Nee Milena Markovna Kunis, Mila Kunis was born on August 14, 1983 in Kiev, Ukraine. Her father was a mechanical engineer and her mother was a physics teacher. At the time of Mila’s birth, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union and political turmoil surrounded Mila throughout her childhood. In 1990, Ukraine won its sovereignty and the Kunis family moved to Los Angeles.
Relocation to the West brought abrupt changes and Mila’s parents had to change occupations. Mila and her brother were immediately enrolled in a local public school, where they began to learn English through immersion. Mila honed her conversational skills further through watching television; the game show The Price is Right proved particularly helpful to Mila, as host Bob Barker spoke slowly enough for her to consistently pick up on what he was saying.
Thanks to being thrust into an English speaking culture, it didn’t take Mila long to become proficient. When she was nine years old, her father registered her in after-school acting classes at the Beverly Hills Studio. Mila discovered she had a knack for acting. At one of the Studio’s public showcases, Mila was approached by entertainment manager Susan Curtis, who offered to take her on. Soon thereafter, Mila made her debut on national television in a Payless ShoeSource commercial. Next, she appeared on an episode of Days of Our Lives.
Over the next several years, Mila made appearances in a wide variety of productions. Guest spots on television programs Baywatch, Walker, Texas Ranger and 7th Heaven were accompanied by a role in the 1995 made-for-TV remake of Piranha (produced by Roger Corman). Mila then went on to appear in the 1996 Hulk Hogan vehicle, Santa with Muscles, and in 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. In 1998, she had a bit role in the Richard Dreyfuss comedy Krippendorf’s Tribe. The young Mila was also the focus of a Guess? clothing ad campaign.
Mila’s big break came the same year she did Krippendorf’s Tribe, when she was cast as the young Gia in the HBO film of the same name. The broadcast was well received, and Mila made the jump from bit actor to a familiar face in the entertainment industry. That same year, she auditioned for a part on a new Fox series tentatively titled Teenage Wasteland. Although she was only 14 at the time, Mila won the part of the character Jackie, on the show that would be renamed That ’70s Show. That ’70s Show went on to great success. In spite of the recognition her work had brought her, Mila continued to attend part-time classes at her local school, Fairfax Senior High School. She graduated from Fairfax in 2001, the same year that she appeared alongside Kirsten Dunst and Sisqo in Get Over It and in the video for Aerosmith’s single “Jaded.”
Mila will continue her role as Jackie in That ’70s Show throughout the upcoming season, and will most probably stay on board if the show’s contract is extended further. Her most recent film role was that of Rachael Newman in American Psycho 2.