shton Kutcher's rise to stardom sounds like a Hollywood movie. After winning a beauty contest in 1997 ("The Fresh Faces of Iowa"), he left the tiny town of Homestead (population: 100) to pursue modeling and, later, acting. In one of his first auditions, he landed the role of the goofy Michael Kelso on That '70s Show, which became an instant hit for the Fox network when it debuted in 1998. Since then, he's parlayed his television success into several film roles (Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married) and begun producing his own television series for MTV, the hidden-camera prank show Punk'd.
Dramatic roles, however, have been rare for the ambitious actor. Until now, that is. In his latest film, for which he also served as executive producer, Kutcher plays a troubled college student who discovers he can go back into his past and change the course of his life. The film's title, The Butterfly Effect, refers to the tenet of chaos theory that states that if you change one thing, everything else must change, too.
Science Fiction Weekly recently sat down with Kutcher to discuss his new film and the dual roles he plays, not only in the film but behind the scenes as well. The Butterfly Effect opened Jan. 23.
You deal with some pretty heavy themes in this film.
Kutcher: I think the movie, in a way, is a metaphor that we are kind of blind to the moment that we live in. And that, I think, as a society how we walk around kind of blind to what's really happening out there.
Do you think people will be surprised at the controversial nature of some of the events in the film?
Kutcher: I don't think that there is anything that's in our movie that hasn't happened in real life, other than possibly time travel. But I think it's real, and I think that as a society in general we're closing our eyes to these things that happen. There are kids that are being molested. It happens. It's real. These kinds of things go on. And in the same way that my character blocks out these moments, we as a society in many ways block out that this stuff actually happens. And so when we see it, it's disturbing because it is.
What was your involvement as executive producer?
Kutcher: My producing partner, Jason Goldberg, and myself came on as the executive producers. When we got the script we both really appreciated it and thought it was really original, different material, and stuff that we hadn't seen before. And we wanted to help Jonathan and Eric see their vision through in any way that we could. And part of that came in helping executive produce.
Was it difficult to act and produce at the same time?
Kutcher: A lot of that, my partner took on more of the fiscal kind of things. But [my part] was helping figure out the board, how we were going to get things shot with these young kids. The budget for the film was, I think, it was like $9 million. So we didn't really have a big budget to make this movie. That's part of our reason why we released it at Sundance. And part of it was for me, just as a learning experience. Sitting in the editing room and seeing how things get cut together, which I'd done before and I do on my television shows. And I thought I could help a little bit with that. And it was just learning how the movie gets made. It was a great learning experience for me.
Was it difficult playing your character in four different realities?
Kutcher: I had to maintain one character base, who this guy is at his core, and then in the different realities that he had different affectations. Whether it be his speech pattern, when I was in the wheelchair, or the fraternity guy. I tried to walk around with a little more confidence in character. But at the same time, I had the memories of the other realities.
What kind of preparation did you do?
Kutcher: I walked around my house for a week trying not to use my hands and arms. I went to a shopping mall in a wheelchair to feel what it was like being out like that. I did a lot of psychological study, sort of assuming that the guy has post-traumatic stress disorder, or disassociation disorder. So I did a lot of studying of that.
This is your first dramatic role. Do you think people will be surprised at your performance?
Kutcher: I've always been interested in playing real people and doing dramatic roles. I just haven't had the opportunity until now. I was interested in trying to learn what causes people to go into these remissive states where they try to hide their feelings in order to avoid having to confront them, which is similar to what [my character] does.
Now that you've seen the film, are you happy with the end result?
Kutcher: I will never do a movie that my mom wouldn't go see and be proud of me for doing it. I wasn't sure about this one, so I gave her the script to read. She was disturbed by it, but ultimately found it worthwhile. She said, "You're showing people the truth. You're not hiding it or candy-coating it. It's honest."
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