Hollywood may appear glamorous with its bright lights, cameras, and action. Still, Mila Kunis’ experience with the industry’s dark side says otherwise. Kunis shared her distressing experience of being threatened by a film producer.
Kunis gives her fans a glimpse of the pervasive issue of sexism within the entertainment industry and how much worse gender inequality in workplaces is beyond what is otherwise not discussed.
Mila Kunis Talks About When She Felt Objectified
Mila Kunis has a wide range of acting experience, from comedic parts in That ’70s Show and Bad Moms to intense performances in Black Swan. Her characters are typically strong and dynamic, which is in contrast to the unfair treatment she has faced off-camera.
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It was only when Mila Kunis declined to pose semi-nude for a magazine, that a film producer threatened her career with the ominous words. In a candid confession on A Plus – a site co-founded by her husband, Ashton Kutcher – Kunis delves into the nuances of her unsettling encounter.
The Black Swan actress wrote in her letter as reported by The Guardian about feeling “livid” and “objectified” following her run-in with the producer.
“I was livid, I felt objectified, and for the first time in my career, I said ‘no,’ and guess what? The world didn’t end. The film made a lot of money and I did work in this town again, and again, and again. What this producer may never realize is that he spoke aloud the exact fear every woman feels when confronted with gender bias in the workplace.”
Kunis admits she once believed that playing by the rules set by its predominantly male power players was essential to scaling the heights in Hollywood. However, with age and experience, she realized the falsehood of this idea, noting in her letter the bitter truth that she had become “complicit in allowing it to happen.”
“I taught myself that to succeed as a woman in this industry I had to play by the rules of the boys’ club. But the older I got and the longer I worked in this industry, the more I realised that it’s bullshit! And, worse, that I was complicit in allowing it to happen.”
Mila Kunis’ chronicles of sexism don’t end there. After setting up a production company with three fellow women, she had another jarring experience.
Mila Kunis Stands Up For Herself
Kunis further reveals in the letter that an “influential male producer” during a potential work project conversation demeaningly referred to her as Ashton Kutcher’s wife and the mother of his children.
“He reduced my value to nothing more than my relationship to a successful man and my ability to bear children. It ignored my (and my team’s) significant creative and logistical contributions.”
Fed up with the blatant and subtle sexist comments hurled her way, Mila Kunis has taken a defiant stance not to compromise anymore. In the letter, the actress declares that when confronted with such comments, she will address them immediately.
Similar to Kunas, other celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, and Emma Watson have spoken out in the past about issues like pay inequality and gender biases that they have faced in their own careers.
Source: The Guardian
