The actor and activist shared her thoughts during a recent interview with American journalist Maria Shriver
Ukrainian born actor and activist Mila Kunis has revealed why she use to tell people that she was born in Russia during a recent interview with American journalist Maria Shriver.
Kunis, 38, was born in Chernivtsi and forced to flee with her family to America from Soviet Ukraine in 1991 when she was just seven-years-old. In the years since, she has revealed that she would often tell people that she was originally from Russia – but in light of ongoing recent events, this isn’t something she would do today.
Speaking to Shriver on her YouTube show Conversations Above The Noise, Kunis explained that because she felt so American growing up, her Ukrainian heritage felt “irrelevant” – despite having friends and family still living in the country and regularly visiting with her husband, actor Aston Kutcher.
“People were like, ‘Oh, you’re so Eastern European.’ I was like, ‘I’m so LA! What do you mean?’ Like, my whole life I was like, ‘I am LA through and through,” she told Shriver.
Later in the same interview, Kunis explained that when people asked her where she was from, she often told them Russia for “a multitude of reasons.”
She added: “One of them being when I came to the States and I would tell people I’m from Ukraine, the first question I’d get was, ‘Where is Ukraine?’ And then I’d have to explain Ukraine and where it is on the map, and I was like, ‘Ugh, that’s exhausting.’
“I was like, great, I’ll just tell people from Russia,” she said, explaining how she simplified the situation.
However when Russia invaded Ukraine just a few weeks ago, everything changed.
“This happens and I can’t express or explain what came over me, but all of a sudden I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart just got ripped out.’ It was the weirdest feeling.”
When asked if she would ever tell people she was born in Russia again, the star didn’t hesitate in providing a response: “Hell no, I’m from Ukraine!” she told Shriver.
In recent days, Kunis and Kutcher had launched a fundraising appeal to help send financial support to Ukraine, stating that they would match any donations up to the value of $3m (£2.5m).
In just one week, the couple managed to raise upwards of £13m or approximately $20m.
Speaking in a video message launched alongside their appeal, the duo explained that there was “no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity”.
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