Alex Carson
AT&T Commercials
AT&T does whatever they can to get people to use their service and buy their phones. Like most companies, they rely on advertising. Over the years, they have come out with plenty of commercials with various actors and actresses. One actress who starred in AT&T commercials is Milana Vayntrub, aka Lily. Here’s What You Never Knew About Lily From The Iconic AT&T Ads.
Milana Vayntrub
Milana was born in Tashkent, which is now known as Uzbekistan, the Soviet Socialist Republic. She and her Jewish parents came to the United States as refugees after fleeing due to religious persecution. She was very young when she came to the United States, and shortly after arriving, she started acting. And she was just two years old when he landed an appearance for Barbie commercials. Milana had some small roles in shows like ER, Days of Our Lives, and Lizzie McGuire.
Milana’s Education
Milana attended Beverly Hills High School, but she dropped out during her senior year. After getting her GED, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of San Diego. She never got rid of the acting, but that bit her as a child, and she started studying improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.
YouTube and More
Milana made a name for herself as one of the Live Prude Girls on the hit YouTube show. This led her to land small comedy roles and more substantial roles in This Is Us and Squirrel Girl in Marvel’s New Warriors. Unfortunately, the project didn’t work out, and there is no way of knowing if we will ever see the final product.
Catching AT&T’s Attention
Milana has excellent comic ability, which caught the eye of AT&T’s marketing execs. They called her in for a single commercial, and the ad was a huge hit. It gained so much attention that they kept calling Milana back to star in more commercials. Over time, she starred in 40 commercials. AT&T’s Vice President of Marketing, Valerie Vargas, spoke with Ad Week magazine about Milana, and she said, “The first spot was so successful for us that we thought, let’s do another one, and then another one, and then another one. It was so well received that we kept bringing her back.”
Amy Schumer
The ad execs and the public weren’t the only ones who loved Milana’s commercials. It also caught the attention of celebrities, including Amy Schumer. She liked the spots so much that she thought they were worth parodying. Some people loved Amy’s parody, but Milana herself didn’t. When speaking with Ad Weekly about the parody, she said, “The way that you’re going to portray this character is that you’re going to play her dumb? Well, that’s just lazy.” Milana made sure to point out that Lily wasn’t eye candy. People loved the character because of her sass and her brains. She says that she is proud of the character she helped to create.
CantDoNothing
Milana came to the United States as a refugee, and she knows how difficult it can be. In 2016, when things began falling apart in Syria, and the devastation reached a boiling point, Milana traveled to Greece. She went there to meet with the refugee families who were fleeing due to the Syrian Civil War. The trip made her want to do something, so she co-founded a website and a social media movement called #CantDoNothing. She wanted to put a spotlight on the European migrant crisis. Along with entrepreneur, Eron Zehavi, the charity is focused on helping everyday people make real change. The purpose of the charity and the social media movement is to raise awareness to get people to pay attention, volunteer, and donate money to the cause. This is a cause that is close to Milana’s heart, and she is very passionate about the cause.
What’s In Store For Milana?
We may not have seen Milana on television trying to sell AT&T products through her commercials, but this doesn’t mean that we have seen the last of her. She has amazing talent and great comedic timing. With the right project, Milana can really go far. Her main focus today is on her career and helping other refugees. With a talent like hers, you can expect pretty great things in the future. Her role as Squirrel Girl may be on the back burner for now, but she is still working.
In 2019, she appeared in Hot Chip’s video for their hit song, Hungry Child. Only time will tell how long it will be before we see her again, but you can be sure it will be soon. With a talent like hers, it is only a matter of time before we see her on television or the big screen. We may even see her on a few AT&T commercials this holiday season. You never know..
