Mila Kunis says her marriage to Ashton Kutcher has an advantage most couples cannot recreate: they knew each other before they became husband and wife, parents, and long-running Hollywood names.
Kunis spoke about Kutcher during a Monday, June 22, appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she reflected on meeting him as a teenager on That ’70s Show. She was 14 when they met, while Kutcher was 19.
The actress said that history gave their later relationship a different starting point.
By the time they reconnected romantically years after the sitcom ended, Kunis said they had already watched each other move through several versions of themselves.
Kunis Said There Was ‘Nothing to Hide’ When They Reconnected
Kunis told Barrymore that she was 27 when she and Kutcher reconnected, and she was no longer the same person she had been at 25, 21, or 19. People reported that Kunis described growth as a constant part of the relationship rather than something that threatens it.
She said Kutcher had known her through “the good, the bad, the ugly,” and she had known him the same way. When they became a couple, Kunis said there was no long process of revealing old secrets or introducing a carefully edited version of herself.
“There was nothing to hide,” she said, adding that their foundation is built on respect because they have known each other since their teenage years. Kunis also said they can grow together because they already have.
Their Real Relationship Started Years After That ’70s Show
Kunis and Kutcher did not date while making That ’70s Show, even though Jackie Burkhart and Michael Kelso became one of the sitcom’s most recognizable pairings. Their real relationship began in 2012, after both had moved through other relationships and separate careers.
Entertainment Weekly noted that Kutcher was Kunis’ first on-screen kiss, a detail that has followed the couple’s story for years. Kunis told People in 2001 that she was nervous about the scene because she had a crush on Kutcher at the time.
The pair later got engaged in February 2014, welcomed daughter Wyatt in October 2014, and married in July 2015. Their son, Dimitri, was born the following year.
The Couple Returned to Their Sitcom Roots on That ’90s Show
Kunis and Kutcher’s sitcom history continued after they married. They reprised Jackie and Kelso on Netflix’s That ’90s Show, the sequel series built around the next generation of Point Place teens.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Kutcher previously told Variety the return felt nostalgic because their careers had started with That ’70s Show. He said he and Kunis discussed whether to appear in the spinoff and decided to do it because of what the original show had meant to both of them.