Mila Kunis is doing pretty well for herself, don’t you think? She’s got TV work and plenty of movies under her belt and the work doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. She’s probably made enough to leave her comfortable for the rest of her life even if she quit the biz now, so that’s probably a-okay with the fact that most actresses have a shelf life and she probably won’t get work forever.
In an interview with James Franco in Playboy:
FRANCO: Tell me this: How do you see things playing out in terms of your future and your career? What do you think you want to be?
KUNIS: I don’t know. James, seriously, do you feel you could be an actor forever?
FRANCO: Yeah. Although, do you think it will get weird when you’re older?
KUNIS: I think for a woman it does. There’s a documentary you should see called Searching for Debra Winger, about how this industry affects women in their 30s. Realistically speaking, it’s hard.
FRANCO: What happens, they age and people don’t want them?
KUNIS: No, I think you have to choose. Do you want to have a life, or do you want to have a career? Sometimes you can find a happy medium, but in this industry it’s rare.
FRANCO: What are the conflicts? Traveling so much? Is it hard to have a family?
KUNIS: All of the above. Everything. You have to choose: privacy or career.
FRANCO: Why is that particular to women?
KUNIS: It’s not necessarily particular to women, but in this documentary it is. I also think in this industry, age is particular to women versus men. Why? Because that’s just how it is.
FRANCO: You don’t see yourself like Meryl Streep, working into your 60s?
KUNIS: Listen, I’d love to, but I wouldn’t presume or assume to be that. If I’m lucky enough to have a career remotely close to hers, great. If I’m not, I’m not going with the expectation of having one, because that will ultimately slow me down. It’s one in a million; it’s not the reality.
FRANCO: But look at your career. Why would you think that? What would you do if you couldn’t act?
KUNIS: I think a lot of it is luck. Don’t get me wrong, I work my ass off. But so do a lot of people. It all depends on whether people care to see me in five years or not, and you can’t predict that. It’s weird that at the age of 29 I’m talking about aging in this industry, but the truth is I don’t think I can do this for the rest of my life. I want to be a producer. That’s really what I want, because I love this work in a weird, sick way. But I also want a life. I want a family—just, like, one day, not tomorrow.
She’s got a good point, there. However, it’s pretty clear that the issue between career and family doesn’t just pertain to women in Hollywood – it’s a tale as old as time that’s been discussed in every lifestyle publication going. Can we have it all, as women? Can you be a successful career woman and a dedicated parent simultaneously? Yada yada…
I also like that Mila doesn’t bank on unending success. Sure, she’s just being vocal about the concerns that most actresses in her age bracket are experiencing, but how many of them actually talk about it? And how many of them seem as genuine as she does about pursuing other avenues of creativity like producing or something else? It’s pretty refreshing, don’t you think?
I really like Mila. She’s always struck me as down to earth and has a good head on her shoulders.
Smart girl.. Hope she gets everything she wants.
We’ve failed to mention here that now James Franco thinks that he is James Lipton.