Mila Kunis has spoken out about her family's decision to move to the United States from Ukraine and why she used to tell people she was from Russia.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last month, the 38-year-old Family Guy star was been vocal about her desire to help those impacted by the crisis, as well as speaking out about being "a proud Ukrainian".
As well as raising more than $20 million for refugee and humanitarian aid efforts in the country, Kunis has also given fans an insight into what life was like when she moved to the United States with her family in 1991.
Speaking to Maria Shriver in a candid interview that was uploaded to YouTube on Friday, Kunis revealed that she was born in the southwestern Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi, but moved to the US when she was around eight years old, which is why she has always "felt like an American".
But in 2008, the Black Swan star told the Los Angeles Times that when her family moved to the US, her father did "odd jobs" like painting houses and delivering pizza, while her mom worked in a drugstore.
And despite telling Shriver that she used to tell people she was "LA through and through", she did have some struggles - such as having to learn English.
She told the LA Times. "But it must have been hard, because I blocked out second grade completely. I have no recollection of it. I always talk to my mom and my grandma about it. It was because I cried every day. I didn’t understand the culture. I didn’t understand the people. I didn’t understand the language."
Kunis also revealed to Shriver that she would tell people she was actually Russian, not Ukrainian.
Saying that she did so for "a multitude of reasons", Kunis explained: "One of them being when I came to the States and I would tell people I’m from Ukraine, the first question I’d get was, 'Where is Ukraine?'"
"And then I’d have to explain Ukraine and where it is on the map, and I was like 'Ugh, that’s exhausting,'" she added. "But if I was like, 'I’m from Russia,' people were like, 'Oh, we know that country.' So I was like, great, I’ll just tell people from Russia."
But following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Kunis told Shriver that she felt like she had a part of her heart "ripped out", and said she'll never tell people she's from Russia again.
Kunis also spoke about her friends in Ukraine, detailing their day-to-day amid the war.
"They all go to work every day," she said. "So they’re in their bomb shelter at night, they wake up in the morning, they take whatever they have to protect themselves in the city, and they go to their office to continue working. It is a different breed of people."
Last week, Kunis and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, set up a GoFundMe in order to raise money for Ukrainians in need. As well as donated $3 million of their own money, they have now revealed that the fundraiser has surpassed $20 million.
If you would like to know how you can support the Ukrainian people at this time, click HERE to find a list of organizations and groups dedicated to helping those affected by this crisis.