Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#207
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Mila Kunis represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 28 years in, and Mila is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Mila Kunis appears in 35 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Mila. Black Swan is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for mystery, comedy, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Rian Johnson, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Hallie Meyers-Shyer and others, Mila Kunis helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Black Swan (2010) as Lily / The Black Swan · Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) as Chief Geraldine Scott · Gia (1998) as Gia at Age 11
Career snapshot
Ranked #207 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
35
1997–2025
Career length
28 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Black Swan
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.7
Black Swan
Most frequent director
Jon Lucas
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Jon Lucas
Most common genre
Comedy
22 titles
Average runtime
1h 40m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.4
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.5 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Wonder Park, The Spy Who Dumped Me, A Bad Moms Christmas — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.5
Across 17 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Gia, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.
Most productive era
2010s
17 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.01 film | 6.14 films | 6.55 films | 6.44 films |
| Action | — | 6.32 films | 6.45 films | — |
| Thriller | — | 5.72 films | 7.03 films | 6.82 films |
| Comedy | 5.81 film | 6.36 films | 6.411 films | 4.94 films |
| Crime | — | 5.71 film | 6.31 film | 6.11 film |
| Romance | 7.01 film | 6.13 films | 6.42 films | — |
| Horror | — | 5.21 film | 7.91 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1997Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Jill.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2010Black Swan
7.9 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Self.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
35 of 35 films
as Lily / The Black Swan
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
as Chief Geraldine Scott
Directed by Rian Johnson
as Solara
Directed by Albert Hughes
as Ani Fanelli
Directed by Mike Barker
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Lily / The Black Swan
Black Swan (2010)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Lily / The Black Swan gives Mila Kunis a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Chief Geraldine Scott
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)
Performance score7.3
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Chief Geraldine Scott is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Amy Mitchell
Bad Moms (2016)
Performance score7.3
Bad Moms asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Amy Mitchell is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Solara
The Book of Eli (2010)
Performance score7.3
The Book of Eli asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Solara is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Lily / The Black Swan
Start here. Black Swan is the clearest statement of what Mila Kunis does — accessible, 108 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Mila at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
The Book of Eli (2010)
Keeps the thriller register of Black Swan but asks for a colder reading of it.
Bad Moms (2016)
A deliberate change of key after The Book of Eli — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Bad Moms — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)
Keeps the mystery register of Luckiest Girl Alive but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Will Gluck
Director
2 films together
Notably Friends with Benefits
Jon Lucas
Director
2 films together
Notably Bad Moms
Dean Cundey
Director
1 film together
Notably Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Michael Cristofer
Director
1 film together
Notably Gia
Tommy O'Haver
Director
1 film together
Notably Get Over It
Morgan J. Freeman
Director
1 film together
Notably American Psycho II: All American Girl
Pete Michels
Director
1 film together
Notably Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
Eric Amadio
Director
1 film together
Notably After Sex
Christian Duguay
Director
1 film together
Notably Boot Camp
Nicholas Stoller
Director
1 film together
Notably Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Mike Judge
Director
1 film together
Notably Extract
Dominic Polcino
Director
1 film together
Notably Family Guy Presents: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
Darren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together
Notably Black Swan
Albert Hughes
Director
1 film together
Notably The Book of Eli
Peter Shin
Director
1 film together
Notably Family Guy Presents: It's a Trap!
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably Date Night
Seth MacFarlane
Director
1 film together
Notably Ted
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together
Notably Oz the Great and Powerful
Phil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
Paul Haggis
Director
1 film together
Notably Third Person
Ross Shuman
Director
1 film together
Notably Hell and Back
Lilly Wachowski
Director
1 film together
Notably Jupiter Ascending
Susanna Fogel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Spy Who Dumped Me
Rodrigo García
Director
1 film together
Notably Four Good Days
Ash Brannon
Director
1 film together
Notably Stoner Cats
Tate Taylor
Director
1 film together
Notably Breaking News in Yuba County
Mike Barker
Director
1 film together
Notably Luckiest Girl Alive
Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Director
1 film together
Notably Goodrich
Beth McCarthy-Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Netflix Tudum 2025
Rian Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Will Gluck
Director
2 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Friends with BenefitsJon Lucas
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Bad MomsDarren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Black SwanRian Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out MysteryMichael Cristofer
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GiaAlbert Hughes
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Book of EliDominic Polcino
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Family Guy Presents: Something, Something, Something, Dark SidePete Michels
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stewie Griffin: The Untold StorySeth MacFarlane
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TedPeter Shin
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Family Guy Presents: It's a Trap!Rodrigo García
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Four Good DaysNicholas Stoller
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Forgetting Sarah MarshallMike Barker
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Luckiest Girl AliveSusanna Fogel
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Spy Who Dumped MeHallie Meyers-Shyer
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GoodrichShawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Date NightBeth McCarthy-Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Netflix Tudum 2025Tate Taylor
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Breaking News in Yuba CountyPaul Haggis
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Third PersonSam Raimi
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Oz the Great and PowerfulMike Judge
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ExtractChristian Duguay
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Boot CampPhil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Angriest Man in BrooklynEric Amadio
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
After SexTommy O'Haver
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Get Over ItRoss Shuman
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hell and BackDean Cundey
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Honey, We Shrunk OurselvesLilly Wachowski
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jupiter AscendingMorgan J. Freeman
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American Psycho II: All American GirlAsh Brannon
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stoner CatsSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
6 wins · 5 nominations
No wins yet · 1 nomination
as Actor
1 win · latest 2018
as Actor
1 win
as Actor
1 win
as Actor
1 win · latest 2014
as Actor
1 win · latest 2011
as Actor
1 win · latest 2022
as Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
as Actor
No wins yet · 2 nominations
as Actor
as Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
as Actor
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Black Swan
as Lily / The Black Swan
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Gia
as Gia at Age 11
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Black Swan
as Lily / The Black Swan
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Gia
as Gia at Age 11
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Black Swan
as Lily / The Black Swan
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Mila Kunis has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
28 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
22 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
as Chief Geraldine Scott
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Black Swan
as Lily / The Black Swan
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Third Person
as Julia
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
as Chief Geraldine Scott
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Black Swan
as Lily / The Black Swan
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Spy Who Dumped Me
as Audrey
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Wonder Park
as Greta (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
American Psycho II: All American Girl
as Rachael
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
Which Mila Kunis performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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