THE LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE

Mila Kunis (39) stars in Netflix’s movie adaptation of Jessica Knoll’s novel, Luckiest Girl Alive, as Ani Fanelli, a woman who moves to New York City to escape a traumatic event from her teenage years but it catches up with her and threatens to derail her new life. The movie addresses issues including sexual assault and a school shooting.

“I love playing someone who is so desperate to be something she’s not,” says the actress, who’s a producer on the film and whose performance has been described by critics as her best yet.

Mila was born Milena Markovna Kunis in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, in 1983 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. She was seven when her parents, Elvira, a physics teacher, and Mark, an engineer, moved to the US.

“My parents wanted a future for [my older brother, Michael, and I], and in 1988 in Russia there wasn’t one for us.”

She took drama classes as a child and landed her first breakthrough role at 14 as Jackie Burkhart in That ‘70s Show, where she met her future husband, Ashton Kutcher (now 44). The couple tied the knot in 2015.

“I thought when That ‘70s Show finished, I would go to university and live a normal life,” but the acting bug had bit and she stayed on in Hollywood, starring in movies such as Black Swan and The Spy Who Dumped Me.

She and Ashton have a daughter, Wyatt Isabelle (8), and a son, Dimitri (5).

When Russia invaded Ukraine this year, the couple started a GoFundMe campaign that raised R600 million for supplies for victims.