Mila Kunis Breaks Down Her Career, from 'That '70s Show' to 'Black Swan' | Vanity Fair

As a young kid, I just loved everything about this industry. I thought it was magical. I never looked at it as anything other than fun. I didn't care that it didn't get a part. It was okay. Like, I think being an immigrant and understanding what the simple aspect of opportunity is gave me a sense of appreciation for just, thank you so much for even allowing me to sit here and audition for you. That was enough. Hi, my name is Mila Kunis and this is the timeline of my career. I'm so young. Why are we doing a timeline? This makes me feel really old. You're not wearing that to the game, are you? Um, actually, no. I've got some good news and bad news. I'm Ashley. I don't get bad news. I think as a kid, the bad girls were the ones with the dark hair and then, like, the more relatable all-American gals were the blonde ones or whatever. So I clearly wasn't that. So I ended up as a young kid being, like, the cool girl or the bad girl because I had dark hair that happened to be curly. My parents were so nice enough to let me do this as a hobby. The only stipulation is I had to go to school, I had to get good grades, and then this was a hobby of mine that I accidentally stumbled into that I was like, this is awesome. I'm, like, in junior high and I get to be on television? This is crazy. So I auditioned a lot. And more times than not, you don't get anything you audition for. So that built up a solid backbone and resilience and talk about hard work. But I remember I auditioned for a show I did not get, little known show called 90210. And I loved that show. And I got a call back and I came back and they didn't tell me, they didn't prepare me that Jason Priestley, who was directing that episode, was gonna be in the room. And I froze. I froze, guys. I froze. Okay, I choked. And I was like, that was extraordinary. But I also went into all of this being like, I'm never gonna get it. Who cares? But it's gonna be fun. But besides, if you worked here, you can see me whenever I wanted you to. You love her? Yeah. First and foremost, 70's show impacted me. I met my husband. Also gave me an amazing opportunity of eight years of steady work that I otherwise never would have in this industry, which gave me a financial freedom. There's a rumor going around that I may or may not have lied about my age for that 70's show. I'd like to make it very clear now. I did lie. Okay, I did. However, by the time I went to what was then like producer's network call, you have to sign a contract before you get the job. And in my contract, I had to put an asterisk and be like, studio teacher. And they're like, what do you mean? And I was like, OPS, I'm 14. But at that point, if you talk to Bonnie and Terry Turner, they were so sweet. They were like, well, we loved you at that point, so what did we care? It was in the heyday of like older kids playing younger kids, and I was actually of the age of the character. I wasn't intimidated. I had a solid ego, man. I thought it was so cool. So do you want to like go to the mall or something? That's cool. So I must've been intimidating is what I should say. But I don't know if it was intimidating in the sense of like, I didn't know who I was or lost sense of myself, but I must've been like, wow, these kids are all so cool and they're so much older than I am and they're so much cooler than I am. I had the greatest experience on 70's. 100% I was embraced. 100% I was never treated as like lesser than. And if I did by one of the cast members, another cast member would stand up for it. So, you know, we were all trying to figure ourselves out. We were all young. I will say the reason I don't do drugs, the reason I didn't get into drugs, all of that was because nobody on the set did. And I looked up to them at 14. And so the trajectory of my career or my life could have gone any which way, but it didn't. It was like, the set was cool. It was like, they play poker on Friday nights and they drink beer. And I was like, ooh, cool. But that was it, right? Like that was the extent of that. I get it. Dad, how could you be okay with mom parading herself around like this? I mean, she's half naked. It makes all women look bad. Meg, who let you back in the house? I remember my manager, Susan, at the time being like, there's a show called Family Guy. The actress quit because she didn't find the show to be in line with her ethical beliefs. You want to audition for it? And I was like, yeah, what's the show? It hadn't aired yet. And so I went and auditioned and I remember McFarlane being like, slow down. Like that was the big thing. I guess I naturally speak really fast. When I record now, I'm really good about knowing to slow down. But when you're 15, you just want to get this ball rolling. You're like, I got places to be, people to see. Let's go, go, go. And so for whatever reason, McFarlane was like down enough to be like, slow down, slow down. Because he could have easily hired anybody to do the voice for whatever reason. Here we are 20 years later. I only ever asked once for Meg to get a makeover. It was like years into the show. And I was like, just give her something. Like get the condom hat off of her head. Give her a hairdo. And then I think they gave her blonde hair. And I was like, thank God. Like finally. I got a makeover, dad. Don't I look great? Oh, Meg, honey. I always thought you were beautiful. Just the way. Let me be clear about this thing where people are like, what's the voice that you do for Meg? It's this. This is the voice. Guys, I have no skills. I pitch it sometimes now because I have since aged myself due to life. And that's it. That's my skill set. But when I got it at 15, it was just my voice, which was a little bit younger. All in all, I think that is, you know, half the time Meg doesn't talk. She's like kind of like in the background that gets farted on or sat on. So if I have dialogue, I'm really happy. