Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake co-starred in the comedy “Friends with Benefits” in 2011, back when Timberlake was still new to Hollywood. The pair participated in a press event in Moscow, where most of the discussion was in Russian. The Ukrainian-born Kunis speaks fluent Russian, so she had no problem understanding the questions without assistance. On the other hand, Timberlake required real-time translation to take part.
When someone asked Timberlake about his transition into acting from the music industry, Kunis immediately jumped to her friend and colleague’s defense. Kunis was offended by the way the reporter framed the question — she essentially asked why Timberlake felt he could jump from one industry to the other. Kunis fired back, asking for clarification, and the reporter repeated what she had said, asking why Timberlake was in movies.
Kunis asked, “Well, what would you rather have him do?” The reporter asked if his career in showbiz wasn’t enough, and Kunis said, “Well, if he wants to make movies, and he can, why shouldn’t he? What kind of question is that? Why are you here?” Throughout this entire exchange, Timberlake sat there taking it all in, and he did not need to jump into the conversation other than to point to his co-star and say, “This is my bodyguard.”
