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Name: Mila Kunis
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Date of Birth:
August 14, 1983
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Place of Birth:
Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union (now Kiev, Ukraine)
Mini-bio:
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-ye... read morear-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 resume 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. After seemingly languishing in a number of middling film projects between 2002 and 2007 Kunis regained prominence in 2008's Judd Apatow-produced comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Over the course of the next few years Kunis would not only continue to get attention for her comedic skills in Mike Judge's Extract (2009) and Date Night (2010) with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, but also for more physical roles, such as Mona Sax in the video game-based action film, Max Payne (2008), and along side Denzel Washington in the post apocalyptic The Book of Eli (2010). This range came to the forefront in 2010 with the role of Lily in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. As a sensual ballerina that competes with Natalie Portman's Nina in the film, Kunis also had to enter intensive physical conditioning and ballet training for the part. As advance buzz built around the film it did so in part because of a reported lesbian sex scene between the two characters. Whatever the draw, Black Swan was one of the most acclaimed films of the year, with Kunis receiving a number of accolades for her work, including a Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
