Mila Kunis Gets Down and Dirty in the Desert!

Think movie-making is a glam job? For petite, dark-haired actress Mila Kunis, throwing a grenade, kicking serious butt during a dust storm and wearing a dirty, yet somehow hot-looking wardrobe, was just part of a day's work on set for her new post-apocalypse actioner The Book of Eli.

In real life, would Mila survive in a wrecked future world? "I'd fail miserably" she is telling us, "but I can kick some serious ass, especially if I'm wearing five-inch heels".

We're at a hidden-away Hollywood hotel with independent Mila, who was telling press in December that marrying long-time boyfriend Macaulay Culkin just isn't important to her. She is with us to spill all on working with big movie star Denzel Washington and the challenges of the isolated New Mexico location. "I'm an L.A. girl. I haven't even been camping and there were rattlesnake holes!"

What two items would you just have to have in order to survive in a world without any modern conveniences? Forget that laptop, i-pod and Blackberry. Mila's answer might shock you.

We also got the latest on her ballerina role opposite Natalie Portman in The Black Swan. Mila says "I don't know what you've heard but I'm not "the bad girl"!

So, you are a pretty tough cookie in The Book of Eli. What action did you enjoy?

Mila: I get to flip a car, I get to throw a grenade into a convoy of cars and explode them.

Yeah, your character Solara throws a mean grenade.. like she's bowling. Are you a bowler?

Mila: (she laughs) How did you know? When I was like 14, I kicked ass at bowling. That's the only way I can throw grenades. I asked 'how do you throw grenades?' and they're like 'bowl!'  I was like 'okay!' so that's my version of a grenade throw.

By the end of the movie, your character is pretty bad-ass. In real life, how lethal are you?

Mila: I can kick some serious ass, especially if I'm wearing five-inch heels. It's amazing what I could do.  I can throw a really strong right hook.  I learned that though my Max Payne training and I can shoot really well. That's it. And I can run really fast. So, if anything happens, if an altercation occurs, I run.

You've done some stunt work in Max Payne but was the action in this film difficult for you in the desert terrain where you were shooting?

Mila: Yeah, the weather was complicated.  It didn't know what it wanted to be. It would snow one day and wouldn't next day then sunshine then rain. I didn't really have that many stunts. Denzel had more stunts.  I ran a lot.

How would you describe your tuff, yet vulnerable character?

Mila: Solara is pretty awesome, I have to say. She starts off very young, very naive, very sheltered, but also very hungry to learn about life. [She] gets inspired by Denzel Washington's character and goes on this journey with him throughout the film. It takes place in maybe four or five days, and she grows up so fast and so quickly and almost becomes a woman and takes over.

She was a beautiful, beautiful woman to play. I liked her willpower, her passion to survive, live and learn. She always wanted to explore what the rest of the world had to offer.

Early in the film, Solara is sort of the "prize" given to guys who serve their evil master. Would you have been attracted to playing her if she had remained as subservient as she starts out?

Mila: No. Very rarely am I attracted to characters that are "woe is me'. I'm not a big fan of women that have to be the victim and need to be saved at all times.

I don't necessarily think that's the way it is in real life and don't think it should be in films. She was given the opportunity to learn and become stronger and grow.  It would be an unjust portrayal of people if we didn't let the character grow.

If you were stuck in a post apocalypse survival world, how would you do?

Mila: I would fail. I would fail miserably. Would I be resourceful? No. I would need Bear Grylls (survivalist/adventurer who has been on the Discovery Channel) with me.  I wouldn't know what to eat. I would eat that snake with the yellow tail because I wouldn't know it was poisonous. No, I'm not a survivalist.  I'd like to think I would be but I'd fail.

If you were in this post-apocalypse world where soap is a rarity, what two things would you just have to have?

Mila: Like a beauty product?

Anything.

Mila: Can I have toilet paper? Does that count? Toilet paper I would want.  I don't want to use leaves for the rest of my life. (we are laughing).  Is that too graphic maybe? Can I have deodorant?  Chapstick! I want Chapstick. Yeah, I want the Chapstick!

Denzel can be pretty intimidating. What was it like working with him?

Mila: He's an intimidating man. He just is. There's a presence about him. When he walks into a room, you're gonna pay attention. But he was great.  I think he tested me on how much I could take. But he's very generous, very professional, very giving.

Denzel is very fatherly.  He's got so many kids. He is a father so he always looked out for me but it wasn't one of those things where he was like 'hey, child'. I'm not that young. But he was very protective absolutely.  

This is a pretty serious film. Were there times on the set when you laughed?

Mila: I laughed a lot. I'll tell you, Gary Oldman is probably one of the funniest people I've ever worked with. Jennifer Beals and I created a song for Gary, that I will not go into detail on... (we say 'oh please').

Okay, I'll tell you. One of the lines is 'Gary is not so scary' because everybody has this preconceived notion that Gary Oldman gonna be scary and he's not. I mean he is on screen, he can be so powerful. But, in real life, he cracks jokes left and right. Just fun to be with.

What do you wish you had gotten for Christmas?

Mila: Hummm. How about a new purse? How girly is that answer for you? Some new shoes.

Your wardrobe in the film was sort of strange but hot in a way. Did you take anything?

Mila: I kept none of it.  It was so dirty and filthy by the time we wrapped production.

So it wasn't "fake" dirty.  It really was?

Mila: There was nothing fake dirty about this movie. All the wind, all the dirt was there every day.

You've done action/stunt training but what about learning ballet for Black Swan?

Mila: Oh, compared to that, this (movie) was easy. I've been doing that for five months and that has been the most physically strenuous thing I've ever done in my whole life.

Were you a fan of ballet before that?

Mila: I was aware of ballet but I didn't realize what it was. I didn't realize what you have to put your body through in order to look like a ballerina, walk like a ballerina. You can't fake ballet.  

You can fake running, you can fake looking like you're active, throwing grenades or shooting a gun, you could fake it. You cannot fake ballet. It's the craziest thing I've ever done in my life. I have two left feet. Good luck! So far it's been going great but oh, my God.

What's the basic storyline for Black Swan?

Mila: Natalie Portman and I play rival ballerinas and her character gets the lead in 'Swan Lake' and my character is everything that she wants to be in life. Her character is very professional, very strict, very neurotic and my character is very loose (the two characters have a girl-on-girl make-out scene).

The talent that my character has in ballet comes naturally to her. She's not as technically good as Natalie's character but she has more passion and that's what Natalie's character lacks so it's a battle of Yin and Yang and, ultimately, it's the story of Natalie's character going through a downward spiral mentally. But I'm not the "bad girl" in the film. The characters within the film mirror the characters in the ballet 'Swan Lake'.