Milena Markovna Kunis, known the world over as Mila Kunis, was born on August 14, 1983, in Chernovtsy, Ukraine. Her early childhood was marked by upheaval: at just seven, Mila and her family left everything behind for a shot at a new beginning in Los Angeles, navigating the unfamiliar streets without a word of English. She’s spoken about feeling like an outsider – confused and overwhelmed – but it’s impossible not to marvel at just how much that outsider would soon accomplish.
By 14, Mila had pulled off her first (and perhaps most harmless) Hollywood con: she auditioned for “That ’70s Show” claiming she was old enough for the role of Jackie Burkhart, though she was three years too young. The gamble paid off. Her wicked comedic timing, signature raspy voice, and undeniable on-screen charisma turned Jackie – a high-maintenance, hilariously self-absorbed teenager – into one of sitcom TV’s most iconic characters. Sharing scenes with Ashton Kutcher, whom she would later marry, was just the beginning of a story still unfolding.
But beneath the surface, Mila faced the classic child-actor crossroads: could she reinvent herself as an adult performer, or would she forever be “that girl from the sitcom”? While her voice may have remained youthful – making her a natural fit as Meg Griffin on “Family Guy” (a gig she’s held for more than two decades) – her ambition didn’t stay boxed in. She poured herself into “Black Swan,” training past exhaustion, pushing her body to injuries that would sideline most, all to disappear into the role of a haunted ballerina. The risk paid off: critical acclaim, award nominations, and, perhaps most importantly, respect. Suddenly, Mila Kunis wasn’t just the punchline – she was the headline.
Behind the Spotlight
For all her red-carpet appearances and magazine covers, Mila’s day-to-day life is surprisingly ordinary. She’s been spotted lugging groceries in LA, shopping at budget stores, ducking the attention she attracts by blending in – sometimes being mistaken for another actress altogether. She once laughed about being caught by a reporter, hair in a messy bun, sweatpants on, chopsticks in hand, devouring takeout in her kitchen: “I don’t live a glamorous life.” If she’s playing up her “I’m just like you” shtick, nobody’s caught her out yet.
Relationships, too, have kept Mila grounded. She dated Macaulay Culkin for nearly a decade. Navigating young love in the public eye, they became an unexpectedly private Hollywood couple. After their split, she would openly take responsibility for the fallout: “I f*ed up. I was an ahole in my twenties. I own that.” The vulnerability in her apology felt, well, refreshingly real at a time when celebrity apologies are often about avoiding blame.
Her love story with Ashton Kutcher could have been ripped out of a rom-com script – fitting, since both starred in “no strings attached” movies with eerily similar plots. “We literally lived out our films,” she told Howard Stern, shaking her head at the cosmic symmetry. What started as casual, no-strings hooking up suddenly, almost comically, turned serious. “One day it was like, Oh… okay.” They married in a quiet ceremony on July 4, 2015, and now have two kids: Wyatt, their precocious daughter, and Dimitri, their adventurous son. Their life together oscillates between soccer practices and board meetings, PTA emails and red carpet flashes. Occasionally, the public gets snapshots – like the time they surprised Mila’s parents with a dream home renovation on TV, or when they’re snapped in Dodgers caps, wrangling kids like any exasperated mom and dad.
More Than Just a Pretty Face
Off-screen, Mila has proven herself a whip-smart entrepreneur and passionate activist. She jumped into tech investing long before it was a Hollywood fad, and joined forces with Ashton on everything from venture capital to social causes. When Russia invaded her birth country of Ukraine, it wasn’t a press release or staged photo op: together, she and Ashton helped raise over $36 million for humanitarian aid, using their platform to make a tangible difference – and speaking out from the gut, not from a script.
Of course, being Mila Kunis doesn’t mean life is charmed. The tabloids love to prod at Ashton’s high-profile history, digging up rumors and drama. Mila’s response? A shrug and a smile: “We know our truth. We know what’s going on in our house.” She gives nothing away, protecting her family fiercely, rarely engaging in the performative vulnerability so many celebrities now display with fanfare.
Onscreen, she’s never let herself be pigeonholed. One moment, she’s bantering with a foul-mouthed teddy bear in “Ted”; the next, she’s blowing up the illusion of the perfect mother in “Bad Moms.” But perhaps her most impressive feat is off camera: a Ukrainian immigrant who turned sheer nerve and irrepressible wit into an unlikely Hollywood fairy tale.
Past Relationships
Ashton Kutcher
Macaulay Culkin
Asked once to define success, Mila dismissed notions of fame, fortune, or magazine covers. “Success is waking up happy with your choices,” she said simply. By that yardstick, the girl in sweatpants on her kitchen floor – the one who hustled, misstepped, grew up fast, and stayed real – might just be one of the most successful people in Hollywood.