The Ukranian roots of Mila Kunis have gifted her with a foxy figure, while her most noticeable features are her multicolored eyes -- green for the left and blue for the right. Strangely enough, her eyes used to be her weak spot, as she suffered from glaucoma as a child, but steroid injections helped her eyes recover, just enough to be featured by Stuff and Maxim in their respective Sexiest Women and Hot 100 issues. The lucky guy who gets to gaze into those eyes is Macaulay Culkin, who has been her off-screen companion for the last seven years. They take pride in their privacy and shared interest in television and video games, while he apparently keeps her quite happy by cooking dinner for her every night.
Mila Kunis likes to point out that she has very little in common with the characters that she plays. So just for the record, she isn't a self-absorbed cheerleader, a psychotic student, skilled assassin, or a hateful ballerina. In truth, what she's trying to say is that she's a massive geek. World of Warcraft is one of her passions, but don't expect a voice chat date with her if you're playing on the network, because she keeps her screen name and microphone to herself. She's also a faithful Trekkie, who holds the distinguished honor of having tossed William Shatner out a window in American Psycho 2: All-American Girl.
A not-so-white lie about her age got transplanted Ukranian Mila Kunis the role of Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show and earned her two Young Star Awards and one Young Hollywood Award along the way. Since then, she's never looked back, having moved on to successful ventures, like lending her voice to the ever-popular Family Guy, helping Jason Segel with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, or making assassins sexy in Max Payne.
Thanks mostly to her two bankable television roles, Mila Kunis has earned the rare Hollywood luxury of being financially stable enough to be picky about her future projects. While Corey Haim and Lindsay Lohan are off exchanging straight-to-DVD scripts on a lonely Santa Monica street corner, Mila Kunis is on the lookout to play characters who offer new toys (guns) and activities (shoplifting or beating up Mark Wahlberg) that she wouldn't otherwise get to try out every day. She's found it through her latest role in Extract and with her stacked 2010 dance card that includes the dark dance thriller, Black Swan, the offbeat dating comedy, Date Night, and the action drama, The Book of Eli.
Mila Kunis followed the path of the American dream, even though she wasn't initially an American citizen. In 1991, she and her family emigrated to the U.S. from the Ukraine to seek out a higher quality of life and a meaningful education. For Mila Kunis, the first step in her education was learning English. She did this at Hubert How Bancroft Middle School, while also becoming well-versed in American pop culture through television shows like the game show institution, The Price is Right.
In 1992, Mila Kunis joined the Beverly Hills Studios because her father had heard that it was a good organization for children to socialize. This decision opened the door to a professional acting career when a talent manager watched the actress in action and promptly signed her up. From there, Mila Kunis started as a commercial actress and model for companies like Barbie, Payless Shoes and Guess, before getting her first television acting role in a 1994 episode of Days of Our Lives. Additional television guest roles would follow, opposite viral icons David Hasselhoff on Baywatch and Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger.
In 1998, Mina Kulis's after school acting hobby became a near-full-time career. First, she played the child version of world's first supermodel, Gia Carangi, in Gia, the HBO telefilm that earned Angelina Jolie a Golden Globe Award. She also auditioned for the role of self-absorbed cheerleader Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show. When the producers informed her that they were seeking an 18 year old and asked her age, she responded that she would be turning 18 "on her birthday," but failed to mention that this birthday was five years away. In spite of her lie, Mila Kunis kept her role on the show as Ashton Kutcher's gal pal, and was an early victim of his pre-Punk'd gags when he changed her car color from black to pink and added an "I Love Ashton" love note for added insult.
Now a beloved member of the FOX prime-time family, Mila Kunis soon landed additional duties from the network. In 2000, she replaced Lacey Chabert as the voice of the dysfunctional human punching bag Meg Griffin on Family Guy, and stayed with the series through its initial cancellation and subsequent resurrection. She also hit the big screen opposite Kirsten Dunst in the Shakespeare-influenced romantic comedy, Get Over It, and starred as the titular psycho in the Christian Bale-less sequel, American Psycho 2: All-American Girl.
