Lynn Hirschberg: In Black Swan, you play the
wild-child devil girl. You’re both seductive and scary. Had you
danced before you took the part?
Mila Kunis: I had never
danced in my life. I trained for four months, seven days a week, five
hours a day. I had one day off on my birthday. I lost 20 pounds. I tore
a ligament. I dislocated my shoulder. I have two scars on my back. And
it was worth every minute.
But I will never dance again. I’m a strong believer in mind over matter, but I didn’t fully understand what that meant until this production. I was like, Well—I wear heels; I can do this. I was wrong: Christian Louboutins are uncomfortable, but I screamed the first time I put on a pointe shoe.
You have previously been known for comedy. Do you think
it’s difficult for women to be considered both beautiful and funny
in Hollywood?
I was never raised to think that I was
pretty. It’s not that I was raised to think I was unattractive,
but it was just never something that was pointed out to me by my family.
They would point out personality traits—“Our daughter is
really quirky”—versus what I look like, because inevitably,
looks go, so it makes no difference.
Your family is Ukrainian. How old were you when you moved to
America?
I was seven and a half when we moved to the
States. We came straight to Los Angeles.
What was the first thing you remember seeing of
America?
A black man. It was at the American embassy [in
Moscow], and all I had known were Caucasian people with blond hair,
brunette hair, and sometimes red hair. You’re never really taught
about anything else. I think I was frightened. And the beautiful thing
was, the man spoke Russian. He explained to me that there are people in
this world who are of different color. Being seven and a half, I asked
him, “Does that mean there are purple people in this world?”
Shortly after arriving in L.A., you began acting. Did you
always long to be an actress?
No. I started acting when I
was nine as a hobby because it was fun, and it allowed me to get out of
school. The first thing I did was a Barbie commercial, and I got to keep
the Barbie. That’s all a kid wants.
From nine to 14, I did close to 15 commercials, and I guest starred on just about every television show. I was on Baywatch twice. The second time, I played a blind girl who’s lost in the forest next to the beach and needs to be saved. It was absurd: There’s a fire, I get saved, and then I go boogie-boarding. I remember thinking, Well, if I’m blind, how am I boogie-boarding? No one ever gave me an answer.
