The Transformation Of Ashton Kutcher
The following article includes mentions of suicide and sexual assault.
Whether you're a fan of noughties goofball comedies, celebrities getting pranked, or star-studded rom-coms, odds are you're familiar with Ashton Kutcher's work. He's had an impressive 25-year career that's spanned acting, producing, writing, and even investing in tech, earning himself an impressive $200 million net worth while somehow maintaining his lovable charm along the way.
The odds weren't always in Kutcher's favor, as the "That '70s Show" star endured tragedy from an early age, but he's overcome tremendous obstacles to become the icon he is today. In August 2013, during his Teen Choice Awards acceptance speech, Kutcher explained how he was able to go from dishwashing and janitorial jobs to acting on screen. "I believe that opportunity looks a lot like hard work. ... I've never had a job in my life that I'm better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job. And I never quit my job until I had my next job," he said.
With this mentality, Kutcher has had an incredible transformation. From his humble beginnings in Iowa to his career in Hollywood, and branching out into other ventures, the actor has not only been lucky in terms of the opportunities that have come his way, but he's also worked extremely hard to get to where he is today.
Ashton Kutcher grew up in Iowa
Christopher Ashton Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on February 7, 1978. He grew up with his twin brother Michael, who was born with cerebral palsy, as well as his sister Tausha. The actor was very close with his brother, describing their relationship as "enmeshed" while speaking on Kerry Washington's podcast "Street You Grew Up On" in July 2022. Kutcher spoke fondly of his upbringing, but added that there were some difficulties along the way. "So after my parents got divorced, my mom decided she was gonna move with my stepdad ... " he said.
Kutcher and his twin brother moved with them out to the countryside, but there was another major shift that occurred around this time. When he and his brother were in eighth grade, it was discovered that Michael's heart had enlarged to four times its normal size and he was diagnosed with viral myocarditis. There was a point where Kutcher considered taking his own life so he could donate his own heart to his brother, but a donor was eventually found and he thankfully underwent a successful operation. However, the brothers' bond was different afterwards. Kutcher continued, "After his heart transplant, he was in the hospital for like a year. ... I think he came out of it and decided to find a new identity for himself."
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He got into trouble in high school
While Ashton Kutcher may be a celebrated Hollywood icon today, maybe even a role model for some, he was far from a shining example when he was a teenager. While in high school, the "Jobs" actor had a knack for drama studies, but he was caught drinking and got kicked out of the school play. This was far from his biggest offense, though.
Kutcher was arrested and charged with a felony — third-degree burglary — when he was caught breaking into his high school. He lived in a small town, so naturally, everyone knew about what he'd done. Looking back on his delinquencies made him cringe while speaking with Esquire in January 2023. He compared the fallout of the incident to the time he was rumored to have cheated on Demi Moore and the gossip columns were having a field day with him. "Feeling it again at 32 is, oof. It's humiliating and embarrassing," Kutcher explained. The actor later added, "You own the s*** you did wrong, and you go forward."
Ashton Kutcher studied biomedical engineering in college
Believe it or not, Ashton Kutcher didn't set out with the goal of becoming an actor. He had intended to enroll at either MIT or Purdue University, but after breaking into his high school, everything changed. "[After the felony offense] my girlfriend broke up with me. Then I lost my college scholarships and got kicked out of the National Honor Society and the choir and the play," Kutcher told The Seattle Times in September 2006. He was intent on going to college, though, so the actor began attending the University of Iowa in 1996. Kutcher studied biomedical engineering, with the hope of becoming a geneticist so he could find a cure for his brother's heart disease.
Because he lost his scholarships, he worked and paid for his tuition out of pocket. As it turns out, it was because of these exact circumstances Kutcher was able to pursue his passion for acting. In speaking with Newsweek in October 2019, the "Just Married" star explained, "I was interested in what I was studying. ... [But] I had an opportunity, and because I had a job throughout all of high school, saved up some money and wasn't in extreme college debt ... I was able to take the risk."
He became a model at 19
Ashton Kutcher was just 19 when he met a woman at a bar who would forever change the course of his life. While on Kerry Washington's "Street You Grew Up On" podcast in July 2022, he told the story of how he was discovered. "I was going to college, and this woman came up to me, and she's like, 'Have you ever thought about being a model?' And I was like, 'What? No.' Fabio was my version of a male model, and I'm like, 'I'm not Fabio,'" Kutcher explained. However, he told the woman that he had thought of becoming an actor, to which she replied, "Modeling is a great way to get into acting."
