Kutcher was born and raised in Homestead, Iowa, where he lived on a farm with his parents, older sister and twin brother. To finance the cost of his education as a biochemical engineer at the University of Iowa, Ashton worked his way through school as a cereal dust sweeper at the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids. When he was in college, he was discovered by a modeling scout, who encouraged him to enter a modeling contest. He won and not long after, he was living in New York, modeling for Calvin Klein. He then pursued his interest in acting. In no time he was doing the grand circuit – Paris and Milan – and strutting for big names like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Versace. But Kutcher always had his eyes aimed at another city: L.A.
In 1998, he auditioned for two upcoming TV shows: Wind on Water and That ’70s Show. Amazed that he was offered major roles in both, Ashton struggled to choose one. He finally went with Kelso, a decision he certainly celebrated when Wind on Water was canceled shortly after its premiere. That ’70s Show, on the other hand, became a Nielsen hit. While he was becoming a star to look out for on TV, Kutcher started small on the big screen, with roles opposite James Van Der Beek and Dylan McDermott in “Texas Rangers,” which followed his memorable starring turn in the hit comedy, “Dude, Where’s My Car?” with Sean William Scott. Also co-starred with Brittany Murphy in Just Married (2003). A self-described workaholic, he starred in and co-produced My Boss’s Daughter, with Tara Reid as his love interest.
Most recently, he was seen as Jim Morrison in “Down to You (2000)” starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles. He had a cameo in “Reindeer Games (2000)” starring Ben Affleck and Gary Sinise, directed by John Frankenheimer, and he also appears in the independent feature “Coming Soon” opposite Gaby Hoffman. After a bit part in 2003’s holiday comedy remake, Cheaper by the Dozen, Ashton co-starred with Amy Smart in the hit 2004 thriller, The Butterfly Effect, for which he also served as executive producer. In 2005, you can catch him in A Lot Like Love and The Dinner Party (which he is also producing), and he is set to lend his voice to the animated feature Open Season, to be released in 2006. And if that’s not enough, he hosts and produces MTV’s Punk’d, which has carried his name even farther.