Ukrainian-born American actress Mila Kunis, together with her American actor husband Ashton Kutcher, on Aug. 6 made a surprise visit to the actress’s hometown Chernivtsi, a city 530 kilometers southwest from Kyiv.
Photos of the famous couple were posted by Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Skobun, who told the Ukrainian media that Kunis and Kutcher had come to Chernivtsi from Budapest, where they are shooting a comedy movie called “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” which will premiere in 2018.
The hotel in which the couple stayed also shared photos of its staff with the actors.
Mila Kunis together with her husband Ashton Kutcher on Aug. 6 in Chernivtsi city at the southwest of Ukraine. (bukovyna-hotel.com)
Skobun said that Kunis and Kutcher loved the city. They walked around the city center and took selfies with people passing by. However, they only stayed in the city for a few hours before leaving Ukraine to return to Budapest.
Mila Kunis together with an unnamed citizen of Chernivsti, a city in the southwest of Ukraine, taken during the actor’s one-day visit to Ukraine on Aug. 6. (facebook.com/sssjakut)
Kunis, who left Ukraine when she was seven and had never visited Chernivtsi since, spoke both English and Russian.
Skobun also said that actors watched part of his upcoming movie “Legend of Carpathians” and Kunis said that she would like to act in a Ukrainian film.
The actress is famous for her roles in the comedies “Friends with Benefits” and “Ted.” She also received a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Darren Aronofsky’s thriller “Black Swan.”
In previous interviews, Kunis said that when she lived in Ukraine, her family had been forced to hide the fact that they were Jews, and that there had been anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of her school. She said that she came to United States not knowing any English, and so it had been difficult for her to study at school. In 1994, Kunis appeared in a Barbie commercial and took some minor roles in films.
Mila Kunis walks around Chernivtsi, her native city in the southwest of Ukraine, on Aug. 6. It was the first time that the actress, who emigrated to the United States shortly after Ukraine gained independence, had returned to the city. (facebook.com/sssjakut)
She also refused to speak about Russia’s war in Ukraine during an interview with the Star-Ledger newspaper.
“Just because I lived there until I was seven doesn’t mean I identify with Ukraine,” the actress was quoted as a saying.
Skobun said in comments on Facebook that the actress had shown her hometown not only to her husband, but also to their child. However, he didn’t specify if the child was two-year-old Wyatt Isabelle or her younger brother Dimitri.
“I only saw happiness on her face (during the visit),” Skobun wrote.