Continuing her trend of having good things happen during years that end in "8," Mila Kunis starred in two high profile films in 2008. First, she played a hotel employee who gets the attention of the recently single Jason Segel. Though she didn't have to break up with him while he was naked (Kristen Bell got that gig), she did get to have an amusingly awkward dinner scene with Segal, Bell and Russell Brand that culminated in a hotel room contest with Bell to see who could be louder during sex. Mila Kunis closed the year opposite Mark Wahlberg in Max Payne, where she learned to put together guns while blindfolded and got to beat up the leading man in the usual Russian assassin wardrobe of short shorts and leather.
In 2009, Mila Kunis joined Jason Bateman for the Mike Judge-directed comedy, Extract, in which she played a deceitful temp playing mind games with Bateman's extract factory worker. She also followed Meg Griffin over to The Cleveland Show, a new spin-off of Family Guy. Mila Kunis is currently at work on three films for 2010, including the apocalyptic thriller The Book of Eli with Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington, the comedy Date Night which re-teams her with Mark Wahlberg, and the dark Darren Aronofsky-directed thriller, Black Swan, in which she plays a dancer in a nasty battle with her competitor (Natalie Portman).
It goes without saying that Milla Jovovich possesses an incredible amount of sex appeal, as befits her status as a former supermodel. In addition to her gig as a professional clothes horse, Milla established herself as a sexual being early on thanks to roles in risque projects like 1998’s Two Moon Junction and 1991’s Return to the Blue Lagoon. Even when she embarked on her music career in 1994, Milla Jovovich relied on her sexuality to grab the attention of the masses -- as evidenced by the sultry video for the single “Gentleman Who Fell.â€
Milla Jovovich belongs to an elite group of former models who also managed to carve out a successful career within the entertainment industry alongside such notable names as Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz. She got her start generally playing beautiful, unattainable characters, yet there did reach a point at which Milla Jovovich was allowed to step into the shoes of more relatable figures. Her work as Leeloo in The Fifth Element (1997) certainly opened a lot of doors for her, like her unforgettable role in the ever-popular Resident Evil trilogy.
Milica Natasa Jovovic was born on December 17, 1975, in Kiev, Ukraine. Though she spent the first five years of her life in the Soviet Union, Milla Jovovich and her family relocated to the United States and eventually settled down in Los Angeles. Her parents split up a short time later, and Milla’s mother -- a performer in her native Kiev -- briefly attempted to make a living as an actress before eventually taking on house-cleaning jobs. Though Milla Jovovich picked up English within three months of moving to America, she found that many of her peers picked on her because of her accent and her communist background.
Milla Jovovich’s striking looks were in place virtually since birth, and by the time she was 9 years old, she had become a fixture within the modeling world’s auditioning circuit. After being signed by the Prima Modeling Agency, Milla Jovovich began popping up in a variety of print ads and other campaigns -- though it wasn’t until famed photographer Richard Avedon discovered Milla that big things started to happen for her. She was immediately placed alongside two other models in a campaign for Revlon makeup, and Milla Jovovich quickly found herself being asked to pose for such prestigious names as Donna Karan and Versace
Through her increasingly high-profile modeling career, Milla Jovovich showed an interest in acting and even attended California’s Professional Actors school to hone her craft. In 1988, Milla made her professional debut with a small role in the erotic drama Two Moon Junction, which she quickly followed up with one-episode appearances in sitcoms like Married with Children and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. Milla Jovovich’s big break came in 1991 when she was cast in a leading role in Return to the Blue Lagoon, which, although not exactly a box-office bonanza, certainly propelled the struggling actress to the forefront of most avid moviegoers’ minds.
Although Milla Jovovich acted sporadically over the next few years -- notably popping up in movies like the 1992 Charlie Chaplin biopic Chaplin and Richard Linklater’s 1993 cult comedy Dazed and Confused -- she devoted most of her energies to the recording of her debut album. Released in April 1994, The Divine Comedy garnered a number of unexpectedly positive reviews, yet the disc eventually proved to be something of a commercial failure. Milla Jovovich subsequently threw herself into her acting full-time, and in 1997, she was launched into worldwide superstardom following her role as Leeloo in the science-fiction blockbuster The Fifth Element.
In 2001, Milla Jovovich exercised her comedic acting chops with a role in Zoolander. And the following year, she starred as Alice in the film that established her career, Resident Evil. She reprised her role as Alice in 2004's Resident Evil: Apocalypse and 2007's Resident Evil: Extinction.
