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Questions! Questions That Need Answering

Will the World Accept Ashton Kutcher Playing Steve Jobs in an Indie Biopic?

by Jamie Frevele | 9:33 am, April 2nd, 2012


Yesterday, in news that was promised to be true and not an April Fool’s prank, it was announced that Ashton Kutcher — of Ashton Kutcher fame — will be playing the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs in an indie biopic. Okay, so, going by only the side-by-side pictures alone (pic from Mashable, who were brainy enough to choose pictures from both men’s bearded phases), it’s not that insane of an idea. But then when you recall that Ashton Kutcher is not known for his acting, let alone playing, um, geniuses, this throws things into a different perspective. Let’s talk about this, shall we?

The news was broken yesterday by Variety’s Jeff Sneider on Twitter, and he swore up and down that this story was real. True as it may be, this particular biopic is not the bigger-budget one from Sony, which is based on Walter Isaacson biography of Jobs and has not yet cast its lead role. (That production has also mentioned the possibility of Aaron Sorkin writing the screenplay, which would be a beautiful happening, indeed.)

But this movie is not that movie — This movie, entitled Jobs, is being written by Matt Whiteley and directed by Joshua Michael Stern, best known for the movie Swing Vote. Production will begin next month, when Kutcher is released from his contract at Two and a Half Men.

So, yeah — Ashton Kutcher. Rather than completely write him off, surely he must have done something during an audition or meeting to prove he could take on the role of someone who has only recently passed away and left behind a vast legacy of creative technological innovations. He is generally known for the following things, even if they are things that are not all that recent: marrying/divorcing Demi Moore, playing goofy but handsome morons, playing one-dimensional handsome dudes in romantic comedies, getting tons and tons of people to follow him on Twitter, and Punk’d, which is enjoying a renaissance. Ask a normal person on the street, and they will not be able to tell you how this man has remained insanely famous since leaving That ’70s Show. But clearly, he’s been doing something right, so who are we to criticize him?

Though Variety points out that Kutcher did get decent reviews for his serious turns in David Mackenzie‘s Spread and Emilio Estevez‘s Bobby. So, maybe the Kutch has just been slumming it because he could get away with it, and there’s been a real actor hiding in there this whole time, just waiting to get out!

(Variety via Mashable)

Previously in Steve Jobs

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  • http://twitter.com/lolatron @lolatron

    I liked him until it came out he was a sleazeball cheating on Demi and filling Charlie Sheen’s disgusting shoes on that stupid misogynist show. He seemed like a funny but harmless moron. Now just seeing him mentioned anywhere makes me cringe. I can’t imagine the Apple fanboy/girl community is going to be happy about this. 

  • http://nakedhobo.com/blog Glenn Buettner

    At times I wish all of Hollywood would burn in a fire.  It is getting harder and harder to sift through the drek to find the lonely gem.  Ashton Kutcher doesn’t even qualify as an actor in my opinion.  He should be loaded on a rocket with the likes of Keanu Reeves and Megan Fox and blasted into space.  Only problem there is some aliens might find them and be so offended that they destroy our entire planet, or worse yet, they send them back.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BJ65LLJI6OOKT7NR4SLMWO2XZA Dazee

    Sometimes actors end up being typecasted. I always wonder when I see someone playing the same type of character over and over again if that’s because they have no range or if they were cast for the part because the type of person they have played before is what they’re looking for. I used to think Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t have a lot of range as an actor until I saw him “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”.

  • http://twitter.com/aussiejed Jeremy Sadler

    I say, give Ashton a chance. I liked him in Butterfly Effect. He may surprise us.

    Or, it may all go down in horrible flames to the cries of “Oh the humanity!”

  • http://twitter.com/briecs Brianna Sheldon

    I think he can be a good actor if given good direction. I also think he has a very good resemblance, which is damn hard to find.

    Also, could we PLEASE stop knocking Keanu Reeves? I get that a lot of people don’t like him, but he’s seriously not that bad, and I’m so tired of it. 

  • http://girljanitor.wordpress.com/ GirlJanitor

    Ummmm. Also, Steve Jobs was mixed race. I wish they’d cast these things giving more opportunities to actors of color.

  • Frodo Baggins

    Come on, Keanu Reeves? Sure he’s wooden, but still enjoyable in many roles. I can’t imagine that a world without Ted and Neo would be a better one.

  • http://nakedhobo.com/blog Glenn Buettner

    I can.  I can also imagine many other actors having played those roles, as well as many of the other roles he butchered.  

  • http://nakedhobo.com/blog Glenn Buettner

    I’ll stop knocking him when they stop casting him.

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