Ultimately, Kutcher decided to take her up on her offer to help him and enrolled in a modeling contest at the mall. He won, which secured the young star a trip to New York for another modeling competition. Kutcher arrived in the Big Apple, securing second place with Josh Duhamel snagging first. Despite the loss, he realized his potential and got himself an agent. In no time, Kutcher was on his way to stardom.
Ashton Kutcher landed his breakout role in his first week of auditioning
Following his modeling stint in New York, Ashton Kutcher moved to Los Angeles to give his acting career a go. Like many parents of performers, his dad was concerned about this decision, as Kutcher said on the "Street You Grew Up On" podcast, "I called my dad, and I was like, 'I'm not coming home.' He's like, 'Get on a plane. You're crazy. This is a bad idea.'"
Kutcher quickly proved that he'd made the right call, as he secured his breakout role within his first week of auditions in La La Land. It was an incredible stroke of luck that he became Michael Kelso on "That '70s Show," his most memorable role, in 1998 with absolutely no prior professional acting experience to back him. He stayed on the show for all eight seasons as the slow-witted character, and as it did with most of the cast of "That '70s Show," the series set him up for a long-standing career (as well as a multimillion dollar annual salary).
Ashton Kutcher rose to fame in the early '00s
With a couple of seasons of "That '70s Show" under his belt, Ashton Kutcher utilized his dim-witted character work and good looks toward launching his movie career. His first film credit was for 1999's rom-com "Coming Soon," which demonstrated his potential in the genre. Following the success of "Dude, Where's My Car?" Kutcher became a rising star and briefly fell into the trap of typecasting.
He continued playing similar characters throughout the early '00s, including movies like "Just Married" alongside Brittany Murphy and "My Boss's Daughter," playing Tara Reid's character's love interest. However, by 2004 Kutcher was able to prove he had more range when he starred in "The Butterfly Effect." The actor spoke about working on a dramatic role compared to his usual comedic projects while speaking with Hollywood.com at the time.
"They're equally difficult for different reasons. ... How many times can you tell the same joke and have it be funny? ... Playing the dramatic characters involves going into the places where you've loved the most and bringing that forward and studying the tiny character traits and the tiny affectations that people actually have," he explained.
He created Punk'd in 2003
If there's one other thing besides the '70s that Ashton Kutcher's name has become synonymous with, it's celebrity pranks. He became one of the OG "pranks for content" creators when he came up with the idea for "Punk'd," a hidden camera show which he and Jason Goldberg brought to MTV in 2003. The following year, Kutcher acknowledged the show's absurdity in speaking with "60 Minutes Australia," saying, "That was like a brain fart idea. ... You shouldn't be able to come up with an idea that's that stupid and simple ... and then actually make it into a TV show that people like," he said.
The actor's time on the show ended in 2012, though it remained on air for another few years. In July 2022, Kutcher explained to Extra TV why he'd never return to the show. "For a long time, I would go out and like nobody would want to hang out. They were like, 'I am not messing with him.' It's nice to have friends," he remarked. In 2020, "Punk'd" returned with Chance the Rapper taking over for Kutcher as host.
Ashton Kutcher married Demi Moore in 2005
He was slowly making a name for himself in Hollywood when the then-25-year-old Ashton Kutcher started dating Demi Moore, who was 15 years his senior, in May 2003. Their relationship became the subject of the gossip columns quickly, with their age gap fueling much of the controversy.
In September 2006, just one year after tying the knot with Moore, Kutcher told The Seattle Times that his decision to get married was "absolutely 100% illogical." He went on to elaborate, "I was 25 years old. I'm hosting 'Saturday Night Live.' I'm on the cover of Rolling Stone. I've got the number one movie in America (Just Married'). Let's tie myself down! Let me really get tied down, right now!"
In 2010, rumors began to circulate that Kutcher had been unfaithful to Moore. Initially, the couple denied having any issues, but they split up the following year with their divorce finalized in November 2013. Many years later, Moore confirmed in her 2019 memoir "Inside Out" that all the rumors of Kutcher's cheating had been true.
He replaced Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men
When "Two and a Half Men" premiered on CBS in 2003, it quickly gained popularity, and soon upwards of 28 million viewers watched weekly. Charlie Sheen led the sitcom, alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, for eight seasons until he was fired in 2011 for controversial statements made about drugs and against the show's producer Chuck Lorre. But, what was Sheen's failure was Ashton Kutcher's opportunity, as he was hired to replace him in Season 9.
In a statement released by CBS via ABC News, which announced that Kutcher would be joining the cast, the actor remarked, "I can't replace Charlie Sheen but I'm going to work my ass off to entertain the hell out of people!"
