Milana Vayntrub

Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; 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 and had a recurring role on the NBC drama This Is Us (2016–2017).

Vayntrub was cast as Squirrel Girl in the unaired live-action Marvel Television pilot for New Warriors. Since 2018, she has since voiced Squirrel Girl in several Marvel-related media such as the animated franchise Marvel Rising, as well as the 2024 video game Marvel Rivals.

Early life Milana Vayntrub was born on March 8, 1987, to a secular Jewish family in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR (today Uzbekistan). Her grandparents were from what later became 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 age 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 then earned 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. Vayntrub has had small roles in film and television, including Life Happens and Silicon Valley. She has also starred in several CollegeHumor videos. 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. 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 SiriusXM 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.

In 2026, she played Olesya Ilyukhina, a Russian engineer and cosmonaut, in Project Hail Mary.

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.

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 that the harassment stop in an Instagram live stream, saying: "I'm hurting and it's bringing up, like, a lot of feelings of sexual assault."

Filmography Film Year TitleRole 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 Moore 2024 Bad Shabbos Abby 2026 Project Hail Mary Olesya Ilyukhina

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" Food Network Star Video Caller Episode: "4th of July Live" Key & Peele Vampire Episode: "Sexy Vampires" 2014 House of Lies Christy 2 episodes 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 Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors Voice role; Television film New Warriors Unaired pilot I Love You, America Brambi Streeter Episode: "Steve Schmidt" 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 Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands Marvel Rising: Operation Shuri Marvel Rising: Playing with Fire 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 Episode: "Born on the Third of July"

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" Kingpin Katie News Anchor Episode: "The Breakup" 2019–2021 Dad Feels Diane 7 episodes 2020Making 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 Notes 2007 "Can't Be Saved" Senses Fail 2011 "Teenage Tide" Letting Up Despite Great Faults 2019 "Hungry Child" Hot Chip

Video games Year TitleRole Notes 2022 God of War Ragnarök Lúnda 2024 Marvel Rivals Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl