Mila Kunis lied about her age to get her breakthrough role

From Black Swan to Friends With Benefits Mila Kunis has taken on some huge roles in her time, but she might never have been the actress we know today if it weren't for a lie she told early in her career.

Before you get carried away thinking that you just need to lie your way to stardom, I should stress that's not necessarily a good idea. Just because it worked for Kunis doesn't mean it will work for everyone, and instead you might end up more like Joey from Friends, trying to 'je de coup plough' your way into convincing the world you can speak French because it says it on your CV.

Kunis, who was born in 1983, has acting credits dating back to 1994, when she appeared in one episode of Days of Our Lives. She went on to have a few other small roles, but she became known to the masses in 1998, when she was cast as Jackie in That '70s Show.

It's quite well known now that Kunis was just 14 when she first appeared in the show, but when it came to casting this particular fact was not something the creators were aware of.

The actress explained what happened in an interview with Vanity Fair, where she addressed rumours that she'd lied about her age.

"I'd like to make it very clear now: I did lie, okay? I did," she admitted.

Kunis quickly stressed, however, that the lie didn't last very long. She explained that she had to sign a contract before getting stuck into the role, and it soon came out that she was actually only 14-years-old while the rest of the cast were older than the teenage characters they were portraying.

Luckily for Kunis, show creators Bonnie and Terry Turner were 'so sweet' and admitted that by that point in the process, they were sold with Kunis' performance.

"They were like, 'Well we loved you... so what did we care'," Kunis said.

The actor described the creation of That '70s Show as being in the 'heyday of older kids playing younger kids', whereas she was actually the age Jackie was supposed to be.

"I wasn't intimidated," she continued. "I had a solid ego, man. I thought it was so cool, so it must have been intimidating, is what I should say, but I don't know if it was intimidating in the sense of like, I didn't know who I was or lost sense of myself,"

Kunis admitted that she thought her older castmates were 'so cool' - and must still think that about at least some of them, given that she's married to her '70s co-star Ashton Kutcher.

If it weren't for that lie, who knows where Kunis would be now.

Featured Image Credit: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo / Fox

Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.