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Ah, dad, get away from me. Hello? Hey, Peter? Sarah? Uh, no. It's Rachel Janssen from the front desk. Hey. Hey, what's going on up there? Getting complaints about a woman crying hysterically? As a young actor, nothing draws you to a role other than work and money. And let's be honest, unless somehow you're magical enough to have that to begin with, I was not. So what drew me to roles? Jobs. I had a house that I needed to make payments for. I wasn't picky. I know that some people were and kudos to them. This was not me. I auditioned for Knocked Up with Judd and Seth Rogen and it was an improv scene. Judd was big on auditioning improv. So he'd be like, here's a circumstance, go. And it was like Rogan and I acting something out. And I remember I made a funny joke about Costco or something and Judd was like, ha ha ha. And I was like, oh, I made Judd Apatow laugh. Like, I was just like, look at me. It didn't work out for one reason or another. It did not get knocked up. A year later, I got a call from Judd to be like, hey, will you do me a favor and do a table read for a movie that we may or may not make, which is totally normal in the industry. They do table reads to hear a writer out loud. I was like, yeah, of course, Judd Apatow. Like, whatever you need. So I showed up to this table read and it was a very different cast that you know from Sarah Marshall than it was at the table read. And it was a different movie. But we did the table read and I was like, cool, nice knowing you guys, bye, see you later. Never to be heard from again for like eight, nine months. And then all of a sudden I got a call being like, do you wanna do the movies? If we're getting Sarah Marshall, they're actually gonna do it. And I was like, Hawaii? They'll pay me to go to Hawaii? I was like, I am in. That was it. And then we showed up to Hawaii and it ended up being hands down one of the most incredible experiences anybody could ever ask for as a young actor. It was magical. The fact we shot where we lived, we were all young and in our 20s, didn't need much sleep. None of us had kids. None of us had any responsibilities. We surfed in the morning before work and we would go surfing after. I don't even surf, but I did it. My real life hotel room was next door to the room that we shot in. It was like an inclusive resort, but with like movie making. This was before anybody had any notoriety. Let's keep in mind, like there was no ego of anybody. They were so great and so funny. I've never improved, but I was like, this is their wheelhouse. Russell Brand would go on these rants when he improved that I was like, I don't even understand what this improv means. Half the time he improved into a world that was so existential that I was like, that is high brow, Russell. I cannot keep up to save my life. Russell was like on a tangent. I also got in trouble. We showed up to the resort. We're on an island that also has a military base on it. And so our resort at the time had a lot of families that were visiting their kids that were in the military base. I was of age. I was 22 at the time. And I remember grabbing myself a drink and there was a kid there that had his whole camo on and he couldn't get a drink. And he was like 20, I think. And I was like, oh my God, you're fighting for our country and you can't get a drink. I'll get you a damn drink. And I went and got the kid drinks and I got into so much trouble from that hotel. They went and talked to Shana, who was our producer at the time. And they're like, your actress, that's not okay. She cannot be buying drinks to underage people. And I was like, he's clearly in the military. Give the kid a beer. Like, who cares? I didn't get kicked out. Thank God I didn't get fired, but I didn't do that again at that hotel. I like living here. Big day's getting closer and closer, huh? Well, I can't wait. I think you're gonna be amazing. Thanks. Black Swan was great. Like, it was one of those where you didn't know what you were making. You kind of hoped people would get it. You just didn't know. Shot it for $1. We lost all our budget the day before production. Darren, I don't know how, found money magically. We were able to shoot. So much of our shooting was done illegally because we didn't have permits because we were a broke production. We shot illegally in the subway. I mean, we would get a phone call at three in the morning, be like, come down to the subway. We're gonna shoot scene 35A. And I was like, I'm coming. There's no version of that that could do that today for me. I'd be like, I have kids, and I gotta pick them up and drop them off at school. And I didn't know what was gonna happen with the movie. I honestly was just like, it's Darren Aronofsky. It's like, it's Natalie Portman. This is an incredible group of people to be with. Why, you want a writer? I was like, what movie am I making? I mean, mind you, Darren was like, and now you must learn to dance. And I was like, I can do it. Oh my God, I broke my body. I was like, no, I can't, but I did it. And luckily, because we lost money, we were able to push production three months, which gave me three more months to get on point. So for that, I'll always be oddly grateful for that we lost money initially. This could be great. This could take all the weirdness out of it. Well, we talked about this. I don't like you like that. I don't like you like that either. That's why it's perfect. I don't even know if I find you attractive. That's cute. Do you have a thing for jerks? The original script was so, to me, dated and not what I wanted to do. Clint was our producer on it, and he convinced me. I mean, talk about, I really, I was like, I'm not gonna do it. And he was like, you're gonna do it. I promise you, I promise you. I'm gonna make this right for you. You have to meet with Will Glock. He's amazing. And Will just did Easy A. And I was like, no, Easy A's great. I get it. I don't wanna do it. And he literally bullied me. I mean, in the best possible sense, he Jedi'd me into doing it. And I was like, all right, I'll do it. He's like, you gotta meet Justin. I swear you'll love him. It'll all work out. You and Will need to go to dinner. This will all make sense. And I was like, I don't know if this is the right thing for me. I mean, I