FILM INTERVIEW: MILA KUNIS

Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Leaping into Sexy Gun-Toting Action with 'Max Payne'

Mila Kunis, star of Fox Television's 'That '70's Show' breaks dramatically from type in the hard-bioled noir world of 'Max Payne'. Kunis plays an assassin who teams up with Mark Wahlberg's Max Payne in Twentieth Century Fox's big-screen adaption of the 7 million copy selling video game series originally developed by Finnish software company Remeedy Entertainment. Buzzine's Staci Layne Wilson sat down with Mila in Hollywood, CA to talk about shooting guns, shooting guns in video games and being silly on "Family Guy'...

 

Staci Layne Wilson: How was it to do Max Payne?

 

Mila Kunis: Great! It was very fun.

 

SLW: Did you do it right after Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

 

MK: We shot it right during the press for Sarah Marshall. When would that be? April? May, I guess? So when I flew to Hawaii, we were in the middle of this.

 

SLW: How was the change? Usually you’re on That ‘70s Show and in comedies. How was it to suddenly be the tough girl and the sexy girl with the whip who gets to fight Mark Wahlberg?

 

MK: Great. Life could be so much worse. Beating up Mark was really exciting. There was really not much difference to it, other than learning how to shoot a gun.

 

SLW: How does it feel to shoot a gun?

 

MK: Empowering; scary the first time -– incredibly scary.

 

SLW: Why?

 

MK: I had never held a gun before. I’d never had a show with a gun. I don’t go and shoot people or animals, so it was scary. My hand was shaking, and then by the end of it, I was like, “This is amazing!”

 

SLW: Do you think you’ll keep on doing it?

 

MK: Oh yeah. Toward the end, when I was shooting live fire outside, I became very good with my little gun, like my Colt. The automatic is a little a heavier. It’s a little more cumbersome.

 

SLW: …But it looks cooler.

 

MK: It looks way cooler, right? But the little one — you can do serious damage.

 

SLW: Would you ever want one now? You can fall in love with firearms.

 

MK: No! Oh my God. No, I don’t want to get a gun. You know what it taught me? I fell in love with firearms, but I also fell in love with the idea that you need to respect it, and I don’t think everyone should own one. I loved it so much that I learned what it can do. I don’t hunt. It’s not something that I’m particularly drawn to, but what I did learn was how easy it is to pull the trigger. Truly, it’s incredibly easy to pull that little trigger, and you see the damage that it does. It’s irreversible damage.

 

SLW: But girls with guns are so sexy, right?

 

MK: Right? I’m with you, and it’s incredibly great to do it in a really safe, confined atmosphere.

 

SLW: What’s the secret? Why are girls with guns so sexy?

 

MK: It’s empowerment. It’s a female who’s strong and can probably kick your ass, regardless of your stature. It makes me feel strong. It makes me feel like I’m in charge.

 

SLW: I feel like I want to try one now.

 

MK: I would say absolutely. Go to a range and try it. The first time you do it, you’ll be like, “This is really strange.” Give it 30 minutes. Thirty minutes and you’ll be like, “This is way too fun,” because you feel the power. What you’ll understand is no matter what size you are, if you’re the one holding the gun and the person opposite you isn’t, you win. That’s the bottom line. It’s an incredibly empowering weapon.

 

SLW: So you are all over the magazines this month.

 

MK: I am?

 

SLW: Yeah, you are in Vanity Fair… I see so many magazines with you on the cover. What do you think about it?

 

MK: Nothing.

 

SLW: But when you look at yourself on the cover of a magazine, there must be something going through your mind. “I’ve reached a certain point…” or maybe, “Wow! I look hot in that picture.”

 

MK: Doing Vanity Fair was great because at Vanity Fair, I got to work with a photographer that I thought was phenomenal. It was a really fun shoot and it was very different. I like the experience of them much more than I like the outcome, most times. I am incredibly judgmental of myself, so when it comes to actually looking at the picture, I can find you a thousand faults. That being said, of course it’s great being on the cover of a magazine. It’s exciting, it’s different, but it means nothing.

 

SLW: What do you mean “it means nothing?”

 

MK: It’s so minuscule in importance. It’s a great step in whatever.

 

SLW: It’s an important step in your career, no?

 

MK: I don’t know if it is. I mean, some people will tell you it is and some people will tell you it doesn’t matter. Really, I don’t know. I think it’s great to do, and I think I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to do it and to work with so many great photographers and hair and make-up people and stylists and wear these beautiful gowns, but in a larger picture, it’s so not a big deal.

 

SLW: If you see yourself on a cover, do you think, “Oh, that’s somebody else”?

 

MK: No, it’s very much me, at times, with really great airbrushing and three hours in hair and make-up. It’s totally me, without a doubt. You wear these beautiful gowns and you wear these beautiful dresses, and you’re “play-pretend.” It’s you, but it’s you playing.

