If someone were to pen down the complete story of how Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher ended up one of
Hollywood's 'It' couples, it would read like the pages of a fairy-tale. Or, indeed, the script of
a romantic comedy – the plot of which might be frighteningly similar to roles they've played
on screen. But as we know, every good story has some drama. And for these lovebirds, cheating
allegations and baggage from failed relationships made it almost impossible for them to commit to
each other. So how did they finally gain trust to try and make things work? We've decided to take
a peek into their love story - and what better way to start a tale than right at the beginning?
Once upon a time, there was a 14-year-old little girl named Mila,
who auditioned for the role of Jackie Burkhart in what would become a popular late 90s sitcom
following the lives of six American teenagers living in the late nineteen seventies Wisconsin.
What you might not have known is that the casting directors for That 70's Show were
only accepting actors over the age of 18 for all lead roles – which, granted little Mila's age,
presented a great obstacle. However, taking fate into her own hands,
the young girl decided to act as her own fairy godmother with the help of a little white lie.
"I told them I was gonna be 18, which, you know —it's not technically a lie, cause at one point,
given all things went right, I was gonna be 18."
Kunis confessed in an interview more than a decade later.
Though the truth did come to light, the initial lie was enough to secure
the actress as part of the main cast – and there she met her prince charming.
Ashton Kutcher, who was only twenty then, had been cast alongside Kunis in the role of Michael
Kelso – who was Jackie's on-again-off-again beau during the eight-year original run of the show.
So when the first on-screen kiss between Jackie and Kelso was scripted,
their age difference brought on a bit of awkwardness. The truth,
Kunis later admitted that at barely fifteen years old, she had never been kissed before.
In a 2001 interview, The actress shared that though the two were practically strangers at
the time, she knew of Ashton quite well due to his modeling career.
"I was like, 'Oh, he's so cute, it's the Calvin Klein model. Then I was like, 'I have to kiss
him?'" explaining that she "was so nervous and uncomfortable. I had the biggest crush on him."
At the time of the kiss, Kutcher was unaware that it was Mila's first.
"I'm the first guy she kissed? Oh my god, I had no idea.
I'm so glad I didn't know that, or it would've been too much pressure," the actor revealed.
Unfortunately, young Mila's childhood crush did not develop into anything
further between the two due to their age gap. A fellow co-star explained
that though the on-screen romance between the characters continued, "they had completely
separate lives … Mila was a kid. That was awkward for Ashton at the beginning."
So romcom-worthy first kiss aside, Kunis started dating Home Alone child star Macauley Culkin
in 2002. There was speculation and rumors about the couple getting
married during their nearly a decade-long relationship.
Trying to keep their relationship out of the publics' eye,
Mila shared small details about their dynamic, saying,
"We grew up together. You find a steady rock in your life, and that's all you need.
We have our ups and downs, but work through them."
In the same interview, Kunis further questioned whether the relationship would have been the same
had they not met in their teens. The actress also expressed how fan's reactions to Culkin
in public and other side-effects of dating such a high-profile star complicated things.
This may have added to why Mila fought to keep their relationship low-profile.
When the couple broke up it was announced as an 'amicable split' and that the two stars remained
friends. Opening up on a podcast later after their separation, Kunis revealed that it had,
in fact, been a horrible breakup, painting herself as the villain when it all went down.
"It's f*cked up what I did and it's f*cked up how I did it. When I got to be a single,
I said, 'I just need to figure myself out.' I genuinely need to know why I did what I did,
and, like, regroup myself as a human being." Without going into very much detail, the actress
further reflected, saying, "I was an a**hole in my 20s, and I'll be the first to admit it. “
When her cheating rumors surfaced, they were quickly dismissed.
Years later, when asked if she forgave herself, Mila's unclear comment of “everybody kind of
forgave everybody for what went down," left everyone thinking what exactly did the actress do?
With Kunis being vague and Culkin himself not commenting on their past relationship at all,
it seems that all we are destined to know is that she royally messed up.
Three seasons into the successful sitcom and fresh
from starring in the two thousand's hit comedy Dude, Where's My Car,
Kutcher's public love life, on the other hand, had a rather horrifying beginning.
