Mila Kunis embraces Ukrainian heritage after Russian invasion

Posted On: March 12, 2022

Mila Kunis opened up about her newfound love for her Ukrainian heritage in a conversation with Maria Shriver.

Speaking to Shriver as part of the “Noise Conversation” interview series, the full interview to be published Sunday, Kunis said he “always felt like an American” even though he was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and immigrated to the United States. . . United with his family around the age of 8 years.

Reflecting on the perception that his friends had of his childhood, Kunis said“People are like, ‘Oh, you’re so Eastern European.’ I was like, ‘I’m so LA, what do you mean?’ Like, all my life I was like, ‘I’m LA all the way.’ ”

Kunis says that his Ukrainian roots were so “unimportant to me” when he was younger that he told people he was Russian.

“I always say ‘I’m from Russia’ for many reasons. One of them is when I come to the United States and tell people I’m from Ukraine, the first question I get is, ‘Where is Ukraine? ?” Kunis said. “And then he had to explain Ukraine and where it was on the map, and I was like, ‘Ugh, this is tiring.'” But if I’m like, ‘I’m from Russia,’ people are like, ‘Oh, we know this country.’ … So I was like, ‘Great, I’m just going to tell people I’m from Russia.’ ”

However, Kunis told Shriver that Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine was a shocking revelation for him.

“I can’t express or explain what happened to me, but I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart has just been ripped out,'” Kunis said of the invasion. “It was the strangest feeling.”

Kunis says he now has a new sense of pride in his Ukrainian heritage, which he wants to pass on to his own children: daughter Wyatt, 7, and son Dimitri, 5.

“It doesn’t take away from who I am as a person, it just adds a completely different layer,” Kunis said. “I turned to my kids and told them: ‘You’re half Ukrainian, half American.’ … And my kids are like, ‘Yeah, Mom, I get it.’ And I said: ‘No, you are Ukrainian and American.’ I’m like, ‘You’re half Iowa, half Ukrainian,’ and they’re like, ‘Okay, I get it.’ ”

And with the help of her husband Ashton Kutcher, Kunis dedicates her philanthropic efforts to helping the Ukrainian people. The couple launched a GoFundMe fundraiser on March 3 with the aim of raising $30 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

Kunis and Kutcher matched $3 million for the fundraiser, which will benefit operator Flexport and vacation rental company Airbnb, according to the couple. The two organizations will facilitate relief efforts by “transporting humanitarian aid to known NGOs on the ground” and “providing free short-term accommodation for up to 100,000 refugees who fled Ukraine.”