The star of That '70s Show is tough enough to wrangle cattle, yet sweet enough to buy tampons for his girl.
Ashton Kutcher spent most of last summer playing cowboys with James Van Der Beek and Dylan Mcdermott for their upcoming western flick, Texas Rangers. Riding horses and roping cattle brought out the macho in all the guys, but Ashton had the competitive edge. The 21-year-old is a real-life farm boy, born and bred in Iowa. In fact, he was a sophmore at the University of Iowa studying biochemical engineering (and donating blood to make ends meet!) when a modeling scout spied the cutie and sent him to New York. When he decided to give acting a shot, he went on only a handful of auditions before landing the prime role of Michael Kelso on That '70s Show. Now, with three movies coming out in the next six months, he's hit the big time - and he's loving every minute of it!
What was the filming of Texas Rangers like? It was a lot of fun. I hung out a lot with James and Dylan, and they're really cool guys. In the movie, James and I compete over Rachel Leigh Cook, and the competition carried over off the set. We'd sit around like, "Yeah, my series is better than yours." Stuff like that- totally joking around.
What did you do for fun, growing up in Iowa? I used to ride motorcycles or go fishing. Or, my friend had an Oldsmobile Cutlass with a hot-rod engine in it, and we'd race it. We were never bored. There's less to do when you're in the middle of nowhere, so you have to use your imagination to keep yourself busy - and get into trouble.
Oh really? What kind of trouble? My cousin and I were screwing around once, and we broke into the high school and got caught. Because of that, I was kicked out of every sport and club in school, and my girlfriend broke up with me because her dad was the principal. It was terrible.
Tell us more about the girlfriend. It was senior year. Her name was Abby and she was defenitly my first love. I had worked really hard to get to go out with this girl. I'd certainly paid my dues. I would even send her flowers. Then she broke up with me, and my life was in shambles. She went to the prom with another guy.
Let's hear a happier story. What about your first kiss? That was with this girl Emily. It was sixth grade and we were at a roller rink in Cedar Rapids. It was the couples' skate : We're out there and we went around like, four times. I'm building up, thinking, "Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it." And then finally it got really dark and I kissed her. Then, a month later, she kissed my friend and I freaked out and we broke up.
Who wouldn't you mind getting cozy with on-screen? Claire Danes. She's just really amazing. I was at the premiere for The Mod Squad, and Claire's table was right next to mine. I was so happy to be at that premiere becuase I really wanted to meet her. She was standing right there, but I couldn't step up and say hi. I just couldn't do it, and she walked right by me. It didn't matter though - her boyfriend, [rocker] Ben Lee, was there.
That stinks! Any other crushes we should know about? Meg Ryan. She can just smile and light up a room. Actually, before I moved to L.A., I was living in New York and I went to the pharmacy to get tampons for my girlfriend. I'm standing there with the box, and the guy says, "I'll be right with you, Ms. Ryan," and I looked over and it was Meg Ryan standing right there and I'm holding this box of tampons. I'm like, "No, no, no!"
How do you like being someone people want to meet? It's really flattering. Fans come up and they're like, "You're the guy from That '70s Show!" I'll sign an autograph- body parts, whatever- but that's the extent of it. No fainting has taken place."
Ashton, looking at these pictures, we're feeling a little faint.