Would you be surprised to find out that Mila Kunis is waiting to be fired any day now?
The twenty-eight year old Black Swan beauty recently talked to Stylist about her career in one interesting and enlightening Q&A, where she discussed her role in Friends With Benefits opposite Justin Timberlake, as well as where she’s headed next.
What was it about the romantic comedy that we’ve all seen so many times before that sealed the deal for Kunis? “When I got the script it was very dated but I knew it made for a funny movie so I took a meeting with Will Gluck [the director]. Will, Justin, and myself went out to dinner and that’s when we realized we wanted the same thing for the movie. We were able to workshop it, re-write the script and tailor the characters to what we feel our generation is like now. So that’s really what attracted me most to it – to be part of a process in making a character that I was proud of.”
Kunis, who says her and J.T. didn’t exactly “hate each other,” managed to create some explosive sparks on screen in Friends with Benefits thanks to some serious one on one time together and a workshop. “We did workshop on the script for two months before production and created these characters that were so dear and special to us because they were so much a part of us.” The former That 70’s Show actress also became close to her co-stars. “A lot of the time you go to work, then you have lunch by yourself, then you go back to work. There are those few movies where you actually sit down with your co-star and your director and have lunch together. Three months in, we still enjoy having dinner together and we still go out to dinner in LA now.”
While her relationships on set was a plus, along with the atmosphere, there was still the challenge of being funny or serious from one minute to the next. “I am nervous every day I go to work that I’m going to get fired. It’s only once we pass the halfway point through production that I’m like, “Oh well, they aren’t going to fire me now, it’s too late.” Otherwise, whether you have to be funny or mean or angry, whatever the character is… it is incredibly nerve-wracking to go to work because acting is based on opinion.”
One things for sure Kunis is only moving up from here, after years in supporting roles, the actress has proved she’s leading lady material. “The experience has been incredible but not in the sense of, ‘this is what I’ve always wanted’, because this isn’t what I’ve always wanted. It was never my priority to be this type of actress. It was just to keep working. I love what I do and so when a movie ends I just want to get hired again – there is no sense of security so this means nothing, unless I have another job.”
“I’ve always just looked at projects which I can learn from. I really do like working with people that are better than me because the only way you can become better at what you do is by observing other people. So if I can surround myself with people that are smarter, better, I’m set.”
She’ll next appear in Oz: The Great and Powerful as Theodora alongside actors James Franco and Rachel Weisz. The movie is due out in 2013.
