Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect, 2004.

Ashton Kutcher (born Christopher Ashton Kutcher on February 7 1978) is an American actor, former male fashion model and television producer.

Biography

Early life

Christopher Ashton Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Larry Kutcher (an employee of General Mills) and Diane (who worked for Procter & Gamble); he has Irish, Native American and Bohemian ancestry. Kutcher has an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who suffers from cerebral palsy and had a heart transplant at age thirteen immediately after cardiomyopathy-induced seizure. Kutcher desperately considered committing suicide so that Michael could have his heart, but luckily a doctor rushed in and announced that a woman died in Georgia in a car accident, and the operation successfully went forward.

Kutcher grew up on a farm in rural Homestead, Iowa. As a teen, he worked as a floor sweeper for a General Mills plant, and once donated blood for money. Kutcher, whose brother's condition caused much stress in the family and eventually his parents' divorce, said in USA Weekend, "I saw some stuff I probably shouldn't have seen, and I didn't want to be involved, and I didn't want to have to take a side. I didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother ... I kept myself so busy that I didn't allow myself to feel." He attended Clear Creek-Amana high school, where he was an avid competitor in soccer and wrestling, and took part in every play the school staged. He was expelled from the school for underaged drinking and was arrested at age 18 for breaking into the school with a friend and stealing money from a vending machine. Kutcher majored in biochemical engineering and was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity at the University of Iowa. In 1997, he dropped out in order to pursue a modeling career, some of which involved working in underwear ads. Because there were already several well-known models named Chris, Kutcher was asked to use "Ashton" as his professional name.

Career as actor

After some success in modeling, Kutcher had planned to move to Hollywood, but was asked to return to college by his mother. However, a month later, he was discovered in a bar in Iowa City, Iowa and cast as "Michael Kelso" in the television series That '70s Show, which became a success. He left the show (along with Topher Grace) before the last season to pursue other interests. Kutcher achieved some stardom and was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001), he starred in a few financially successful comedic films, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003) and Guess Who (2005). In addition, he appeared in the film Cheaper By The Dozen as Piper Perabo's boyfriend Hank, a self-obssessed actor who values his talents and good looks above his girlfriends' family, quite a contrast from the goofy yet well-intentioned funnymen he used to play. His 2004 film, The Butterfly Effect, was an unusually dramatic role for Kutcher as a conflicted young man, and it was also deemed a box office success.

Kutcher recently filmed The Guardian, a thriller co-starring Kevin Costner, in which the two play United States Coast Guard rescue swimmers who are involved in a deadly race for their lives.[1]

Career as producer

In 2003, Kutcher used his status as a television star to produce and star in his own series on MTV's Punk'd. The series involves various hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities which at times leads to behind-the-scenes controversy; not all celebrities are good humored about being pranked by Ashton's television show. Kutcher is also the producer of the reality television show Beauty and the Geek, which began in 2005.

Kutcher and Demi Moore on SNL, poking fun at their age difference

Personal life

Kutcher has dated a variety of celebrities, including actresses January Jones (from 1998 to 2001), Ashley Scott (from 2001 to 2002), Monet Mazur (2002) and his Just Married co-star, Brittany Murphy, whom he dated from 2002 to 2003. Following his break-up with Murphy in mid-2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore; the media was fascinated with their age difference. Both would eventually spoof the public's fascination with their age difference during a monologue on the March 19, 2005 episode of Saturday Night Live. Kutcher, who served as guest host, brought Moore on stage while Moore was made up to appear like an old woman who constantly babied Kutcher and mentioned that she likes it "up the bum". Moore and Kutcher were married on Saturday, September 24, 2005 in a lavish, private ceremony conducted by a rabbi of the Jewish Kabbalah; the wedding was attended by about 100 close friends and family, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband.

Both Kutcher and Moore are followers of Kabbalah, the mystical off-shoot of Judaism. Kutcher has been reported to celebrate traditional Jewish holidays Staff writer (2005) "Ashton Kutcher , Demi Moore have a blast on Kabbalah holiday!" �UNIQ3b8004d22fbe994c-HTMLCommentStrip3826ff77c59647d00000001Yahoo! News India by taking time off from filming Staff writer (2005). "Ashton Kutcher Joins Kabbalah" FemaleFirst.co.uk (accessed April 26, 2006), and was married in a Kabbalistic ceremony. Kutcher became the stepfather of Moore's three daughters from her previous marrige with Bruce Willis. [2]

Kutcher is good friends with his former That '70s Show costars/Punk'd victims Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama. Kutcher also owns an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles named Dolce (other owners include Masterson and Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant Geisha House (which Kutcher introduced during the Punk'd Season 4 premiere, and the site of actress Salma Hayek's appearance on Punk'd, which Kutcher helped Hayek's friend, Penélope Cruz, with the bathroom trick). He also maintains a close friendship with Seann William Scott.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	The Guardian	Jake Fischer	in production
2006	Open Season	Elliot	(voice-over)
2005	A Lot Like Love	Oliver Martin
2005	Guess Who	Simon Green	also producer
2004	The Butterfly Effect	Evan Treborn	also executive producer
2003	Cheaper by the Dozen	Hank	(uncredited)
	My Boss's Daughter	Tom Stansfield
	Just Married	Tom Leezak
2001	Texas Rangers	George Durham
2000	Dude, Where's My Car?	Jesse Montgomery III	first lead role
2000	Down to You	Jim Morrison

Awards

Kids' Choice Awards
*2005 - Favorite TV Actor for "That '70s Show" and "Punk'd" - Nominated
*2004 - Favorite Movie Actor for Just Married, My Boss's Daughter and Cheaper by the Dozen - Nominated
*2004 - Favorite Television Actor for "That '70s Show" and "Punk'd"Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award
*2000 - Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer for "Dude, Where's My Car?" - NominatedMTV Movie Awards
*2001 - Breakthrough Male Performance for "Dude, Where's My Car?" - Nominated