Original-Cin Q&A: Mila Kunis on Trauma in Luckiest Girl Alive, and How Meg May Sink Family Guy
By Bonnie Laufer
Known mainly for her comedic roles (Jackie on That '70s Show, the voice of Meg Griffin on the long running animated series, Family Guy) Mila Kunis has been having fun of late showing a darker side.
Her recent performance as a recovering drug addict opposite Glenn Close in Four Good Days was riveting. And now we get to see her play another traumatized character in her new film, Luckiest Girl Alive.
Based on the best-selling novel by Jessica Knoll , Kunis plays Ani, a writer whose perfectly crafted New York City life starts to unravel when a true-crime documentary forces her to confront her harrowing high school history and question the choices she made as a teenager.
The film starts streaming on Netflix on October 7th.
Mila Kunis at war with herself in Luckiest Girl Alive.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Mila Kunis about taking on this intense role (she also serves as Executive Producer) and also tells us to beware about an absolutely shocking upcoming episode of Family Guy.
CLICK HERE to watch Bonnie’s interview with co-star Chiara Aurelia (who plays the younger version of Ani in the film)
CLICK HERE to watch Bonnie’s Interview with writer Jessica Knoll and director Mike Barker
ORIGINAL-CIN: Mila, this looked like quite an intense role. I read the book when it came out and I have to say that my heart was always breaking for Ani. What connected you, not just to this story but to her? Thank God you're nothing like her in real life.
MILA KUNIS: I think that there are many things about her that makes her insanely relatable, and I truly believe she is relatable to anybody regardless of sex or gender.
I think the idea of who we put forward, who we think we want people to see us as, who we think is the better version of ourselves, versus who it is that we are deep down inside always gives us a constant battle within ourselves.
There's no human on this planet who doesn't say that there are two versions of themselves. There's something inside of your brain that you're constantly battling with whether you listen to it or not. There is an internal dialogue. There is a version of yourself out there that you either suppress or allow to come out Whatever it is, it’s always there.
O-C: In this film we get to see both sides, which must have been fun.
KUNIS: Oh absolutely. In this particular script, what I thought was most fun is the fact that not only do you get to see it, you get to hear it.
So you see her act upon that inner dialogue, but you also get to hear the inner dialogue and you get to understand the struggle, because she doesn't always listen to it. It is very much like a conversation that she's having within herself as a whole person that is dying to get out that she will not allow. That was what I felt was very relatable. She is who she is because of the major traumas she's endured in her life.
O-C: - Because you are playing a character who is dealing with real traumatic events that, sadly, people watching or who have read the book can relate to, did you have to do any extensive research?
KUNIS: I didn’t really need to do a lot of extensive research because I think the why, in all of us, is always different. I think how we got to where we are will be our own individual stories, but there's always a why, so that's the easiest relatability to me.
So with Ani, her trauma is not necessarily who she is. It doesn't define who she is, and it should never define who she is. But it will mold who she becomes and to me that's a very specific difference.
I hope people realize that there's things that will happen to all of us that shape who we are. We all have something that has happened to us, that molded us and has gotten us to where we are today.
I actually learned from the film that I did called “Four Good Days” with Glenn Close where I played a drug addict. Playing that role, I learned that who you are and what you do doesn’t define you. It shouldn't define you, but it can mold you and you can have it can have long lasting effects and there's repercussions to all of it.
O-C: Talk about trauma, you were amazing in that role.
KUNIS: Thank you. I think that that's kind of where it all kind of started, this idea of understanding trauma. Knock on wood I personally don't have anything close to that to relate to. But it helped me to understand what trauma is.
I think that the other thing that this movie does, is (convey) how quickly we as society put labels on people because those labels make sense to us. It's something we can deal with.
So the idea of survivor versus victim, that was something that I was really curious about understanding and that was one of the things that I went down the rabbit hole for. But as far as tapping into my own self for the incident, that is an act. I didn't need to tap into that to be able to feel or act.
O-C: Before we wrap, I can't not mention Family Guy. I cannot believe that you have been doing that for 23 years. Poor Meg Griffin, will she ever catch a break?
MILA KUNIS: (Laughs) Oh.My.God. I just have to tell you, what you are in for with this show. I'm always confused as to what season you're about to see versus what we started recording.
I just started recording my new season. So you’ll be able to see it in a year and a half. I just recorded an episode and I swear to you if we don't get canceled, if this episode even gets on the air, I will be shocked.
Remember this conversation. There's an episode that's going to air in a year and a half which is ALL Meg. Meg has a moment that is so offensive to so many people, that I was even shocked when I first read it out loud! I will NOT be surprised if I have to re-record that episode. (Laughs)
And just in case you thought that Family Guy could no longer find people left to offend, don’t you worry. They found more people to offend and boy are they going after them.
O-C: We can ALWAYS count on Seth MacFarlane!
KUNIS: Oh- that is for sure!! There's another episode that will be airing this season, Oh, God, what can I tell you? Meg gets married to somebody! I feel it, we're going to be canceled in some countries for sure!
O-C: My dream come true is to one day sit at a table read for that show.
MILA KUNIS: I'm going to make this dream come true because we have them all the time. Next time you are in Los Angeles we are connecting! Or next time it's on Zoom. Would that suffice?
O-C: Are you kidding? I would pay money for that!
KUNIS: Ok , my promise to you. We will make that happen!