Mila Kunis wants her kids to know about their Ukrainian roots.
During a conversation with Maria Shriver for The Sunday Paper, the Friends with Benefits actress, 38, revealed the conversation she recently had with her and Ashton Kutcher's daughter Wyatt, 7, and son Dimitri, 5, about their Ukrainian background as the Russian military continues to invade the Eastern European country.
"I turned to my kids and I was like, 'You are half-Ukrainian, half-American!'" she said in the clip that was released on March 11, referencing her and the Iowa native actor's roots. "Like, I literally was like, 'Look, you!' And my kids were like, 'Yeah mom, I get it.' And I was like, 'No! You are Ukrainian and American.' I was like, 'You are half Iowa, half Ukraine.' And they're like, 'Okay, I get it.'"
Mila, who came with her family from her native city Chernivtsi to the States when she was age 7, also admitted that she didn't exactly embrace her Ukrainian upbringing when she was younger and would instead tell people she that was from Russia.
"It's been irrelevant to me that I come from Ukraine. It never mattered," she told Maria. "So much so that I've always said I'm Russian, right? Like I've always been, 'I'm from Russia' for a multitude of reasons. One of them being when I came to the States and I would tell people I'm from Ukraine, the first question I would get is, ‘Where is Ukraine?'"
Now, though, she's flying that blue-and-yellow flag high. Following Russia's invasion, the Black Swan actress took to Instagram on March 3 to say that she's a "proud American," but has "never been more proud to be Ukrainian."
The former Punk'd host, 44, showed support for his wife of more than six years by adding that he's "never been more proud to be married to a Ukrainian."
The couple, who tied the knot in 2015, also asked their followers and fans to help donate to the people of Ukraine as millions of them have fled the country amid the attacks. So far, Mila and Ashton have raised more than $15 million of their $30 million goal.