Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series That '70s Show (1998–2006) at age 15.

Milena Markovna Kunis was born into a Jewish family on August 14, 1983,[3] in Chernovtsy (now Chernivtsi), Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.

[10] While participating in Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend Kunis confirmed she does not speak Ukrainian, stating Russian was the main language at the time she was there.

[11] She stated in 2011 that her parents had "amazing jobs", and that she "was very lucky" and the family was "not poor"; they had decided to leave the Soviet Union because they saw "no future" there for Mila and her brother.

We arrived in New York on a Wednesday and by Friday morning my brother and I were at school in L.A."[12] Kunis has cited antisemitism in the Soviet Union as one of several reasons for her family's move to the United States.

[29] At age nine, Kunis was enrolled by her father in acting classes after school at the Beverly Hills Studios, where she met Susan Curtis, who would become her manager.

[7] At the age of 10, Kunis unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of a Russian Jewish girl who moves to North America in the film Make a Wish, Molly.

[38] In 1999, Kunis replaced Lacey Chabert in the role of Meg Griffin on the animated sitcom Family Guy,[39] created by Seth MacFarlane for Fox.

[2] Also in 2008, Kunis portrayed Mona Sax, an assassin, alongside Mark Wahlberg in the action film Max Payne, based on the video game of the same name.

"[68] Director Mike Judge commented that part of what was surprising to learn about Kunis was her ability to make references to the cult animation film Rejected.

"[69] After seeing Kunis perform in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Judge wanted to cast her in the role of Cindy in Extract: "I just thought, 'Wow, this girl's perfect.'

[73] Several other reviews were equally positive, including that of Pete Hammond of Boxoffice magazine, who wrote that she's "ideally cast in the key female role".

[74] Even reviewers who did not necessarily like the film complimented her performance, such as James Berardinelli, who wrote that "the demands of the role prove to be within her range, which is perhaps surprising considering she has been thus far pigeonholed into more lightweight parts",[75] and Colin Covert of the Star Tribune, who wrote that she "generated a spark and brought a degree of determination to her character, developing an independent female character who's not always in need of rescuing.

[78][79] Kunis was also cast in a minor role in the 2010 comedy film Date Night, starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

[81][82][83] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune concluded her performance with James Franco helped save the film and gave it "a shot in the arm.

Director Darren Aronofsky cast Kunis in the film based on her performance in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and on the recommendation of co-star and close friend Natalie Portman.

[103] Friends with Benefits achieved success at the box office, grossing over $149 million worldwide,[104] and received mostly positive reviews with critics praising the chemistry between Kunis and Timberlake.

[105] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that "Ms. Kunis is fast proving that she's a gift that keeps giving to mainstream romantic comedy" and "her energy is so invigorating and expansive and her presence so vibrant that she fills the screen".

[109] Drew McWeeny of HitFix wrote that Kunis "brings some lovely subtle grace notes to a role that easily could have just been 'the pushy girlfriend'".

[110] In 2013, Kunis played Theodora, the youngest of three witches, opposite James Franco, in the Walt Disney Pictures' prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful.

[114] Kim Newman of Empire Magazine wrote that Kunis "walks away with the honours as the wavering witch Theodora, whose heartbreak brings another, less-expected depth to this 3D spectacle".

[117] Also in 2013, Kunis co-starred in the crime thriller Blood Ties with Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, and Marion Cotillard.

[151] In 2022, Kunis produced and starred in a Netflix film adaptation of Luckiest Girl Alive based on the Jessica Knoll novel of the same name.

[162] Shawn Levy, director of Date Night, stated that part of what made him decide to cast Kunis with James Franco in the film was the chemistry he felt they had in the Funny or Die video.

The Chrysalis Foundation is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization formed to help economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals to become self-sufficient through employment opportunities.

[186] Her announcement on Conan that she would donate to Planned Parenthood in Vice President Mike Pence's name received praise from supporters of abortion rights; conversely, several anti-abortion advocates criticized her and Beam, Inc. on Twitter, creating the hashtag #BoycottJimBeam.

She had accepted Moore's invitation in July after he posted it as a YouTube video while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

[208] In 2016, Kunis, while pregnant with her second child, undertook the surprise renovation of her parents' condominium, over a six-week period, which was documented for My HouzzTV.

[211] In 2022, Kunis and Kutcher started a GoFundMe page to help two online companies (Airbnb and Flexport) to aid refugees fleeing the violence in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

[222] According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Kunis's most critically successful films are Gia (1998), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Extract (2009), Date Night (2010), Black Swan (2010), Friends with Benefits (2011), Ted (2012), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and Bad Moms (2016).