Sheen released his own statement, making his feelings about being cut from the show more than clear. "Kutcher is a sweetheart and a brilliant comedic performer. ... Oh wait, so am I! Enjoy planet Chuck [Lorre], Ashton. There is no air, laughter, loyalty, or love there," it said. Kutcher played Walden Schmidt until "Two and a Half Men" ended in 2015.
Ashton Kutcher reconnected with Mila Kunis in 2012
Everyone shipped Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis together long before they were an item — and before they even legally could be, as she was just 14 and he was 20 when they landed their roles on "That '70s Show." Their characters dated off and on, so naturally, they shared their first kiss while filming in 1998.
Fast forward to January 2012, and Kutcher was newly separated from Demi Moore when he and his former castmate got together. While on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in February 2023, the "Jobs" actor told the story of how he drunkenly told Kunis he loved her for the first time. "I came into her house and I was singing this Kenny Chesney song. ... I told her that I love her, and I meant it when I said it. And she was like, 'Just ... say that in the morning.' And then [when] I woke her up, I was like, 'Hey, I love you.'"
The Hollywood stars got engaged in February 2014 and announced one month later that they were expecting. Kutcher and Kunis became parents in October 2014 when their daughter Wyatt was born, and after they married in 2015, their son Dimitri arrived in November 2016. During a February 2023 interview with People, Kutcher spoke about how fatherhood is suiting him, saying, "For me, the number one role I will ever play is to be a father. It's the most important role in my life."
He starred on The Ranch with Danny Masterson
Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson were co-stars on "That '70s Show" and had been friends for years, so they had their rapport to lean on when they reunited for Netflix's "The Ranch" in 2016. It was a different type of show for Kutcher, who served as the lead character and executive producer. It was far from the lighthearted sitcom style of "That '70s Show" with more dramatic acting, and it received an overall positive rating from viewers.
In speaking on Marc Maron's "WTF" (1:19:21) podcast in February 2020, Kutcher explained why they had decided to end the show after four seasons. "The story was told ... I've been on shows where you keep going and you keep going and then you've got a brother who's a gorilla," he said, referring to an episode of "Two and a Half Men."
They were in the middle of filming "The Ranch" when allegations about Masterson came to light, and he was subsequently fired from the show. When he stood trial, Kutcher and Mila Kunis wrote letters to the judge defending his character, and the internet turned on them pretty quickly. Masterson was sentenced in September 2023 to 30 years to life for raping two women in the early '00s.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Ashton Kutcher was diagnosed with vasculitis in 2019
Migraines aren't necessarily uncommon for Ashton Kutcher to get, but when he woke up with one back in 2019 and it persisted, he knew something was off. Issues with his vision and hearing meant he struggled to walk, and he revealed that he was eventually "diagnosed with a rare form of [autoimmune] vasculitis," per MedPage Today.
It took Kutcher a year to recover from his symptoms, which he was able to hide from the public because it was during the pandemic. Once he finally recovered, he set off on experiencing as much as he could, from traveling to Antarctica to climbing and running a marathon.
Kutcher hadn't intended for the world to know about the details of his health scare, but while filming an episode of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge," he told the host about what he'd gone through. Despite requesting that the footage not be used, their conversation aired in August 2022 and the actor had to make peace with the fact that his diagnosis was now common knowledge. "At the end of the day, I have to look at it and be like, 'All right, well, maybe it needed to come out.' Maybe somebody will see this and go, 'Oh this is helpful for me in some way knowing this. ... Hopefully that happens," Kutcher said in his January 2023 interview with Esquire.
Ashton Kutcher made some wise investments
He's more than just an actor, writer, producer, husband, and father. Ashton Kutcher embarked on yet another career path, this time in venture-capital investing. In 2010, he and Guy Oseary formed A-Grade Investments and made some wise investments early on in startups like Skype, Uber, Spotify, and many more. With the backing of billionaire Ron Burkle, the pair founded Sound Ventures LLC, a venture capital firm managing a portfolio of assets with a value of up to $1 billion.
In May 2023, it was announced that Kutcher had helped raise a $243 million investment fund in a matter of weeks, which he intended to invest into tech companies — more specifically, AI startups. "We've been investing in AI for the last seven years. But when we saw GPT [being] launched, we realized that this was an absolute breakthrough," the actor told Fortune at the time.
If you're wondering why you've been seeing less of Kutcher, this second income might be why. Not only is he busy keeping his finger on the pulse, but he's making plenty of money outside of his Hollywood career. "Now I can just worry about playing roles that I want to play," he told Esquire in January 2023. He later added, "I'm hankering to find something fun," which was the mentality that led him to star opposite Reese Witherspoon in "Your Place or Mine" later that year.