News Analysis India

Tag: Mila Kunis

  • Actor Danny Masterson’s wife seeks divorce after his rape sentence

    By AFP

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Bijou Phillips filed for divorce from Danny Masterson less than two weeks after the former “That ’70s Show” star was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for raping two women, US media reported Tuesday.

    The model and singer cited “irreconcilable differences” in her petition in a California court, celebrity news website TMZ reported.

    Masterson, found guilty in May of raping the two women in 2001 and 2003 at his home in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, was sentenced on September 7 to 30 years to life in prison.

    The 47-year-old US actor, who has one child with Phillips, will not be able to seek parole until he is 77 years old.

    Phillips is seeking full custody of their daughter, aged nine, with visitation rights for Masterson, TMZ reported.

    Her lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment by AFP.

    ALSO READ | Ashton Kutcher quits as chair of anti-sex abuse organisation after Danny Masterson ‘support letter’

    Phillips had stayed with Masterson through his two trials — the first was declared a mistrial last year after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision.

    The jury in the retrial deadlocked on another rape charge against a third woman. That charge was dismissed.

    Masterson rose to fame with the 1998 launch of retro sitcom “That ’70s Show,” where he played the character of Steven Hyde alongside fellow stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.

    He co-starred again with Kutcher on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” but was fired in 2017 and written off the show after Los Angeles police confirmed they were investigating multiple rape allegations against the actor.

    The three women at the heart of the charges against Masterson were members of the Church of Scientology at the time. Two of them said church officials had discouraged them from contacting law enforcement.

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Bijou Phillips filed for divorce from Danny Masterson less than two weeks after the former “That ’70s Show” star was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for raping two women, US media reported Tuesday.

    The model and singer cited “irreconcilable differences” in her petition in a California court, celebrity news website TMZ reported.

    Masterson, found guilty in May of raping the two women in 2001 and 2003 at his home in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, was sentenced on September 7 to 30 years to life in prison.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The 47-year-old US actor, who has one child with Phillips, will not be able to seek parole until he is 77 years old.

    Phillips is seeking full custody of their daughter, aged nine, with visitation rights for Masterson, TMZ reported.

    Her lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment by AFP.

    ALSO READ | Ashton Kutcher quits as chair of anti-sex abuse organisation after Danny Masterson ‘support letter’

    Phillips had stayed with Masterson through his two trials — the first was declared a mistrial last year after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision.

    The jury in the retrial deadlocked on another rape charge against a third woman. That charge was dismissed.

    Masterson rose to fame with the 1998 launch of retro sitcom “That ’70s Show,” where he played the character of Steven Hyde alongside fellow stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.

    He co-starred again with Kutcher on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” but was fired in 2017 and written off the show after Los Angeles police confirmed they were investigating multiple rape allegations against the actor.

    The three women at the heart of the charges against Masterson were members of the Church of Scientology at the time. Two of them said church officials had discouraged them from contacting law enforcement.

  • Ashton Kutcher quits as chair of anti-sex abuse organisation after Danny Masterson ‘support letter’

    By Associated Press

    LOS ANGELES: Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board of an anti-child sex abuse organisation that he co-founded after he and wife Mila Kunis wrote letters seeking leniency for their former ‘That ’70s Show’ co-star and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson.

    Kutcher stepped down from the board of Thorn, an organisation he founded with then-wife Demi Moore in 2009, on Thursday, the group said in a statement.

    “After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote in a letter to the board.

    “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”

    A Los Angeles judge sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison on September 7.

    The actor was convicted in May of raping two women in 2003, when he was starring on the Fox retro sitcom ‘That ’70s Show’ with Kutcher and Kunis.

    The day after the sentencing, letters to the judge from Kutcher, Kunis and many others were made public.

    In Kutcher’s, he called Masterson a man who in his experience had treated people “with decency, equality, and generosity”.

    Kutcher and Kunis apologised the next day in an Instagram video for writing the letters, which Kutcher said “were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way.”

    Kutcher said in his resignation letter, first reported by Time magazine, that he offered “my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did.”

    LOS ANGELES: Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board of an anti-child sex abuse organisation that he co-founded after he and wife Mila Kunis wrote letters seeking leniency for their former ‘That ’70s Show’ co-star and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson.

