# Milana Vayntrub

Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub (/ˈvaɪntruːb/ VYNE-troob, Russian: Милана Александровна Вайнтруб; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. She began her career as a child actress and came to prominence for her appearances in AT&T television commercials as saleswoman Lily Adams from 2013 to 2016 and since 2020. In addition to her commercial appearances, she was a series regular on the Yahoo! Screen science fiction comedy Other Space (2015) and had a recurring role on the NBC drama This Is Us (2016–2017). Vayntrub has also voiced Squirrel Girl in the Marvel Rising franchise since 2018 after being cast as the character in the unaired television pilot for New Warriors, and later in the 2024 video game Marvel Rivals.

## Early life and education

Milana Vayntrub was born on March 8, 1987, to a secular Ashkenazi Jewish family in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then a Soviet republic. Her grandparents were from what is today Ukraine. When she was two years old, she and her parents immigrated to the United States as refugees from antisemitism, settling in West Hollywood, California. She started acting in Mattel Barbie commercials at the age of five, in part to mitigate her family's financial problems. Vayntrub dropped out of Beverly Hills High School after her sophomore year, obtained a GED, and went on to earn a BA in Communication from University of California, San Diego. She studied improv comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade.

## Career

Vayntrub made her acting debut appearing in three episodes of the NBC television series ER in 1995. She and Stevie Nelson teamed up to start the YouTube comedy channel Live Prude Girls where they produced a number of shorts. Live Prude Girls went on to be featured on NewMediaRockstars' Top 100 Channels countdown, ranked at number 93. Vayntrub has had small roles in film and television, including Life Happens and Silicon Valley. She has also starred in several CollegeHumor videos.
From 2013 to 2016, Vayntrub portrayed a saleswoman named Lily Adams in a series of TV commercials for AT&T. She returned to the role in 2020. She also portrayed Tina Shukshin as a series regular on the Yahoo! Screen series Other Space, created by Paul Feig, in 2015. The following year, she appeared in Feig's Ghostbusters reboot alongside Other Space cast members Neil Casey, Eugene Cordero, Bess Rous, and Karan Soni. Between 2016 and 2017, she appeared in the television series This Is Us, playing Sloane Sandburg. In July 2017, Vayntrub was cast in the lead role of Marvel Comics superheroine Squirrel Girl in the New Warriors television pilot for Freeform. Freeform ultimately passed on the series that November, and despite attempts to move the series to another network, it was ultimately cancelled. Despite the series' cancellation, Vayntrub voiced Squirrel Girl in the Marvel Rising franchise. She reprised the role for a six-episode scripted podcast from Marvel and Sirius XM titled Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show. Also in 2017, Vayntrub starred in the Eko interactive streaming television series That Moment When as Jill.
She starred in the film Mother's Little Helpers in 2019, which premiered at South by Southwest. In April 2020, Comedy Central's YouTube channel released three sketches starring Vayntrub and Akilah Hughes as part of a new digital sketch series called Making Fun With Akilah and Milana. She starred in the Quibi streaming television series Die Hart and in the short film The Shabbos Goy as Hannah, both released in July 2020. In 2022, she also played a leading role in Comedy Central's television film Out of Office.

## Activism

In January 2016, after visiting Greece and meeting with refugee families fleeing the Syrian Civil War, Vayntrub co-founded a website and social media movement called "Can't Do Nothing" to spotlight the European migrant crisis.
Vayntrub is pro-abortion rights, and she has stated that she aborted a pregnancy as a college student due to financial concerns.

## Personal life

In 2020, Vayntrub was subjected to a wave of online sexual harassment, some of it based on images of her that had been manipulated. The campaign began on an AT&T social media site, and the company came to her defense, stating "We will not tolerate the inappropriate comments and harassment of Milana Vayntrub, the talented actor that portrays Lily in our ads," and shut down comments. Vayntrub asked for the harassment to stop in an Instagram live stream, saying, "I'm hurting and it's bringing up, like, a lot of feelings of sexual assault."
Vayntrub is married and has a son, but has chosen to keep both of their names private.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011 | Life Happens | Tanya | |
| 2012 | Junk | Natasha | |
| 2015 | Wrestling Isn't Wrestling | The Ultimate Warrior | Short film |
| 2016 | Ghostbusters | Subway Rat Woman | |
| 2019 | Mother's Little Helpers | Lucy Pride | Also co-writer and co-producer |
| 2020 | The Shabbos Goy | Hannah | Short film |
| 2021 | Werewolves Within | Cecily | |
| 2024 | Bad Shabbos | Abby | |
| 2026 | Project Hail Mary | Annie Shapiro | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | ER | Tatiana | 3 episodes |
| 1997 | Days of Our Lives | Young Kristen | |
| 2001–2002 | Lizzie McGuire | Posse Member #1 / Cute Burper / Dancer | 3 episodes |
| 2004 | The Division | Katerina Ominsky | Episode: "Acts of Desperation" |
| 2012 | The League | Milana | Episode: "The Hoodie" |
| 2013 | Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous | Felcia | Episode: "Zach Stone Is Gonna Get Wild" |
| 2013 | Food Network Star | Video Caller | Episode: "4th of July Live" |
| 2013 | Key & Peele | Vampire | Episode: "Sexy Vampires" |
| 2014 | House of Lies | Christy | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Californication | Bad Actress | Episode: "Like Father Like Son" |
| 2014, 2016 | Silicon Valley | Tara | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Other Space | Tina Shukshin | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | Love | Natalie | 2 episodes |
| 2016, 2017 | @midnight | Herself | 7 episodes (July 22, August 17, 18, December 14 & February 13, 2017, March 29 & 30, 2017) |
| 2016–2017 | This Is Us | Sloane Sandburg | 8 episodes |
| 2017 | That Moment When | Jill | 7 episodes |
| 2018 | Marvel Rising: Initiation | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television short |
| 2018 | Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television film |
| 2018 | New Warriors | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Unaired pilot |
| 2018 | I Love You, America | Brambi Streeter | Episode: "Steve Schmidt" |
| 2018 | Dallas & Robo | Ellie (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 2018–2021 | Robot Chicken | Peppa Pig, Dino Daughter, Teenage Girl | Voice role; 3 episodes |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Chasing Ghosts | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television short |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television short |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television short |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Operation Shuri | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television short |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Playing with Fire | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Voice role; Television short |
| 2020 | Die Hart | Leah | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Out of Office | Eliza | Television film |
| 2024 | Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story | Pam Bozanich | 2 episodes |
| 2025 | Going Dutch | Celeste Shah | 1 episode |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011–2014 | CollegeHumor Originals | Various characters | 15 Episodes |
| 2011–2013 | Live Prude Girls (YouTube) | Herself, various characters | 36 Episodes |
| 2012 | Daddy Knows Best | Nancy | Episode: "Game Night" |
| 2016 | Jake and Amir Present: Lonely and Horny | Elana | 1 Episode |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Ultimate Comics | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | Episode 3: "Squirrel Girl" |
| 2020 | Making Fun With Akilah and Milana | Herself | 3 videos |
| 2022 | Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | 6 episodes |
| 2023 | Dirty Laundry | Herself | Season 2, Episode 10 |
| 2024 | Um, Actually | Herself | Season 9, Episode 9 |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2007 | "Can't Be Saved" | Senses Fail |
| 2011 | "Teenage Tide" | Letting Up Despite Great Faults |
| 2019 | "Hungry Child" | Hot Chip |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2022 | God of War Ragnarök | Lúnda | |
| 2024 | Marvel Rivals | Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl | |