There’s a sobering side
Co-stars speak out on harassment
LOS ANGELES – Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn play everything for laughs in the R-rated comedy A Bad Moms Christmas (out Wednesday).
But the actresses and real-life mothers take serious pride in the conversation about sexual harassment that’s going on right now in Hollywood, which started with women speaking out against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
“I am in awe of the courage of these women who have stepped forward,” Hahn says. “It’s just seems like anyone who puts themselves forward with a story like that has so much to lose and so little to gain, putting themselves out there in a vulnerable position.”
Hahn is especially impressed with actress Rose McGowan, who has been an outspoken voice for change.
“Rose McGowan seems like a warrior right now, a truth warrior. It’s amazing. And I’m crazy grateful this conversation has begun in earnest like this,” Hahn says. “I’m sure there are a lot of gentlemen quaking in their boots right now. There are echoes of enabling going back a long time.”
Kunis says the harassment discussion is part of a needed change coming to the industry and society.
“Seventy years ago, it was OK to hit your wife just a little bit. It no longer is OK,” she says. “I don’t think a lot of this (behavior) is OK, but it was presumed to be OK for so many years. So much of it has been accepted.
“Just because it’s accepted doesn’t make it right. And this (discussion) is necessary to equalize itself.”
The holiday season comes at a politically divisive time, with both sides coming together at dinner tables around the country. The stars agree that holiday meals are one place to put political discussions on hold.
“Anything that’s going to bring the mood down is not allowed,” says Bell, who is married to actor Dax Shepard. “Everyone is on the same page about that. It’s like, what’s the point? Everything is so depressing.”
Kunis, who will travel to her husband Ashton Kutcher’s home in Iowa for the holidays, says family political discussions can get rough.
“We really do have a divided household. Like, family members that I love voted for Trump. And family members I love abstained from voting, which to me is the same as voting for Trump.”
Setting that aside for the holidays works, because “everyone is respectful over the fact that there’s such a divide,” Kunis says.
The discussion over whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” comes up every year. But Bell is over it.
“I’m not a fan of micromanaging people’s behavior or their greetings,” she says. “If you say ‘Merry Christmas,’ great. If you say ‘Happy Holidays,’ great. Even ‘Have a great day!’
“If you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”