    Kutcher stepped down from the board of Thorn, an organisation he founded with then-wife Demi Moore in 2009, on Thursday, the group said in a statement.

    “After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote in a letter to the board.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”

    A Los Angeles judge sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison on September 7.

    The actor was convicted in May of raping two women in 2003, when he was starring on the Fox retro sitcom ‘That ’70s Show’ with Kutcher and Kunis.

    The day after the sentencing, letters to the judge from Kutcher, Kunis and many others were made public.

    In Kutcher’s, he called Masterson a man who in his experience had treated people “with decency, equality, and generosity”.

    Kutcher and Kunis apologised the next day in an Instagram video for writing the letters, which Kutcher said “were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way.”

    Kutcher said in his resignation letter, first reported by Time magazine, that he offered “my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did.”

  • Darren Aronofsky expresses interest to adapt ‘Black Swan’ into a musical

    By Express News Service

    American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is planning to make a Broadway musical adapted from his 2010 psychological horror film Black Swan and is currently working to adapt the psychological thriller into the musical format.

    “We’re trying to do the ‘Black Swan’ musical. We’ll see what happens. But we’re working on it,” Aronofsky said to AV Club, whiel expressing his desire to work on a musical for a long time. “I would love to [do one] and I’ve talked to many people about it. And I’ve come close to a few ideas. It’s a very tricky thing because music from musicals is not popular music anymore. So what do you do?” he added.

    Directed by Darren himself, the 2010 film starred Natalie Portman in the lead role. It revolves around a dedicated dancer who is struggling to maintain her sanity after she lands in a lead role for a project titled Swan Lake. The film also starred Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey among others.

    (This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)

    American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is planning to make a Broadway musical adapted from his 2010 psychological horror film Black Swan and is currently working to adapt the psychological thriller into the musical format.

    “We’re trying to do the ‘Black Swan’ musical. We’ll see what happens. But we’re working on it,” Aronofsky said to AV Club, whiel expressing his desire to work on a musical for a long time. “I would love to [do one] and I’ve talked to many people about it. And I’ve come close to a few ideas. It’s a very tricky thing because music from musicals is not popular music anymore. So what do you do?” he added.

    Directed by Darren himself, the 2010 film starred Natalie Portman in the lead role. It revolves around a dedicated dancer who is struggling to maintain her sanity after she lands in a lead role for a project titled Swan Lake. The film also starred Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey among others.

    (This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)

  • INTERVIEW | Ani is insanely relatable: Mila Kunis on her ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ character

    Express News Service

    Mila Kunis talks about playing Ani in her latest Netflix release ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’, and how she unwinds post emotionally draining shoots.

    What was it about this film that got you interested as an actor and a producer?

    I loved the book (of the same name by Jessica Knoll) and then the script came to me and it was so good. We just worked on the ending a little bit, but I couldn’t wait to get involved from an acting point of view. I trusted Mike (director Mike Barker), but I was also excited to be part of the process on both sides of the camera.

    How did you connect with this character who seems to have it all, but is secretly struggling with something terrible in her past?

    I think Ani is all of us. We all have a version of ourselves that we put forward and an internal dialogue that we never say out loud. The story works so well because Ani (played by Kunis) is insanely relatable to everybody, regardless of gender. There is no human that doesn’t have two versions of themselves. There is just something inside of our brains that we are constantly battling with, whether we listen to it or not. This is a story that explores and exposes that.

    What aspect of playing two sides of Ani did you enjoy the most?

    I loved the inner dialogue and how you not only get to hear it but see it too. It’s like a conversation she is having within herself, as a whole other person that is dying to get out, but she won’t allow it.  

    Did this story make you think about moments from your own past that may have had an effecton your life?

    We all have our own individual stories, but there is always a reason for everything that happens. In Ani’s case, it’s an accident. It moulds who she becomes, but doesn’t define who she is. That is a specific difference I hope people realise. We all have something that happened to us, which brought us where we are today, but that isn’t necessarily who we are.

    How did you go about preparing for this role?

