kunis went in to the casting of an animated television sitcom called Family Guy created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series plot centers on a family called the Griffins, a dysfunctional family. The series starred MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green and Mike Henry. She auditioned for the character Meg Griffin, Peter and Lois Griffin's unpopular teenage daughter, who is frequently the butt of the family's jokes. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show. MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.
Kunis described her character as "the scapegoat." She further explained, "Meg gets picked on a lot. But it's funny. It's like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you're kind of going through puberty and what-not. She's just in perpetual mode of humiliation. And it's fun." She replaced Lacey Chabert, who voiced Meg Griffin for the first production season (15 episodes).
Kunis was nominated for an Annie Award in the category of Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production in 2007. She also voiced Meg in the Family Guy Videogame.
Further career
She appeared in Get Over It opposite Kirsten Dunst. She starred in the straight-to-DVD horror film American Psycho 2 alongside William Shatner which was a sequel to the 2000 film American Psycho starring Christian Bale. She appeared in After Sex alongside Zoe Saldana as well as in Boot Camp and Moving McAllister alongside Jon Heder. Kunis' breakout movie performance was in the role of Rachel Jansen in the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The performance won her rave reviews and a Teen Choice Award nomination. Also in 2008, she starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the action movie Max Payne, portraying character Mona Sax. The film is based on the popular video game of the same name. In December 2008, Kunis was featured in Gap's "Shine Your Own Star" Christmas campaign with other celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson, Jason Bateman, Mary-Louise Parker, Jon Heder, and others.
In 2009, she starred alongside Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman in the comedy Extract. She has been confirmed to star alongside Denzel Washington in the action film The Book of Eli. She has also been confirmed to join the comedy Date Night starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell. She will also play Lilly, Natalie Portman's rival, in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming Black Swan in late 2010.
Media publicity
Kunis was ranked #54 in Stuff's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002); Maxim named her #47 on its 2006 Hot 100 list. In 2008, she was ranked #81 on the Maxim Hot 100 list. She was also ranked #81 on the FHM U.S 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2008, although she is unranked in other FHM magazines from different nations. She is ranked #5 on Maxim's 2009 Hot 100 list. Kunis was also accredited to be one of the "most attractive geeks" in 2008 by Wired.com due to her much-publicized affinity for World of Warcraft.
Personal life
Kunis has been dating actor Macaulay Culkin since 2002. Although there have been rumors of the couple getting married, Kunis has denied this, saying:
"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."
She has identified herself in interviews as a fan of the online computer game World of Warcraft and has received a certain amount of attention from the game's fan community as a result. She has not released what server she is in but says she is with her close friends in the Alliance. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she says she does not use voice chat with other players in response to claims that some people had recognized her voice.
Filmography
Film
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1995
Make a Wish, Molly
Melinda
Piranha
Susie Grogan
Television movie
1996
Santa with Muscles
Sarah
1997
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Jill, Party Guest
Direct-to-video
1998
Gia
Gia at Age 11
Television movie
Krippendorf's Tribe
Abbey Tournquist
Milo
Martice
Uncredited
2001
Get Over It
Basin
2002
American Psycho 2
Rachael
Direct-to-DVD
2004
Tony n' Tina's Wedding
Tina
2005
Tom 51
Little Boy Matson
also known as Tom Cool
Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
Meg Griffin (Voice)
Direct-to-DVD
2007
After Sex
Nikki
Moving McAllister
Michelle
Boot Camp
Sophie
2008
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Rachel Jansen
Max Payne
Mona Sax
2009
Extract
Cindy
2010
The Book of Eli
Solara
completed
Date Night
TBD
post-production
Black Swan
Lilly
filming
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1994-1995
Baywatch
Anne
Bonnie
Episodes: "Aftershock"
"Hot Stuff"
1995
The John Larroquette Show
Lucy
1 episode
Hudson Street
Devon
1 episode
1996
Unhappily Ever After
Chloe
1 episode
1996-1997
Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher
Anna-Maria Del Bono
5 episodes
7th Heaven
Ashley
4 episodes
1997
Walker, Texas Ranger
Pepper
Episode: "Last Hope"
1998
Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Jessie Kerwood
1 episode
1998-2006
That '70s Show
Jackie Burkhart
200 episodes
2002
Get Real
Taylor Vaughn
2 episodes
2002
MADtv
Daisy
1 episode
2004
Grounded for Life
Lana
Episodes: "Space Camp Oddity"
"The Policy of Truth"
2000-present
Family Guy
Meg Griffin (Voice)
114 episodes
2005-present
Robot Chicken
Various (Voice)
10 episodes
2009
The Cleveland Show
Meg Griffin (Voice)
1 episode
Music videos
Year
Title
Artist
1999
"In The Street"
Cheap Trick
2000
"The Itch"
Vitamin C
2001
"Rock and Roll All Nite"
KISS
2002
"Jaded"
Aerosmith
2003
"The End Has No End"
The Strokes
2008
"LA Girls"
Mams Taylor feat. Joel Madden
Video games
Year
Title
Role
2006
Saints Row
Tanya Winters (Voice)
Family Guy Video Game!
Meg Griffin (Voice)
Awards and nominations
Year
Award
Category
Film
Result
1999
Young Artist Award
Best Performance in a TV Series - Young Ensemble
That '70s Show
Nominated
YoungStar Award
Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series
Won
2000
Teen Choice Award
TV - Choice Actress
Nominated
Young Artist Award
Best Performance in a TV Series - Young Ensemble
Nominated
YoungStar Award
Best Young Actress/Performance in a Comedy TV Series
Won
2001
Teen Choice Award
TV - Choice Actress
Nominated
Young Artist Award
Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Leading Young Actress
Nominated
2002
Teen Choice Award
TV - Choice Actress
Nominated
Young Hollywood Award
One to Watch - Female
Won
2003
Teen Choice Award
Choice TV Actress - Comedy
Nominated
2004
Teen Choice Award
Choice TV Actress - Comedy
Nominated
2005
Teen Choice Award
Choice - TV Actress: Comedy
Nominated
2006
Teen Choice Award
TV - Choice Actress: Comedy
Nominated
2007
Annie Award
Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Family Guy
Nominated
2008
Teen Choice Award
Choice Movie Breakout Female
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Nominated
2009
Guys Choice Awards
Hottest Mila
N/A
Won
Teen Choice Award
Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure
Max Payne
Nominated
References
^ Both Russian and Ukrainian where official languages in the Soviet Union (Source:), but Russian prevailed among Jewish population in Ukrainian cities (Source:).
^ . .
^ , Bible Discovered
^ (Ukrainian) , Gazeta.ua (August 13, 2009)
^ . .
^ . .
^ Caroline Kepnes (Unknown). . JVibe Magazine. .
^
^ E. C. Gladstone (2008). . Ocean Drive Magazine. . Retrieved 2009-04-09.
^
^ . Yahoo! Video. . Retrieved August 24, 2009.
^ De Leon, Kris (September 25, 2007). . BuddyTV. . Retrieved September 3, 2009.
^ . Internet Movie Database. 2009-10-22. . Retrieved 2009-10-22.
^ . .
^ . .
^
^ . .
^ . .
^ . November 9, 2007. . Retrieved October 13, 2008.
^ . August 17, 2008. . Retrieved August 21, 2008.
^ . .
External links
- at the Internet Movie Database
- at TV.com
- from the That '70s Show website
Persondata
NAME
Kunis, Mila
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Куніс, Мілена Марківна (Ukrainian)
SHORT DESCRIPTION
American actress
DATE OF BIRTH
August 14, 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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