Milla Jovovich’s stint as Alice in the hugely popular Resident Evil series only confirmed her A-list status, and helped her achieve the No. 90 ranking on AskMen.com's list of Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008.
Although Milla Jovovich took some time off in 2008 after giving birth to her daughter, she signed on to star in the 2009 film Azazel.
“From now on, I approach the cinema as a business woman. I intend to be in more action movies because, apart from Angelina Jolie, no other actress stands out in this genre.â€
- Milla Jovovich
What do you get when you combine a Norwegian man, a Malaysian woman, a little bit of candlelight, and a whole lot of passion? The answer, of course, is Natassia Malthe.
The actresses’ mixed-race background gives her an alluring aura that is evident in her perfectly pouty lips and her delicate curves. While few women look better in a black lace teddy, it takes more than just lingerie to make Natassia feel sexy. “Working on my knowledge and education and learning how to become a more talented and wise person make me feel more sexy,†she says.
Natassia has been providing cinematic eye candy since 1998 when she made her big-screen debut in Disturbing Behavior. She has since appeared (albeit far too briefly) in over a dozen films including 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), Stark Raving Mad (2002), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), A Guy Thing (2003), and Elektra (2005). A versatile talent, Natassia has also made the small screen sizzle with roles in hit programs like Dark Angel, Andromeda, The Chris Isaak Show, and Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber.
As a model, Natassia has appeared in memorable ads for Axe deodorant and Johnson & Johnson’s pH 5.5 body wash, as well as sexy pictorials for magazines such as Maxim, Stuff, Candy, and Mega.
Natassia Malthe was born January 19, 1974, in Norway. Raised by her single mother, she and her sister Kristin passed their summers lounging around the country’s beaches as they worked on their tans. Apart from the company of her immediate family, however, Natassia admits she was something of a loner. “I didn’t have any friends, and I never went to the class parties,†she says. “It gets boring to me when people talk about clothing brands or what boat they’re going to buy next summer.â€
Freed from the monotony of petty conversation, Natassia invested her energy in the arts instead, quickly becoming an accomplished singer and dancer. Following high school, she studied musical theater in London before moving to Canada where she continued her studies at the prestigious Goh Ballet Academy and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
It was in the Great White North that Natassia also kick-started her professional acting career, thanks to a small role in the sci-fi series Viper in 1996. Additional roles followed over the next two years in the television series Millennium and First Wave, and the film Disturbing Behavior (1998), a Katie Holmes thriller that not even Tom Cruise bothered to see.
In order to supplement her income, Natassia also began modeling, appearing in ads for Axe deodorant and Johnson & Johnson’s pH 5.5 body wash, as well as sexy pictorials for men’s magazines such as Maxim and Stuff. Although subsequent photo shoots gave her additional spending money, they also impacted negatively upon her desire to become a serious actress. "A lot of people couldn't get past the model thing," she laments.
A victim of her own good looks, Natassia spent the next several years of her career playing roles like “Redhead at Party,†“Girl in Bed,†“French Maid,†and “Dirty Dancer.†Although her screen time was limited, she did at least have the good fortune of appearing in notable productions such as 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), Stark Raving Mad (2002), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and A Guy Thing (2003).
After several years of blink-and-you’ll-miss-her film appearances, Natassia finally received her major breakthrough in 2005 when she was cast in the Daredevil spin-off, Elektra. Playing villainess Typhoid Mary, she delivered one of the sexiest kisses in cinematic history when she locked lips with the film’s star, Jennifer Garner. Although the scene had moviegoers talking long after the credits rolled, it was just another day at the office for Natassia. “When I’m in professional mode, I do the best job that I can,†she explains. “If that takes climbing up that 10-storey ladder or kissing Jennifer, I live the part.â€
In addition to netting her thousands of new (and mostly male) fans, Natassia’s impressive performance in Elektra also lead to a plethora of new opportunities. In 2005 alone she starred in the films Bound by Lies, Awake and La belle dame sans merci, while also finding time to appear in television programs, such as Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber and Bloodsuckers.
In 2006, she was cast in the action-adventure film DOA: Dead or Alive, the terrifying horror flick Skinwalkers and the crime thriller Chaos, starring Ryan Phillippe and Wesley Snipes.
What else do you need to know?
