Being Steve Jobs: Ashton Kutcher’s New Job
April 3, 2012
Not long since stepping in to fill the shoes of one of TV’s titans as the replacement for Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, actor Ashton Kutcher will put on an even bigger pair of sneakers; New Balance 991s, to be exact. Ashton Kutcher is set to play Steve Jobs in the upcoming film biopic Jobs, which will be directed by Joshua Michael Stern and will shoot next month, likely finding its way into film festivals later this year.
Though most famous for playing a handsome but dim-witted high-school stoner in the hit TV comedy That ‘70s Show, Ashton Kutcher’s savvy within the entertainment industry and beyond are well respected. Off camera, he is known for his well-placed tech investments and enthusiastic participation in social media sites such as Twitter, where he has over 10 million followers. On camera, he will earn a reported 20 million dollars for replacing Sheen on a show that is regularly seen by some 15 million viewers, and that’s not even counting re-runs.
Currently 34 years old, Ashton Kutcher’s age lines him up with one of the most exciting periods of Steve Jobs’ career as a tech visionary, his tenure as the founder of short lived computer maker NeXT. It was in this period of his life, outside of the halls of Apple, that Steve Jobs proved through his absence just how integral he was to that company which he had helped create in his parents’ garage, but which had grown out of his control and ultimately ousted him. It was also in his 30s that Steve Jobs showed incredible insight by buying Pixar, which would shortly make him a media mogul to boot.
Any Jobs biography would certainly cover the beginnings of Apple, but that period has already been well explored in the better-than-expected TV movie Titans of Silicon Valley, which played the intense rivalry between Steve Jobs and Microsoft founder Bill Gates to great dramatic effect. Look for the focus of Jobs to be more about the intense personality of Apple’s founder, and the drama that would push him out of (and ultimately bring him back to) his own company. Apple is the brand by which Steve Jobs will forever be associated, and Ashton Kutcher seems primed to tell the story of the near demise and ultimate resurgence of what would become the biggest company in the history of the modern world.
Alexei Bochenek is a lifelong tech nerd & film buff based in Los Angeles. When he’s not playing with his phone, it’s because the movie has started. Shhhhh!
