In August 2011, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake were in Moscow promoting Friends with Benefits when a question directed at the singer turned a press conference into an unexpectedly funny scene.
A Russian journalist asked Timberlake why he was pursuing a career in film instead of focusing on his music career. Before the actor could respond, Kunis intervened. Born in Ukraine and raised in the United States from the age of 7, the actress spoke Russian fluently.
“Why movies? Why not?”, Kunis replied in Russian. Then she was even more direct: “What kind of question is that? Why are you here?”. The comment prompted laughter and applause among the journalists present, while Timberlake waited for his translator to explain what was happening.
The actress continued defending her costar’s decision. When the journalist insisted on questioning Timberlake’s making movies, Kunis essentially replied that if he wanted to make films and could do so, why shouldn’t he? She then drove the point home by reminding him that they were both simply doing their jobs.
When he finally understood the entire conversation through his earpiece, Timberlake pointed at Kunis and joked: “This is my bodyguard”. The phrase became the perfect punchline to one of the most memorable interactions of that press tour.
More than a real fight, it was a spontaneous moment that showed an unusual side of Kunis: faced with a question she considered unfair to her costar, she decided to intervene immediately and do so in the journalist’s own language.