    I learned a lot from a film  I did before with Glenn Close called Four Good Days, where I played a drug addict. I realised that experiences can have long-lasting effects, but you can’t just be that one thing. Understanding trauma started there for me. The other thing this movie tackles is how quickly, as a society, we put labels on people just because those terms are convenient for us. That idea of survivor versus victim was something I was curious about.

    WATCH |

    Given the fact you are a famous actor, many would say you must have it all. What do you say to that?

    I do think I’m fortunate, but there are a lot of things wrong with me. I have a very healthy relationship with my career, but who I am and what I do are two very different things. I never felt like I needed to put on a persona in order to protect myself as Ani does. I also never had to get on social media. I don’t know what happened, but I never had the obsessive-compulsive desire to see what people say about me all the time.

    How important is family when you are working on a project as heavy and emotional as this one? 

    My family is the truth. I don’t ask anything of my kids other than to be their awesome selves. I happen to have an incredible partner who is fully aware of what my job entails and what I might come home as. So as far as unwinding from this goes, he made sure that he had a glass of wine waiting for me the second I got home. He made dinner and if I got home super late, he would have a plate in the microwave.

    We have heard that you like to unwind by watching reality TV. Your favourites?

    All the ‘Bachelor’ shows and also ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’.

    Having lived the life of the ‘luckiest girl alive’, what would you tell your younger self if you could go back?

    I’m just grateful that something in my life prevented me from getting into that kind of situation.

    Asia Features

    Mila Kunis talks about playing Ani in her latest Netflix release ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’, and how she unwinds post emotionally draining shoots.

    What was it about this film that got you interested as an actor and a producer?

    I loved the book (of the same name by Jessica Knoll) and then the script came to me and it was so good. We just worked on the ending a little bit, but I couldn’t wait to get involved from an acting point of view. I trusted Mike (director Mike Barker), but I was also excited to be part of the process on both sides of the camera.

    How did you connect with this character who seems to have it all, but is secretly struggling with something terrible in her past?

    I think Ani is all of us. We all have a version of ourselves that we put forward and an internal dialogue that we never say out loud. The story works so well because Ani (played by Kunis) is insanely relatable to everybody, regardless of gender. There is no human that doesn’t have two versions of themselves. There is just something inside of our brains that we are constantly battling with, whether we listen to it or not. This is a story that explores and exposes that.

    What aspect of playing two sides of Ani did you enjoy the most?

    I loved the inner dialogue and how you not only get to hear it but see it too. It’s like a conversation she is having within herself, as a whole other person that is dying to get out, but she won’t allow it.  

    Did this story make you think about moments from your own past that may have had an effect
    on your life?

    We all have our own individual stories, but there is always a reason for everything that happens. In Ani’s case, it’s an accident. It moulds who she becomes, but doesn’t define who she is. That is a specific difference I hope people realise. We all have something that happened to us, which brought us where we are today, but that isn’t necessarily who we are.

    How did you go about preparing for this role?

    I learned a lot from a film  I did before with Glenn Close called Four Good Days, where I played a drug addict. I realised that experiences can have long-lasting effects, but you can’t just be that one thing. Understanding trauma started there for me. The other thing this movie tackles is how quickly, as a society, we put labels on people just because those terms are convenient for us. That idea of survivor versus victim was something I was curious about.

    WATCH |

    Given the fact you are a famous actor, many would say you must have it all. What do you say to that?

    I do think I’m fortunate, but there are a lot of things wrong with me. I have a very healthy relationship with my career, but who I am and what I do are two very different things. I never felt like I needed to put on a persona in order to protect myself as Ani does. I also never had to get on social media. I don’t know what happened, but I never had the obsessive-compulsive desire to see what people say about me all the time.

    How important is family when you are working on a project as heavy and emotional as this one?
     

    My family is the truth. I don’t ask anything of my kids other than to be their awesome selves. I happen to have an incredible partner who is fully aware of what my job entails and what I might come home as. So as far as unwinding from this goes, he made sure that he had a glass of wine waiting for me the second I got home. He made dinner and if I got home super late, he would have a plate in the microwave.

    We have heard that you like to unwind by watching reality TV. Your favourites?

    All the ‘Bachelor’ shows and also ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’.

    Having lived the life of the ‘luckiest girl alive’, what would you tell your younger self if you could go back?