 

SLW: What about today? Is that your own pick?

 

MK: It’s mine. I said, “I want that one.” [My stylist] provided the rack of clothes. Who am I wearing? See, this is why I need Holly. I can tell you that the shoes are Jimmy Choo, but I don’t know the dress. Holly will come back and let you know.

 

SLW: What’s important in the scheme of things, as far as your acting career? Where do you see yourself going in the years to come?

 

MK: I want to just be proud of the work that I do more so than the type of work that it is. As long as I can keep learning and work with people that I respect and people that I admire, then I’m happy. That’s really all I can ask for. I can’t really tell you this is the area that I want to do because I don’t know. It changes day to day. A great script will come and it’s a completely different thing than you’d ever expect, Max Payne being one of them. I never thought I would do this type of movie. As long as I get to work with people I admire, I think you win.

 

SLW: Do you still do Family Guy?

 

MK: Yes. Eight years? Ten years? I don’t remember. I hope it never goes away. It is the greatest job ever. It’s not even a job. It’s silly.

 

SLW: How does it work?

 

MK: I go in for three hours out of the month, sometimes more, and I do like four episodes and that’s it — very easy.

 

SLW: What’s your dream?

 

MK: Where do I begin? As far as career-wise, I would love to work with Kate Winslet. I would love to work with Cate Blanchett. I would love to be able to find a script and say, “I want to do this one with this person.” One day it will happen.

 

SLW: Do you still keep in touch with the guys from Forgetting Sarah Marshall? You’re still hanging out with Jason (Segel)?

 

MK: Oh, yeah!

 

SLW: You’re still crazy about the dolls?

 

MK: Puppets. They’re not dolls, they’re puppets. Is he crazy about them? They’re still in his living room. They were there as of two weeks ago, so I’m guessing they’re still there.

 

SLW: Do you have any crazy hobbies?

 

MK: I like video games, but more computer games than video games.

 

SLW: Do you play Max Payne?

 

MK: I played Max Payne about eight years ago. This is not what I’m good at.

 

SLW: What are you good at?

 

MK: The Warcraft is what I’m good at. I’m the video game generation. I’m the generation of Nintendo and of Mario Brothers.

 

SLW: You don’t seem like the girl you played in That ‘70s Show.

 

MK: I’m the furthest thing from the character in That ‘70s Show.

 

SLW: You’re into the guns. You’re a gamer. Are those the sort of roles that you’re going to be looking for in the future, or more like Sarah Marshall?

 

MK: I’m looking for really great roles. I think Sarah Marshall was the closest thing to who I am. I want to play characters where females are strong and they’re not damsels in distress, and they show female empowerment. I’d love to play that. Who’s to say? It all depends on the part and it all depends on the script. Playing Jackie was great, but I’m over it. I don’t need to be a ditz again.

 

SLW: Do you ever go back to Russia, where you come from?

MK: No, not since ’91. I came to the states in ’91 and I’ve never been back.

 

SLW: Women from Russia are beautiful but they are strong as well. Do you have an explanation for that? Their upbringing or tough society? Why are Russian women so strong and beautiful?

 

MK: I don‘t know. Thank you, I guess.

SLW: It’s because you look tough as well.

 

MK: Thank you. I don’t know why. [I was] raised in communist Russia and went from that to a whole other world, and I think it teaches you a lot. Without going into detail, I think anytime you change your environment drastically, you grow as a person. I think it influences you, and yes, I am from a small village, and I’m sure that has a lot to do with it.

 

SLW: Yeah, but toughness has to be in your genes.

 

MK: My dad taught me, ever since I can remember, that women are smarter than men. My mom runs the household. I mean, you meet my parents and my dad is 6’1″, big burly man, and my mom is 5’1″, tiny blonde, blue eyes, and she runs the household. I was raised to be strong and to have opinions, and to not back down, and it probably does have to do with where I am from and what Russia had to provide.

 

SLW: Hollywood is very competitive. Each month there is a new girl in town — a new movie with a new girl, and some girls have a difficult time with their lives because of their success, like Lindsay Lohan. What do you think about the new girl in town losing a sense of her life?

 

MK: I don’t know them, but I will say this. The second you let your career be who you are, you’re going to drown. That is the bottom line. You’re in an industry that’s incredibly fickle that’s based on opinion. It’s not based on any fact. It’s not based on any criteria. It’s not based on any degree. It’s based on opinion. We have, what, eight people in this room? Everybody has a different opinion. You’re going to say someone is great, and you’re going to say they suck. Who’s to say you’re wrong, and who’s to say you’re right? When you let that become your life and you let your career be your life and let that be who you are as a human being, it’s going to fuck with your head. If you can keep the two separate and you are who you are and your career is what you do, you will be okay.

 

Twentieth Century Fox's 'Max Payne' is in theaters now.