HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 10, 2000 — Ashton Kutcher says he saved the world once.
He and co-star Seann William Scott were playing a scene with ostriches (don’t ask) on the set of their film “Dude, Where’s My Car?” when one of the 10-foot, 250-pound creatures broke loose and decided to charge them.
“For some reason they had elderly people and children that day,” the 22-year-old recalls with mock seriousness. “They charged and I grabbed a hold of it and stopped it … the whole crew was behind me.” You can almost see his chest puff out with pride. “These things are dinosaurs with feathers, man.”
While the story is true, Scott scoffs at the implications.
“These ostriches are big animals. One got loose, he put his arm out,” he says simply. “But it’s not like he saved the world … the county, maybe.”
All right, so maybe he’s not the hero he set out to be. But the Iowa farm boy certainly has other aspirations in mind. For instance: He may be one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors, but Kutcher thinks he may go back to biochemical engineering , which was his major at the University of Iowa.
“I’d still like to do it,” Kutcher muses. “I might once I get tired of [acting]. I kinda like to live my life like Forrest Gump; as soon as I conquer something, I want to go on and do something else … I really enjoyed it.”
But with a hit television series in Fox’s “That ’70s Show” and an upcoming feature role in “Texas Rangers” with James Van Der Beek and Dylan McDermott, biochemical engineering may have to wait even longer.
His current film could be a giant step in this direction. “Dude, Where’s My Car?” — a title that William H. Macy reportedly commented was the “best name of a film he’s ever seen” (sending the pair into a tizzy when they heard the praise) — is a buddy comedy in the tradition of “Dumb and Dumber” and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”
Jesse (Kutcher) and Chester (Scott) wake up and realize that they can’t remember anything from the night before. There’s a year’s supply of pudding in their refrigerator, and their girlfriends (Marla Sokoloff and Jennifer Garner) are mad at them for forgetting their anniversary.
They know the anniversary gifts are in Jesse’s car. Trouble is, they don’t know where Jesse’s car is. As the boys retrace their steps, they find that their adventure was far more elaborate than they anticipated.
Regardless of how “Dude” fares at the box office, Kutcher’s still got his day job on “That ’70s Show,” where he plays the lovable dim-bulb Michael Kelso. It has doomed him to forever wear his hair slightly shaggy, but it’s a small price to pay for the boy who once earned pocket cash sweeping cereal off the floor of the General Mills plant.
When a woman in a restaurant suggested that he enter a modeling contest, the then-19-year-old obliged — and won the Fresh Faces of Iowa competition, which led to a trip to the Big Apple and ads for Calvin Klein. That segued to a Pizza Hut commercial and a small film role, and soon the skinny kid from Iowa was on his way to Los Angeles.
He’s had roles in “Coming Soon“, “Down to You” and “Reindeer Games,” but it’s “That ’70s Show” that has given Kutcher name recognition and a spot on People’s 50 Most Beautiful People list last year.
“Texas Rangers,” set for release in early 2001, will show Kutcher in more serious terrain, but for now the actor is focused on honing his comic sensibilities on television, which he’s discovered is easier than doing it on film.
“It’s very difficult to judge [comedy] because you don’t have an audience right there to judge it, and they on the set can’t laugh, so you’re not sure,” Kutcher says of his film experience.
“[But] if the camera guy’s head is [shaking], then it’s all right.”
“Dude, Where’s My Car?” opens Dec. 15.
