SOMETIMES IT’S GOOD TO BE BAD

Mila Kunis relishes role as misbehaving mother in Bad Moms

LOS ANGELES Mila Kunis puts up with multiple judgment days.

In fact, she’s endured way too many evaluations on assorted multimedia platforms since romantically connecting with her high-profile buddy from That ’70s Show, Ashton Kutcher.

When their baby girl Wyatt was born a few years ago, assessments of the family’s personal life intensified.

So it’s no wonder Kunis relates to her Bad Moms character, who rebels against being critically assessed for what she does and how she does it.

“It’s a daily occurrence and I think most people relate to that, and I don’t think you have to be a celebrity to understand it,” says Kunis, 32. “People have a predilection towards judging because it’s so easy to judge now.”

That’s the Bad Moms common denominator. Throw in some raunchy dialogue and some silly pratfalls executed by comedy pros Kunis, Christina Applegate, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Annie Mumolo and Jada Pinkett Smith. The result is a timely R-rated comedy.

In the film, the hyper-stressed moms, played by Kunis, Bell and Hahn, break free from the suburban ties that bind. Disapproving are the PTA rules-oriented mothers defined by Applegate, Mumolo and Smith.

The film is written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who wrote the screenplay for The Hangover, so pushing the boundaries of Bad Moms’ extremes is evident. The story also has some things to say about the pursuit of perfection in the modern world of entitlement.

“I think the movie exceeded my expectations,” says Kunis, who was the first cast. “It’s such a relief not to hate your own work.”

Credit for the positive results, she’s quick to point out, goes to the filmmakers and the ensemble of performers who joined forces almost immediately on the New Orleans set.

“When you are part of group that you actually enjoy, it’s such a gift, because working with people you don’t enjoy is one the hardest experiences to have,” Kunis says.

Indeed, Lucas and Moore encouraged the actors to improvise when the time and place suited them. They did with enthusiasm.

“It felt like we had one long conversation that we started at the beginning of the shoot, and someone would call action, and we’d just keep talking,” says Kunis.

“It all starts with the No. 1 on the call sheet,” says Hahn, praising Kunis. “It was a crazy supportive environment.”

The filming was efficient, too, since most in the cast are working moms who brought their young kids along with them, including Kunis. Getting back to them at a proper hour each night was important to everybody.

They collaborated on and off camera to make sure it happened, which reminded Kunis of something she’s always believed.

“I think women are actually incredibly supportive of each other,” she says. “You want to see other women succeed because then it paves the road for more opportunities.”

Spoken like a professional who knows about sacrifice, moving to Los Angeles with her mother and father when she was seven. “I grew up in Russia in the 1980s and that was like America in the 1940s.”

She signed up for acting classes at nine, booked some commercials and guest appearances on TV sitcoms, and then landed the coveted role of Jackie on That ’70s Show by the time she was 14. The hit ran from 1998 to 2006 while Kunis continued to voice Meg in Family Guy. From 2007 onward, she co-starred in hits and misses yet gained acclaim with her role in Black Swan.

Since the birth of her first child — Kunis is pregnant with her second — she’s been picky about booking jobs. And she always makes sure her family can travel with her.

“It helps that I have the world’s greatest husband,” says Kunis, who describes Kutcher as a “hands on” parent. “I got very lucky.”