“You’ll never work in this town again,” said one sexist producer to Mila Kunis after she refused to shoot a semi-naked photo for a men’s magazine to promote a movie.
In an extremely powerful open letter posted to her husband Ashton Kutcher’s website, A Plus, the 33-year-old actress writes about sexism in Hollywood.
“‘I will never work in this town again?’ 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 realise is that he spoke aloud the exact fear every woman feels when confronted with gender bias in the workplace,” said the “Bad Mom” star.
Kunis also revealed that in her career, there are moments when she was insulted, sidelined, paid less, creatively ignored, and otherwise diminished based on her gender.
No longer wanting to play by the rules of the industry’s “boy’s club”, Kunis started her own production company with 3 women. While pitching a show that highlights the social issues, a producer replied:
“And Mila is a mega star. One of biggest actors in Hollywood and soon to be Ashton’s wife and baby momma!!!”
“Factual inaccuracies aside, 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,” she wrote.
Lastly, she added, “I’m done compromising; even more so, I’m done with being compromised. So from this point forward, when I am confronted with one of these comments, subtle or overt, I will address them head on; I will stop in the moment and do my best to educate”.
You can read Kunis’ full essay here.
Best known for her role in “That 70’s Show”, Mila Kunis was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress” at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards for her role in “Black Swan”. In 2013, she was ranked #89 in Forbes list of 100 powerful celebrities.
Sources: A Plus, Entertainment Weekly.
