Mila Kunis Said Yes to a Marine in Afghanistan

In 2011, a Marine sergeant standing outside his bunker in Afghanistan recorded a short YouTube video asking Mila Kunis to the Marine Corps Ball. A few months later, she was standing beside him at attention in Greenville, North Carolina, as the national anthem played.

A Bet Outside the Bunker

Sgt. Scott Moore served with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which was stationed in Musa Qala, Afghanistan. He filmed the invitation in uniform and dark sunglasses, and opened it with the line "Hey Mila, Sgt. Moore, but you can call me Scotty."

He later explained that it started as "a bet between me and Marines in my platoon." They did not think he would actually follow through.

Timberlake Says It Out Loud

Kunis heard about the video during a press interview for the movie Friends with Benefits. Her co-star Justin Timberlake was there, and he told her on camera, "You need to do it for your country."

Kunis agreed on camera that she would go.

Friday Night in Greenville

The Marine Corps marks its birthday every November with formal balls. The 236th was held for Moore's battalion on Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Greenville, North Carolina.

Kunis attended as his guest. A Marine Corps photographer captured the two of them standing for the national anthem, Moore in dress blues and Kunis with her hand on her heart.

Moore said he felt bad for putting her on the spot, and that he had taken the best shot he could.

The Second Yes

Timberlake did not stop at giving advice. Cpl. Kelsey De Santis, a Marine based in Virginia, had invited him to her unit's ball with a YouTube video of her own, posted about two months earlier. He accepted, and went to her ball six days before Kunis went to Moore's.

He wrote afterward that it was "one of the most moving evenings I've ever had," and said he was more nervous than she was. He also noted that it is not every day he meets a 23-year-old Marine who is more worried about whether he is having fun.

Two celebrities said yes to two Marines because each had asked in the same way: by looking into a camera and simply asking.