Best Known As: Jackie Burkhart on TV's That '70s Show
Mila Kunis spent eight years on the TV comedy That '70s Show as Jackie, the brunette who originally dated Ashton Kutcher's character, Kelso. Kunis was born in the Ukraine but moved to Los Angeles as a child and within just a few years was getting work in commercials and TV. She spent her teen years (and then some) on That '70s Show (1998-2006), while occasionally appearing in feature films and doing voice work for Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy (she's Meg) and TV's Robot Chicken. Since the end of her television series, Kunis has worked mostly in feature films, including with Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and with Mark Wahlberg in Max Payne (2008).
Career Highlights: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Tony N' Tina's Wedding, Max Payne
First Major Screen Credit: That '70s Show: Season 01 (1998)
Biography
A petite actress with olive skin and pixie features, Russian-born Mila Kunis became a breakout teen star on the FOX sitcom That '70s Show, playing spoiled daddy's girl Jackie Burkhardt. The rare 15-year-old actress to be cast as a 15-year-old character, Kunis also demonstrated her maturity by mastering accent-free English only a few years after immigrating. Her command of slang and teen vocal mannerisms won her work even when her appearance was not being utilized, as she voiced another all-American teen on FOX's animated envelope-pusher, Family Guy.
Milena Markovna Kunis was born on August 14, 1983 in Kiev, Ukraine, then moved with her parents to Los Angeles when she was seven years old. Kunis credits listening to the simple vocabulary of Bob Barker on The Price Is Right with helping her develop a speedy fluency in English. She enrolled in acting classes at the Beverly Hills Studio, where she was discovered performing in a showcase. She quickly began appearing in commercials. Kunis filled out her early resumé with such pit stops as Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997), Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), and the infamous WB ratings cellar-dweller Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (1996). She also played a younger version of Angelina Jolie in the HBO movie Gia (1998). But it was her casting in Mark Brazill's That '70s Show that earned Kunis notice, as her petulant teen queen soon became a standout, able to range from endearing to grating. Her aggravated whining rung true enough to earn her a voice-over role on Family Guy, taking over for Lacey Chabert as Megan Griffin during the 2000 season.
Kunis played a supporting role in the teen comedy Get Over It (2001) and a lead role as a deranged killer in the unlikely sequel American Psycho II: All American Girl (2002) while continuing as a TV regular. She also followed in Alicia Silverstone's footsteps by appearing in the Aerosmith video for "Jaded." ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Kunis was cast as Jackie 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 keep on 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.[7] Kunis has stated many times that she is nothing like Jackie, her character on the show. She has been nominated seven times for a Teen Choice Award for playing Jackie, but never won.
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.
Kunis was ranked #54 in Stuff's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002); Maxim named her #47 on its 2006 Hot 100 list.[10] 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.[11]
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 several times:
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.[12]
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.[13] Her boyfriend Macaulay Culkin plays too. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she says she does not speak to other players in response to claims that some people had recognized her voice.[14]