Michelle Branch will leave the job of being a sex kitten to Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Christina Aguilera. She prefers to exude her femininity through her music a la Sarah McLachlan. That won't make her the subject of salivating teenagers' dreams, but it will maintain the focus on the music itself, not her latest belly piercing or hair color.
As one of our voting panelists so eloquently put it; "There's also nothing sexier than a girl playing acoustic guitar." Well said.
Her first single "Everywhere" was played ad nauseam on the radio. That helped it reached the No.5 spot on pop charts in the US and the No.1 spot on our annoying list next to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like A Bird".
Her follow-up single "All You Wanted" equally skyrocketed up the charts, and even topped MTV's music video countdown Total Request Live.
A sign of Michelle's growing popularity is her talk-show circuit appearances with Conan O'Brien, Regis & Kelly, Jay Leno, and Rosie O'Donnell.
The Spirit Room has even gone platinum, the first barometer of mass popularity. Japan and Singapore have also caught onto her sound and catapulted her foreign record sales.
Could a headlining tour be very far? Not at the pace she is going.
Michelle Branch was born July 2, 1983, in Flagstaff, Arizona, before moving to Sedona. Although Michelle didn't hail from a musical family -- her father is a former plumbing contractor and her mother a restaurant manager -- she claims that music has always been in her blood. The Beatles and other such classic tunes always resonated in the house, which may have contributed to her musical style today.
Michelle's musical aspiration stems from an early age, but she wanted to be in musicals -- Cats specifically -- and she was always inspired by movies such as The Sound of Music and Oklahoma. Her change of heart came about after a concert-going experience, which she describes as life changing. She attended a New Kids on the Block concert after having won tickets to the show, and seeing how their music touched the thousands of fans in the audience inspired her to be a musician rather than a Broadway star.
It was always obvious that Michelle had the voice, even at the early age of 3, but she honed her craft with the help of a vocal teacher named Gina Bettum, who became her mentor and taught her to sing with soul. Before then, she was enrolled in music lessons at the age of 8 and took her singing skills to the church choir, every Friday night.
The next step in Michelle's ascent to musical stardom was when she received her first guitar at age 14. She would lock herself in her room for days, and would come out with songs she had written herself. Too young to perform at bars, Michelle became a staple at local fairs, festivals and outdoor concerts. With her talented poetry and songwriting, voice sessions and guitar lessons, Michelle was becoming known as the young, local musical prodigy.
It was all uphill for Michelle in early 1999, when a friend of the family was giving a man in the music business a timeshare tour at a nearby resort and urged Michelle to come by. The aspiring songstress, accompanied by her sister and Jenifer Hagio (her best friend and fellow musician), hopped onto a golf cart and headed to the resort. Demo in hand, Michelle met with Jeff Rabhan.
Michelle had lost hope when Jeff Rabhan took a long time to call her back, but her despair turned to delight when he finally did make that fateful phone call. With Jeff as her manager, Michelle recorded a full-length indie album to be sold at shows and used as a demo -- the album is what would later become known as Broken Bracelet. With the help of the polished demo, Michelle landed a gig as an opening act on Hanson's "This Time Around" tour. Luckily for her, a Maverick representative was at the show and was impressed with Michelle's talent. Michelle was eventually signed to the record label Madonna founded.
She went into the recording studio in January 2001 (which served as the inspiration of the title of her debut album), and five weeks later, The Spirit Room was complete. The first single off the album went to the top of the music charts, and along with promotional tours and appearances on talk shows, helped propel The Spirit Room to platinum status in the US and Japan.
The Spirit Room's second single, "All You Wanted," is Michelle's favorite song on the album, and is garnering the same acclaim as its predecessor. The singer wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, and always plans to include songwriting in her musical career. Although she is being referred to as the happier-Alanis Morissette (ironically Maverick is Alanis' record label as well) the younger Sheryl Crow, and the antithesis of Britney, Michelle branches out to another level thanks to her non-angry lyrics and poetic music.
Citing Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, and Cat Stevens among her musical inspirations, Michelle plans to spend the rest of the year on the road, something she has been doing since the release of her album. While "Everywhere" is a love song, it really illustrates where Michelle has been since 2001.
"I always tell people that I'll sound exactly like Alanis Morissette after I've had more boyfriends. I'll be just as anguished-sounding." -Michelle Branch
