Apple Inc. (AAPL) – Q&A: Ashton Kutcher Talks About Becoming Steve Jobs

When he speaks about embodying the notoriously demanding Mac mastermind during a recent video conversation on Skype, in which Kutcher was an early investor, he’s resolute and thoughtful. It’s the antithesis of his goofball on-screen personas in TV series like That ’70s Show and Two and a Half Men and in films such as Dude, Where’s My Car? and What Happens in Vegas.

For Kutcher, he says it was imperative that he personify, not parody, the well-documented mannerisms of Jobs, who died in 2011 of pancreatic cancer and will also be profiled in an untitled Sony film by Aaron Sorkin. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak, who’s played by Josh Gad in Jobs, has been hired as an advisor on the upcoming Sorkin film.

With Jobs, Kutcher hopes his performance is as much a lesson about entrepreneurship to today’s youth as it a profile of a man who revolutionized technology.

AP: You don’t paint a spotless portrait of Steve Jobs in this film. How did you balance playing a man that’s obviously an icon but also has flaws like everyone else?

Kutcher: I think Steve cared about the end result and wasn’t worried about being liked and knew he would eventually be liked if his creations were properly executed. He was very blunt, but it’s because he cared. I tried to look at his faults as his gifts, and I tried to understand it and not judge it. I think the way that guy received love in life was by creating products that people loved, and when they loved the products, they thereby loved him.

AP: How did you mentally prepare for the scenes where Jobs goes into beast mode and he’s yelling and combative?

Kutcher: He was never just senselessly combative. I think there was something he desired, and he had a goal and passion for his consumers that were driving his frustration. He wanted the people around him to care as much about the result as he did. I think his frustration was in an effort to motivate people to care.