'People forget that I went through puberty in the public eye,” says Mila Kunis. “Every awkward stage is forever in print or in some TV rerun. But I’ve almost left it behind—no more chubby cheeks but still a pimple every once in a while.” Mila, now 24, grins—and there’s not much of the awkward girl left.
For eight years, Kunis played the sassy and self-absorbed Jackie on the hit TV series That ’70s Show. Her boyfriend on the show—and the butt of many of Jackie’s jokes—was the vain, dim-witted Kelso, played by Ashton Kutcher.
Her role was won with a little white lie. “The producers wanted actors over 18 so they wouldn’t have to deal with tutoring a kid on the set,” she says now. “I told them I was going to be 18. I just didn’t tell them when.” In fact, Kunis was 14 years old at the time. “Don’t worry—by the time we signed contracts, they knew all about me,” she adds.
Kunis got more than tutoring on the set. “Dressing in the changing room with four guys on That ’70s Show made me lose all inhibitions,” she admits. That helped when she entered the raunchy, outrageous comedy world of Judd Apatow, the hot producer behind The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Kunis plays the sexy love interest in Apatow’s latest film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (due in theaters April 18), a funny and occasionally poignant story of a guy who has been dumped by his famous girlfriend.
Mila loved the craziness of the comedy and says she and her character have a lot in common: “She’s not a damsel in distress, but she makes mistakes. It was great to play a strong female who sticks to her position and doesn’t get intimidated.”
Kunis’ own strength comes from her family’s struggles in their native Ukraine. At 7, she came with them to America, where she began her journey as an actress. Though she spoke no English, she was soon doing commercials and, as her language improved, progressively larger TV roles. After her long stint on That ’70s Show, Mila didn’t rush to capitalize on her TV success. She continued voicing the cartoon character Meg on Family Guy, and she’s also done some independent films. “From 14 to 21, all I did was work and go to school,” says Mila. “So now I’ve had time to mature and pick the parts that make me happy.”
Off the set, Kunis has enjoyed a low-profile, six-year romance with the actor Macaulay Culkin. “I grew up incredibly poor, went to school and had an average upbringing,” she says. “He didn’t, but his goal in life was the same as mine. What he did go through [success at a very young age] made him who he is. I admire him and think he’s an incredible human being.”
Culkin’s Home Alone fame has endured. So every word Kunis says about him gets repeated all over the Internet and gossip pages. She finds that embarrassing. “No more talking about him,” she declares. “Whenever I do, it becomes a bigger deal than it needs to be. The reason we’ve been together for so long and have such a healthy relationship is because we don’t want it to be in the press. We don’t want what we do on a Saturday night to be public. Privacy is not respected now, and we and our families need it.”
Her family continues to be a big factor in Kunis’ life. “My parents are a huge part of who I am, and so is my current relationship. My brother and I talk every day. They all have taught me that life is about learning. I look up to the people I am close to, and I want to better myself for them.
“I want to do parts that push me,” the young actress continues. “When I was 14, my work was my after-school activity. Now it’s my passion. But I also love my time off. I love a good book and a bath and a glass of wine. I get the best of both worlds.”
ONTD.
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