Mila Kunis has sprung onto our screens in the last couple of years, and it seems like she's always been there.
Previously famous for her long relationship with child-star Macaulay Culkin, the actress has stepped into her own skin with roles in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Black Swan, Friends With Benefits and, coming up, Ted.
Mila Kunis taps into some '60s inspiration for her Elle photoshoot
Meanwhile, the former-child star features across eight pages for Elle’s August issue shot by Doug Inglish.
In an exclusive interview with ELLE, Mila, who has repeatedly denied that she is romantically attached to Ashton Kutcher - "we've known each other for 15 years, there is no love story" - addresses her romantic life by explaining how a woman in her position would find it difficult to date anyone at all. The Oscar nominee also expresses distaste at how difficult it is for women to be viewed as funny, and how her hard-working attitude keeps her focused...
Here are some titbits...
On the hardships of dating as a celebrity:
“Is a guy going to come up to me and ask if he can take me out on a date? Where can I go and have this date? I can’t go anywhere! My house, his house...So what do you do? I’m trying to be like a normal girl and a single girl...but the concept of being single and in my position is just not workable. I couldn’t even go on a date if I wanted to!”
Mila Kunis laments her love life status - famous and dateless
On her past keeping her grounded:
“I may have a lot now, but I’m OK if it all goes. I had everything when I was poor. We always had food on the table. Somehow, my parents made it happen. I felt loved and cared for. I didn’t have material things, but it didn’t matter. I’m grateful now that I don’t have to wake up every morning and worry about how I’m going to pay my bills. But I’m not going to sell my soul for it. I really do know it’s not the be-all and end-all”
On her eight year relationship with ex-boyfriend Macaulay Culkin:
“Being settled so young really helped. You know, I wouldn’t take back anything in my life, not one thing. I think it all shaped me to be who I am today. There are things that people know about, and there are things that the press doesn’t know about, and everything that did occur 100 per cent shaped who I am. My ex-boyfriend, my family, my friends, everybody.”
On her family and friends keeping her true to her own spirit:
If it wasn’t for the solid foundation of my friends and my family, I don’t know who I would be. My friends have been my friends since I was a kid and I think that makes a huge difference to how I behave. They’re not in the industry- Julie is a teacher and Kat is a dentist. They prevent me from becoming a total asshole.”
Mila graces the cover of Elle's August edition
On wanting more women to play funny characters:
“You have to poke fun at yourself in real life, so why not do it on screen while you’re at it? I’ll always be the first to laugh at myself. I know there is a small, weird group of people who don’t like women being crude, but they really do need to get over that. Even after a film like Bridesmaids, which I loved, a lot of men still don’t see women as funny. Now that’s f***ed up.”
On proving her critics wrong:
“I have everything working against me at this point. I am a woman, I’m a child actress and I was on a television show for eight years. But I have worked really hard to prove them all wrong. It’s the stubborn side of me. I still don’t have a f***ing clue what I’m doing. I’m not confident in my talent, whatever that might be, and I hope I never am. Working this hard is the thing that keeps me sane.”
See Mila Kunis’s full photo shoot and interview in the August issue of ELLE on sale Wednesday 4th July 2012