fully got like, you will do this movie. And I was like, I guess I'm doing this movie. And then we would meet and hang, and Will would do the rewrites with us. It was the first time that I felt in my career ever to be a part of a collaborative process of doing a rewrite. We would improv a scene out, and then Will Gluck would go in and write the dialogue out. We would improv the scene and Gluck would rewrite it. And so it was a really collaborative, incredible process. Working with Justin was fine until you were on the streets of New York City. It was all fine and dandy on a stage. He was like young and excited about acting and like super present and great. And then you went on into the public with him, and it was like the Beatles on the street of New York City shooting with him. I've never witnessed that in my life. We would shoot on this side of the street, and I'm not kidding you, it was like a sea of a thousand people just staring at you. And I was like, whoa. Like that was a whole learning curve for me. I was like, you have a interesting life, homie. Like good luck to you. This is, I bet I hadn't had that bad. So working with him was great, but being on this public street with him, nobody should experience. Hey Johnny, how about a beer, huh? Oh, a couple of Charles Bukowskis? A couple of Brewstoyevskis? That's a good one. You know what, I think I too want a Martina Nevertovsky. Oh no, no, no, no, no. That doesn't work. No, no, no, don't ruin it, no. Bullshit, that totally works. No. So Ted was a movie that McFarlane had written a couple of years prior to it being made. And it had different actors attached to it. And I was younger. I would go into recording sessions, and he was like, okay, give me another actress. I need somebody for this movie. Can you give me another actress who you think is great that's funny? And I was like, what about blah, blah, blah? What about blah, blah? So for a year, I pitched him all of these actresses, if not two years. And then at one point, it got to a place where I got old enough to do the movie, and he literally just out of nowhere turned and goes, well, do you want to do it? And I went, I mean, I can. Okay. But it all happened. It was almost like I was his last resort. You know, it was a movie about a talking bear. By the time that, was it Fox, Universal, whoever put it out, you gotta convince people that this movie was gonna be good. And they were like, you mean there's a talking bear in the movie? And you're like, yeah. So I think it took a minute for people to jump on board. But then when they did, it was off to the races. We're killing ourselves trying to be perfect, and it's making us insane. In this day and age, it's impossible to be a good mom. Screw it. Let's be bad moms. I had my daughter at the time. I think she was two, not even, one and a half. And so I had taken a minute off from acting and went to producing for about three years. And I was like, if I go back to shooting something with a baby, with a kid, with a one and a half year old at the time for me, I was like, it's better be good. And I was like, couldn't find a project that I gravitated towards. Zoe Saldana, who's a girlfriend of mine, read the script totally randomly somehow, called me and goes, I can't do this, but just for fun, read this script. And I was like, all right, I'll read it for fun. I read it and I was like, oh, this is really funny. Like, I was like, I wonder what's gonna happen to this movie. Like, hope it gets made. Don't give it any thought. And then two months later, out of nowhere, I got a call from my agent being like, there's a script called Bad Moms. Do you want to read it? And I was like, wait, I already read it. I know this script. It all happened as like a fun read that another actress sent me to be like, here's a really funny, great movie. And we had just both become moms. And we both, I think, just related to it. Yeah. I don't know what's me. And what part I offended. Your former classmate has made claims against you. Don't talk about what happened that night. When I read the script, I really gravitated towards Jessica's writing. I thought that she had a very specific tone and it reminded me a little bit of like Diablo Cody's writing, where like if you took the name off of a script, you'd be like, oh, I know that writer. That's Diablo Cody. And I looked at Jessica and Jessica's writing exactly the same. The dichotomy between who the person is in her head versus who she outwardly portrays and the fact that you get to actually see both incidents and you get to see both come to life, I think was really unique and different. A lot of times in movies, what I find sometimes hard to do in scripts is that they talk about a lot of stuff. There's lots of talking. They're always talking about either what they did, what they're going to do. And in this one, I actually think that for the first time in a long time, it's a story that we're actually showing you and that you're allowed to experience with the person visually and go on this journey instead of just reliving it. So at this very point in my life, I think I'm super fortunate and really lucky that I don't have to work to pay my bills. I think in order to be successful in any career, but in this industry specifically, it almost has to become an obsession to an extent because otherwise there's just so many obstacles along the way that will knock you down for you to go, forget it, I'm getting out of here. So in my 20s and our 20s, we had that. When we decided to start a family, we had to reprioritize that. And we said this to ourselves, we made each other our number one priority and we made our children our number one priority and everything else came later. I love being a mom. I love being a wife. I love being home. And so in order for me to pick a project, it has to have a really good reason for me not to be with my kids and my family. And so the first thing is, is this worth me leaving my kids for? And if the answer is yes, then I continue that. But if I look at it and I go, anyone can do this, it's gonna be great, but it's just not something that I wanna leave my kids for, it's done.