Born on August 14, 1983, in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, Milena Markovna Kunis owes much gratitude to her parents (Mark Kunis and Elvira Kunis) for her Hollywood fame and fortune. In an effort to provide a better future for Mila and her brother Michael, their parents abandoned their professional careers in the then Soviet Union and moved the family to Los Angeles with just $250. Mila was just 7 years old at the time. However, in LA, Mila’s parents soon found new jobs – talk about the American dream. Her dad worked as a cab driver while her mom who was a physics teacher back in Ukraine, began to run a pharmacy.
While attending elementary school, Mila also enrolled in a children’s acting program at the Beverly Hills Studio where she was discovered by agent Susan Curtis who soon became her manager. Thanks to Curtis, Kunis began landing several commercial gigs for brands like Barbie and Lisa Frank. Subsequently, she landed minor roles in TV sitcoms like “Days of Our Lives”, “Baywatch”, “7th Heaven”, “Honey”, “We Shrunk Ourselves”, and many others.
Breakthrough with “That 70’s Show”
After about 7 years since immigrating to the US, Kunis proved to her parents that their sacrifices were not in vain. She successfully auditioned for the role of Jackie Burkhart on the Fox sitcom, “That ’70s Show” which became her first breakthrough role. The show ran for 8 successful seasons from 1998 to 2006. As ratings surged, Mila began earning a cool paycheck of $100,000 per episode. Her immaculate portrayal of the role earned her 2 back-to-back Young Star Awards as Best Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series (1999 and 2000).
Her impressive success opened the doors to more gigs including Seth MacFarlane‘s Fox animated series, “Family Guy” where she voices the character of Meg Griffin. For the first year of the show in 1999, Mila received $10,000 per episode. However, that paycheck has since grown upwards of $200,000 per episode. Regarded as one of the greatest cartoons of all time, “Family Guy” has run for 15 seasons and counting.
While she starred in her hit TV shows, Mila concurrently took up roles in films like “Krippendorf’s Tribe”, “Get Over It”, “American Psycho 2” and “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding”.
More Commercial Success
After her breakthrough TV sitcom – That 70’s Show – ended in 2006, Mila took up other sitcom roles but focused more on the big screen. She landed yet another breakthrough with 2008 comedy film, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”. Mila’s role as well as the movie received much acclaim and was a commercial hit, grossing over $105 million from a $30 million budget.
In addition, the massive success of “Book of Eli” (2010) where she starred alongside Denzel Washington, established Mila as one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood. Also in 2010, she starred in “Black Swan” which was a much bigger hit, grossing $329.4 million from a $15 million budget. The role earned her numerous award nominations including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Her other noteworthy movies include “Friends with Benefits” opposite Justin Timberlake, “Ted” and “Oz the Great and Powerful” (2013). The successes of these movies saw her debut on Forbes ranking of the ‘World’s Highest-Paid Actresses with a paycheck of $11 million earned between June 2012 and June 2013.
In 2015, she earned $6.5 million and $11 million in 2016, placing 9th on the magazine’s ranking for the year. Moreover, her 2016 comedy movie, “Bad Moms” grossed almost $180 million on a $28 million budget. Thanks to the success of the movie, Kunis ranked #5 on Forbes’ 2017 list of World’s Highest-Paid Actresses with a total annual earning of $15.5 million.
To date, Mila continues to star in several successful screen works. In 2018, played Audrey in the action-comedy film, “The Spy Who Dumped Me” which recorded moderate success with a box office revenue of $75 million against a $40 million budget. But bringing her more success that year was “Bad Moms Christmas”, a sequel to Mila’s hit 2016 movie, “Bad Moms”. The holiday movie which grossed $130 million brought Kunis such money that helped her earn the 6th spot on Forbes’ 2018 ranking of ‘World’s Highest-Paid Actresses’ with an income of $16 million.
The talented actress went on to play a starring role in the 2020 drama film, “Four Good Days” and is set to star in 2021 “Breaking News In Yuba County”.
Endorsement Contracts and other Lucrative Ventures
Apart from movies and tv, Mila Kunis built her worth with earnings from a number of non-acting gigs. Among her prominent endorsement partners are Jim Beam Whiskey and Gemfields jewelry. Her recent endorsement campaign is with Lisa Frank.
Following the footsteps of her fellow entertainer husband, Ashton Kutcher, Mila began investing in stocks starting from 2013. However, while she has chosen to keep mum about her stock holdings, her husband Kutcher has worn his on his sleeves. His investment portfolio boasts Skype, Spotify, Airbnb, and Warby Parker. His $500,000 investment in Uber in 2011 is now worth over a hundred times more.
