Weekly Kibbitz
Mila Kunis Tears Up in Multifaceted Talk
Ranging From Family to Films
Kutcher got married in 2015 and have two children.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February,
the couple has donated funds and helped raise
$35 million for Kunis’ native embattled country. In
fact, she got choked up when she told the audi-
ence that her daughter, who is now 8, expressed
pride in being half-Ukrainian when discussing the
ongoing war. Kunis said she returned to Ukraine
about fi ve years ago for a visit.

She famously starred with Natalie Portman
in “Black Swan” and said that fi lm, as well as
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” proved that she could
make it in movies. People had advised her to stick
to television, but she didn’t listen.

Horowitz noted that Kutcher recently said his
movie with Portman, “No Strings Attached,” was
basically the same movie as “Friends With Benefi ts,”
which starred Kunis and Justin Timberlake.

“We were better, but it’s no big deal,” quipped
Kunis, drawing laughs.

With a screenplay by Jessica Knoll, whose best-sell-
ing book is the basis for the fi lm “Luckiest Girl Alive,”
Kunis stars as Ani FaNelli, who’s in position to become
a senior editor at The New York Times, though her
Mila Kunis at the 92nd Street Y on Manhattan’s
Upper East Side being interviewed on Sept. 29 about
her new fi lm, “Luckiest Girl Alive”
husband wants to move to London. As the movie goes
on, Ani struggles to deal with a past trauma as a
victim of sexual violence, and she is disturbed by
rumors about whether or not she had a connection
to a horrifi c high school attack that some did not
survive. The fi lm, which streams on Netfl ix, features
one of Kunis’ strongest performances.

She said the fi lm’s voice-over is particularly
important as the character relives her trauma. She
called Knoll’s voice “incredibly specifi c” and said
she chose to do the fi lm because it is in part based
on the writer’s real life.

As to whether she prefers comic or intense dra-
matic roles, Kunis said that she has no preference.

“There’s an ego that comes with fi lmmaking,”
she went on to explain. “If anyone tells you other-
wise, they’re lying."
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Michael Priest Photography
Jewish actress Mila Kunis has charmed millions of
fans around the world, but did she charm her way
into America?
After a screening of her new fi lm “Luckiest Girl
Alive” at the 92nd Street Y on Manhattan’s Upper
East Side on Sept. 29, the star, who rose to fame
playing Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show,” told
the crowd that as a child she strolled into the
offi ce of the woman who was to decide if her fam-
ily would be allowed to go to the United States.

They’d been at the American embassy in Moscow
for about 16 hours, and she asked if she had any
candy. The woman had something better.

“Long story short, she was like, ‘Welcome to
America,’” recalled Kunis, saying she was about 7
when her family received a religious refugee visa.

Interviewed by Josh Horowitz, who has covered
fi lm for MTV, she said her parents initially lied
and told her that they were moving across the
street, but when they needed to take a train to the
Moscow embassy, she realized that wasn’t true.

Kunis had her fi rst on-screen kiss with Ashton
Kutcher, who played Michael Kelso on “That ’70s
Show.” The hit Fox program ended in 2006. Kunis and