In Profile: Ashton Kutcher

Christopher Ashton Kutcher was born in Iowa on 7th February 1978 with twin brother Michael, older sister Tausha and a webbed foot. He spent his childhood in the town of Cedar Rapids, making his acting debut in seventh grade in school play ‘The Crying Princess and the Golden Goose.’

When he was 13, Kutcher’s parents divorced and, coincidentally, his brother had to have a heart transplant to remedy a septal heart defect. He has since revealed that he thought of throwing himself from a balcony when he arrived at the University of Iowa Hospital to find Michael’s heart temporarily stopped in order to give his brother his healthy heart. Michael’s troubles spurred Ashton on to study Biochemical Engineering at the University of Iowa in the hope of helping people with the same condition.

In 1997 he was spotted at a restaurant by an agent who suggested he entered the Fresh Faces of Iowa modelling competition, which he went on to win. He then gave up on study and headed to New York where he was signed by a top agency, modelling for the likes of Calvin Klein.

In 1998 Ashton decided to go for some auditions for TV shows, one of the first being for That ‘70s Show. He succeeded in the audition for the comedy, giving him a fortunate big break playing Michael Kelso. Kutcher stayed with the show until this year, now only making guest appearances in the eighth season.

As well as TV, Ashton began to make a name for himself on the big screen including Coming Soon, Reindeer Games and the pretty awful Dude, Where’s My Car, before co-creating the MTV prank show Punk’d which he has hosted and written since, luring unsuspecting celebrities into hilarious situations.

In between all this he’s found time to appear in commercials for Pizza Hut and Gap clothing, and even promised to model underwear for Calvin Klein if his latest film, A Lot About Love managed to get to number one in the US box office chart. Unfortunately for fans, it was held off the top spot by The Interpreter.

Those more acquainted with Ashton in underwear include Demi Moore, his current and relatively long-lasting love interest. The pair have recently denied frequent press rumours of impending marriage. Past flames include Brittany Murphy, whom he met on the set of Just Married.

Kutcher’s most recent endeavour, which he executive produces, is Beauty And The Geek, an unscripted reality show putting mismatched brainy geeks with beautiful women.

Ashton, owner of the ‘Dolce’ restaurant in Los Angeles, has two projects lined up. First, he is lending his voice to Open Season, an animated tale of a deer and a domesticated grizzly bear. Next will come The Guardian with Kevin Costner.

A Lot Like Love is released in the UK, with no promises of underwear, on June 24.