NEW YORK (AP) - Ashton Kutcher wishes he had a rewind button. If he did, he would reset his career and stay under the radar.
“Sometimes as an actor I wish I could start my career over,” Kutcher said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, “where people don’t know anything about me and I’d never do an interview and I’d never do a talk show because I’d never want them to know anything about me.”
Kutcher’s theory is that the less people know about performers’ lives, the more believable they are as characters.
“Most people probably wouldn’t recognize Gary Oldman in his everyday life because they have no idea how he walks and how he talks. He’s such a chameleon from role to role. I think if you can do this job and be successful at the level of success you want to attain and do it without any of the fame - that would be the ultimate gig.”
Kutcher, 38, is married to his “That ’70s Show” co-star Mila Kunis. (The sitcom aired from 1998-2006.) They have a daughter, Wyatt, and Kunis is expecting their second child, a boy, later this year.
On his new Netflix comedy, “The Ranch,” Kutcher’s character, Colt Bennett, has an understanding of celebrity on a small scale. Colt was a high school and college football star who dreamed of going pro. Instead, he returns to his family’s ranch after it falls on hard times.
Danny Masterson, who was also on “That ’70s Show,” plays Kutcher’s brother on “The Ranch.” The second half of season one is streaming on Netflix.
Kutcher talked about reuniting with Masterson and his passion for investing.
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Associated Press: There must be a lot of familiarity and comfort working with Masterson, since you co-starred on “That ’70s Show” for eight seasons.
Kutcher: I know what he’s gonna do before he’s gonna do it, he knows what I’m gonna do, I know exactly how to set him up for a punchline, he knows how to set me up. We know how to play off each other and respect each other in the workplace. We also have this brutal honesty that we have with each other that you can’t have with someone new that you’re working with because I can tell him exactly what I think about what he’s gonna do, or what he is doing and he doesn’t get offended, and he can do the same with me.
AP: What’s it like reuniting when you’re both married and have children?
Kutcher: We’re both producers on ’The Ranch,’ and so as opposed to on ’That) ’70s Show’ when we were just kind of showing up for the gig and, you know, now we’re in charge. … When we were doing that show we were in our twenties and out partying every night and, you know, showing up hung over, whatever we were doing. Just trying to get to work. Now, instead of after the show having a party, our kids get together and run around the hallway together. (Laughs.)
AP: What can we expect from these new episodes of “The Ranch”?
Kutcher: After you establish the characters on a show, that’s when these shows start to hit their power alley, which is why I’m so excited. Now we get to be who we are.
AP: You also are known for your investments in companies like Uber and Airbnb. Where does that interest in investments come from? Are you always learning about new companies?
Kutcher: I’m learning every day. I would say any investor that doesn’t do that isn’t an investor. You’re constantly doing a deep dive into something you never would have thought about.
AP: You must get a lot of people coming to you and pitching their ideas.
Kutcher: Real entrepreneurs have always been entrepreneurs. They’ve always had some hustle or some game.
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Follow Alicia Rancilio at https://www.twitter.com/aliciar/
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