Most people don't pay very much attention to the actors in commercials, even if those commercials become impossible to forget. However, the actress behind AT&T girl Lilly, Milana Vayntrub, is certainly worth your attention. Though she's best known for her work on the AT&T commercials, Vayntrub has a long and interesting career in Hollywood. With her expert comedic timing, memorable on-screen presence, and, yes, her newfound commercial fame, it seems like the sky's the limit for Vayntrub. But it wasn't always easy for the young actress to know what she wanted to do with her life. Check out the stunning transformation of Milana Vayntrub.
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00:00Most know Milana Vayntrub as the AT&T girl, Lily, but the actress is much more than her
00:06role in those widely popular commercials. Here's how Milana Vayntrub has transformed
00:11over the years.
00:13To look at Milana Vayntrub, it's pretty obvious that the actor is stunning. But what you might
00:17not know is that she wasn't born in the United States. In fact, her family had a difficult
00:22time trying to get to America when she was just a baby. Vayntrub was actually born in
00:27the Soviet Union — in Uzbekistan, to be exact — and came to the United States as
00:31a refugee when she was just a toddler.
00:33"'L.A.' has probably a pretty substantial Uzbek population."
00:38Vayntrub has been open about her family's struggle to come to America, and how grateful
00:42she is that they did. In an interview with Elite Daily, Vayntrub had this to say,
00:48"'Once here, my parents worked their butts off to give me a good education and upbringing.
00:53They did a great job.'"
00:54Additionally, Vayntrub has expressed her gratitude to her mother for taking care of her and immigrating
01:00to a new country, writing on Instagram,
01:02"'Hey Ma, thanks for lugging my chubby cheeks to America.'"
01:06Obviously, you know Vayntrub from her flawless work in the AT&T commercials. But her acting
01:12skills extend far beyond the reaches of those advertisements. In fact, Vayntrub started
01:17appearing in commercials when she was still a young child, and has been acting ever since.
01:22Of course, Vayntrub isn't quite like the other child stars of the early 90s, as she didn't
01:27have a recurring role on a popular show like Full House or Shoot to Stardom from her childhood
01:32acting. Still, considering she was new to the United States as a little girl, her roles
01:37back then are remarkable.
01:39According to her IMDb page, Vayntrub's first official role was in 1995, when she played
01:44Tatiana on three episodes of ER. Vayntrub was only 8 years old at the time of her TV
01:50debut on the popular medical drama.
01:53Milana Vayntrub might not be a household name, but that isn't to say that the actor hasn't
01:58been working hard in the industry for most of her life. Vayntrub actually made a reputation
02:03for herself when she was young for appearing in dramatic shows, even though she considers
02:07herself more of a comedic actor. Just a year after Vayntrub's acting career officially
02:12took off with her part in ER, she landed another role without even trying.
02:17In 1996, Vayntrub appeared in three episodes of Days of Our Lives as a young Kristen Blake.
02:23When asked about her time on the show, Vayntrub told Esquire,
02:27"...I actually don't have tons of memories from it. I played someone in a flashback version.
02:32I ended up not auditioning for that. They just called me after they saw me on ER to
02:36do that."
02:37Though Vayntrub had a pretty successful career for someone so young, it wasn't all that easy
02:42for her to get where she is today. For the most part, after her roles in ER and Days
02:47of Our Lives, Vayntrub actually only appeared in a few projects, mostly shorts here and
02:52there. And there's a reason why it seems like she practically disappeared from Hollywood
02:56for a while. She did.
02:58As Vayntrub explained to Esquire, she just needed a little break from acting.
03:02"...I stopped around middle school and high school because I remember thinking, I should
03:06probably focus on something more realistic."
03:09But obviously, Vayntrub would find her way back to acting eventually, though it took
03:14a few years. Vayntrub told Esquire,
03:16"...I went to UC San Diego and I didn't really like the school or anything."
03:20Vayntrub went on to explain that she ended up enjoying the school's theater program,
03:24which, of course, led her back to acting.
03:28Vayntrub first got her start as AT&T girl Lily Adams in 2013. In case you were wondering
03:34just how Vayntrub feels about filming AT&T commercials, she's basically had an overall
03:39positive experience. Still, Vayntrub was pretty honest about how making the commercials wasn't
03:44exactly like creating a Sundance film, and the way she described it certainly sounds
03:48efficient.
03:49In an interview with PopSugar, Vayntrub said filming the commercials went by pretty quickly.
03:54She also didn't have to memorize many lines. Vayntrub told PopSugar,
03:58"...the AT&T spots were one page of dialogue a day, and often, the camera didn't have to
04:03move too much on the AT&T spot, so we kind of had a day of just shooting new 30-second
04:08spots in every different iteration."
