When it comes to balancing married life, work and children, Mila Kunis has some advice: “There is no such thing as balance, so don’t strive for it.”
The actress spoke during a Q&A in Santa Monica, California, on Wednesday following the screening of her latest film, Goedrich. She addressed a fan in the audience who mentioned that he and his wife would soon become new parents and wondered how to balance family life and work.
“Just do the best you can with what you have,” Kunis said. “Be kind to each other. Be kind to each other. Put each other first, and then put the child first for both of you.
Kunis is married to her former That 70’s show co-star Ashton Kutcher since 2015. The couple shares two children: daughter Wyatt, 9, and son Dimitri, 7.
In recent weeks, the couple’s relationship has come under scrutiny following resurfaced videos and social media posts about Kutcher’s past friendship with controversial music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. A source told People that rumors of the couple’s impending divorce were “absolutely ridiculous and false.” They have been spotted together several times in recent weeks.
In Goedrichwhich hits theaters on October 18 and is directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer (the daughter of filmmaker Nancy Meyers, who moderated the Q&A), Kunis plays Grace, the eldest daughter of Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton). Grace, who is pregnant, has a complicated relationship with her art gallery owner father. He has remarried and is also the father of 9-year-old twins who need his attention more than ever after their mother (Laura Benanti) checked herself into rehab.
This dynamic is deeply personal for Meyers-Shyer, who revealed that the film is based on her own relationship with her screenwriter father, Charles Shyer.Father of the Bride, The Parent Trap).
“My father remarried and had a second set of children, and I had a very complicated relationship with them,” Meyers-Shyer said. “I think as writers sometimes we process things by writing things down and then understanding how you feel about it.”
As the daughter of two filmmakers, the writer-director said making her own films was “a unique experience.”
Meyers-Shyer recalled how people “in random towns” would approach her parents when she was growing up and tell them, “That was my life.”
“That’s such a wonderful thing, I think,” she said, “what a great compliment to my parents when people say to them, ‘I watch your movies over and over again,’ and I don’t think you do that unless that movie makes you watch a lot offers comfort.
Kunis said Meyers-Shyer’s authenticity came through in the writing.
While the actress revealed that her own parents are still married — “I’m shocked they’re together,” Kunis joked — she said the dynamic between Grace and Andy “feels so real.”
“The things she says to him are so deep and personal and intimate,” Kunis said. “I imagine this is something a lot of people in this situation are desperate to say.”
Goedrich is in cinemas from October 18.