    I’m just grateful that something in my life prevented me from getting into that kind of situation.

    Asia Features

  • Mila Kunis partners with Indian superhero creator Sharad Devarajan, launches entertainment franchise

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: ‘Black Swan’ star Mila Kunis has joined forces with the superhero creator Sharad Devarajan of Graphic India.

    The two have launched a new entertainment franchise called Armored Kingdom Media Inc. which will span a Web3 trading card game, digital comics, animation and film. It will be built on the carbon-neutral, community-driven blockchain, NEAR, reports ‘Deadline’.

    To commemorate the launch of the sci-fi/fantasy franchise, a limited-edition Issue #0 comic book NFT will be made available for free, for seven days. Armored Kingdom follows the medieval dynasties of Armoria, a world named after a powerful and mysterious metal, Armorite. No one has been able to mine Armorite-no one since the Ancestors, a vanished dynasty who used it to forge magical weapons now scattered across the lands.

    Each of these weapons has the ability to change the balance of power among the warring dynasties, which include humans; the jungle dwelling creatures of the Kingdom of the Horn; the amphibious Costraca; and the Warri, a society of secretive assassins.

    As per ‘Deadline’, Armored Kingdom’s comics and games are championed by Kunis, who herself is an avid TCG/MMO gamer, and has previously launched a number of projects in the Web3 animation space.

    Kunis said in a statement accessed by ‘Deadline’, “I lost a good part of my youth to gaming, from World of WarCraft to Settlers of Catan. The moment I dove into Web3, I saw the opportunity to create an immersive universe where blockchain technology deepens the gaming experience and makes it more personal and immersive for every fan. Armored Kingdom will allow gamers to relate to their characters and gear in a revolutionary way, and we can’t wait to share more of that with you very soon.”

    A five-issue series of both digital and physical comics will be the first asset launched in the collection, bringing people inside the world of Armored Kingdom and setting the stage for the digital card game launching later this year.

    On Devarajan’s part, it is a “dream project” for him. He said, “Armored Kingdom has all the elements of a great fantasy meets sci-fi story that will take a global audience into a place of wonder. This new storytelling experience will push Web3 technology further than ever before, so we’ve turned to NEAR to help us make it a reality. Their expertise with community management, championing of the creative sector, and its carbon-neutral-user-friendly development platform won us over.”

  • Oscars 2022: John Travolta, Mila Kunis, Daniel Kaluuya join presenters line-up

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: The producers of 94th Academy Awards, Will Packer and Shayla Cowan, have announced the next set of star presenters for the upcoming ceremony.

    The line-up includes Daniel Kaluuya, Mila Kunis, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomi Scott, Wesley Snipes and John Travolta.

    Previously announced presenters for the Oscars 2020 include Ruth E. Carter, Anthony Hopkins, Lily James, Simu Liu, Rami Malek, Uma Thurman, Kevin Costner, Zoe Kravitz, Lady Gaga, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock and Yuh-Jung Youn.

    The 94th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC.

    Filmmaker Jane Campion’s Western “The Power of the Dog”, a psychological drama set in the director’s native New Zealand, is leading the this year’s Oscar race, with Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel “Dune” closely following.

  • Mila Kunis to lead ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ adaptation at Netflix

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: Actor Mila Kunis has been roped in to play the central character in the film adaptation of author Jessica Knoll’s 2015 novel “Luckiest Girl Alive”, set at Netflix.

    Kunis will also produce the project under her Orchard Farm Productions banner.

    According to Variety, Mike Barker, whose credits include episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Fargo”, will direct the film from a script by Knoll.

    The story centres on Ani FaNelli (Kunis), a sharp-tongued New Yorker who appears to have it all: a sought-after position at a glossy magazine, a killer wardrobe, and a dream Nantucket wedding on the horizon.

    “But when the director of a crime documentary invites her to tell her side of the shocking incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life,” the plotline reads.

    Bruna Papandrea and Jeanne Snow will produce for Made Up Stories, with Erik Feig and Lucy Kitada for Picturestart.

    Knoll, Lisa Sterbakov, Shayne Fiske Goldner and Steve Hutensky will serve as executive producers.