04:11Just like Vayntrub's career extends far beyond her role as the AT&T girl, so do her passions.
04:17Not only is Vayntrub talented and funny, but she also has a big heart, and cares about
04:22helping people.
04:24As a refugee herself, it's no wonder that Vayntrub is passionate about the Syrian refugee
04:28crisis. That said, once she learned about the true extent of the crisis, she did what
04:33she could to help. In an interview with Elite Daily, Vayntrub explained that after seeing
04:38the crisis for herself on a visit to Greece, she decided to take action.
04:42"...because the country is experiencing not only a huge financial turmoil, but also a
04:47giant influx of refugees that they can't support."
04:52Vayntrub told Elite Daily,
04:53"...I just felt like I couldn't not do something. Can't do nothing so summarizes how it felt
04:58for me. Even if it's just me being there, just me hugging people or changing diapers,
05:04I could do that, and maybe we'd make a difference in the world."
05:08Riding the high of her new, easily recognizable role in the AT&T commercials, it seems that
05:13Vayntrub was able to book more and more roles. Fortunately for Vayntrub, being the AT&T girl
05:18didn't typecast her, as she soon was able to work on an exciting project.
05:23In 2017, Vayntrub landed a role in the series That Moment When, an interactive show from
05:29the streaming website Eko. And in an interview with PopSugar, Vayntrub explained that the
05:34series was loads of fun to film.
05:36"...Most of it is scripted, and then we improvise on top. There's always a script, and it was
05:41always stellar and totally carried itself."
05:44Milana Vayntrub may be best known as the AT&T girl. However, her resume is filled with various
05:50other impressive projects she's worked on, such as a recurring role on a certain hit
05:55TV series. From 2016 to 2017, Vayntrub starred in eight episodes of the beloved NBC drama
06:03This Is Us. She played Sloane Sandberg, a playwright and love interest for the series'
06:08main character Kevin Pearson. Obviously, This Is Us is a popular series, so Vayntrub's role
06:14on the show probably made her pretty proud.
06:17At this point, it's pretty obvious that Milana Vayntrub can't be pigeonholed. The talented
06:21actor can apparently go from sweet AT&T salesperson to complex love interest to animated comic
06:28book character. In 2018 and 2019, Vayntrub starred as Squirrel Girl in the miniseries
06:35Marvel Rising, Initiation, along with the two TV movies Marvel Rising, Secret Warriors
06:41and Marvel Rising, Chasing Ghosts.
06:44"...Squirrel Girl! Let's get noise!"
06:49For comic book fans, Vayntrub's portrayal of Squirrel Girl was a perfect fit, something
06:54the actor herself even noticed. During an interview at 2019's WonderCon, Vayntrub had
07:00this to say,
07:01"...I'm very like Squirrel Girl, truly. In fact, when I read her, when I read the comics
07:06before any of this, I felt like she talks like I talk. And so, as a voice actor, I don't
07:12have to do too much to make her more like myself."
07:14This is yet another example of how acting has come so naturally to Vayntrub, even something
07:19as difficult as voice acting, since you can't use facial expressions to get your point across.
07:25Milana Vayntrub is obviously gorgeous, but she is so much more than just a pretty face,
07:30and that's something she wants to make very clear. Because of comments people online made
07:35about Vayntrub's body in the AT&T commercials, she took to Instagram Live to explain how
07:39the hurtful words affected her mental health.
07:42As Deadline reported, Vayntrub didn't back down when it came to the comments made about
07:46her body, and for her, even positive comments were troubling to hear. Vayntrub said in the
07:52video,
07:53"...but all of these comments. It hurts my feelings. I'm hurting and it's bringing up,
07:57like, a lot of feelings of sexual assault."
08:00Vayntrub isn't afraid to stick up for herself, and as sad as it is that she needed to at
08:05all, it's great that she put those trolls in their place.
08:08Though more known as an actress, Milana Vayntrub does a lot more than just act. According to
08:14her IMDb page, she's also written, produced, and directed. In fact, she's even directed
08:19commercials for AT&T. Clearly, Vayntrub is a woman of many talents, and Vayntrub isn't
08:25afraid to brag about those skills. Taking to Twitter, she let her followers know why
08:29a certain directorial decision was made in the AT&T commercials. Vayntrub wrote on Twitter,
08:35"...been getting a lot of, why are they placing her body like that in those ads? Well, I direct
08:42I place myself like that. And it's because of the thousands of unwelcome comments I receive
08:46about my body. You've lost the privilege of looking at it until I feel safe again."
08:51Honestly, good for Milana Vayntrub for continuing to stand up for herself and for directing
08:56her own commercials. If that's not impressive, then what is?