On the night Ashton was meant to meet his date for a special night of romance, young fashion
student Ashley Ellerin, was brutally murdered in her California home. Ashton testified at the trial
of the man who was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to death for Ashley's murder.
Kutcher stated that he had last spoken to her on a call around 8:24 pm,
explaining he was still at a friend's house while she returned that she'd just left the shower.
The actor said when he arrived at Ashley's door later that night,
"I knocked on the door and there was no answer. I knocked again, and once again, no answer. At this
point I pretty well assumed she had left for the night, and that I was late, and she was upset."
Four years after that tragic night, Kutcher made headlines
when he married Ghost actress Demi Moore. The two had been dating for two years,
and the tabloids were full of comments on the large gap between their ages – except this time,
Kutcher was the younger of the pair, with Moore being 15 years older.
The couple was together for six years before
Moore announced her decision to end the marriage in late 2011.
Rumors about Kutcher's infidelity and other relationship struggles were rampant even
before the actress filed for divorce. In her memoir, Moore goes into explicit detail of how
her husband not only made fun of her alcoholism – he also attempted to justify his cheating by
suggesting that her agreeing to participate in threesomes "blurred the lines" for him.
Moore also revealed that she had once been pregnant early in their relationship but painfully
suffered a miscarriage at 6months. The couple decided on IVF treatment to try conceiving again,
but as the years went by, her husband seemed to pull away from the relationship
while Moore spiraled into her grief. Kutcher finally refusing to continue
with the IVF treatment was the nail that sealed the coffin to their relationship.
Though Kunis spoke of the two keeping in contact over the years after Kutcher left That 70s Show,
having gone through admittedly rough separations where they were seemingly
both in the wrong still didn't open the door to them beginning their romance.
It wasn't until the night of the 69th Golden Globes in January
a year later that Kunis and Kutcher saw each other again.
Returning to the fairytale-like quality of their first meeting, Kunis remembers seeing
an attractive man from across the room before realizing it was her old on-screen lover.
"So I see this guy and I see his back. And he's really tall and I'm like, who's that tall guy?
And I'm wearing this big poofy dress and I look ridiculous and then he just turns around and it's
literally like if we were in a movie the music would start playing and the violins would go.
I think he, for the first time, ever took my breath away. I was like, f*ck he's good looking."
The actors reconnected over the course of the evening, and by the end, Kutcher had issued Kunis
an invitation to his upcoming housewarming in Hollywood.... or maybe for her to get a chance to
see their future home? Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves because Kutcher had other plans.
The night of his housewarming, the actor had apparently planned to set Kunis up with one of
his friends who conveniently never made it to the party. Thinking back to the night the star said,
"I think I was smoking cigarettes at the time, and I was still a smoker. And she had quit smoking and
she was like, she wanted me to like shotgun a cigarette smoke so she could breathe it in and
I was like, 'All right.'" happily adding, "And I started doing this. And gradually through the
night, it got closer and closer and closer...It was kind of obvious that things were happening."
And yes, we can all guess what happened next – the couple shared their first real off-screen kiss!
Then, what followed can only be described as a parody of a rom-com
plot both actors were quite familiar with; two friends start hooking up.
The pair promised to keep it casual, but ultimately, as we all know, they end up
falling in love. Kutcher and Kunis thought they were somehow an exception to the rule
(as if When Harry Met Sally didn't send everyone a message)
"No man can be friends with a woman he finds attractive."
(especially if they happen to be sleeping together).
So no matter how hard they tried, the two found themselves going down the same road
they vowed not to – even to the point of one of them trying to end the arrangement.
"We lived our movies out. We were just like, let's just hook up.
Let's have fun. We're both single. We both trust each other. Everything's great," said Kunis,
explaining how after a few months, she thought, "you know what, I actually care about you. I don't
want to mess anything up so I'm just going to walk away before it becomes too much."
But as cliches go, because they are called cliches for a reason, Kutcher just asked her to move in.
Fortunately, they both showed signs that they had matured past their previous mistakes from
their old relationships. It wasn't much of a surprise when they welcomed their baby girl
just a year before they decided to tie the knot. With the arrival of their second child
to complete their happy family, it's safe to say little Mila got her happily ever after.