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Mila Kunis

 
Who2 Biography: Mila Kunis, Actor
 

  • Born: 14 August 1983
  • Birthplace: Kiev, Ukraine
  • 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).

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Actor: Mila Kunis
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  • Born: Aug 14, 1983 in Kiev, Ukraine
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: 2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy
  • 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
 
Wikipedia: Mila Kunis
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Mila Kunis

Kunis at the premiere of Max Payne (2008)
Born Milena Markovna Kunis
August 14, 1983 (1983-08-14) (age 25)
Kiev, Ukraine SSR
Occupation Actress
Years active since 1994
Domestic partner(s) Macaulay Culkin (since 2002)

Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis[1] (Ukrainian : Мілена Марківна Куніс, Russian : Милена Маркοвна Кунис; born on August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Her television work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show and she provides 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.

Contents

Life and career

Early life

Kunis was born in Kiev, Ukraine to a Jewish family.[2][3] Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher and drug store manager, and her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer and cab company executive.[1] She also has an older brother. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1991.[1][4] She says that her English improved from watching The Price Is Right (as Bob Barker spoke English slowly enough for her to understand).[5] 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.[6]

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, catalogs, 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.[7] 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 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.

She is the voice of Meg Griffin in the animated TV show Family Guy for which she has received a 2007 Annie Award nomination, and of various characters on the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken. She voiced Tanya in the video game Saints Row.

Kunis has appeared in music videos like Aerosmith's "Jaded", Vitamin C's "The Itch", The Strokes' "The End Has No End", and Mams Taylor feat. Joel Madden's "LA Girls", the latter which also starred Carmen Electra.

She had more film roles during or after That '70s Show—the teen film Get Over It, American Psycho 2, After Sex, Boot Camp, and Moving McAllister.

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.[8]

In upcoming films, she will star alongside Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman in the comedy Extract and in Zombieland. 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.[9]

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]

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-DVD
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
Family Guy Presents 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 post-production
Zombieland Small role post-production
2010 The Book of Eli Solara post-production
Date Night TBD 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 Odditty"
"The Policy of Truth"
2000-present Family Guy Meg Griffin (Voice) 114 episodes
2005-present Robot Chicken Various (Voice) 10 episodes
Music videos
Year Title Artist
2001 "Jaded" Aerosmith
"The Itch" Vitamin C
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

Notes

External links



 
 
Learn More
Straight Edge (2007 Thriller Film)
Book of Eli (2009 Action Film)
Max Payne (2008 Action Film)

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Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Mila Kunis biography from Who2.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mila Kunis" Read more

 

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