Backstory: How Exactly Did Ashton Kutcher Become a Movie Star?

While we were watching (and really disliking) "No Strings Attached," we took a moment to think about Ashton Kutcher. Specifically, we were thinking about where in the world he came from and how exactly he turned into a movie star. It's not that we think he's entirely untalented or undeserving: It's just that he seems like one of those life forms that Hollywood decides they're going to keep putting into movies because, well, why not? Not bad for a guy who studied to be a biochemical engineer.

The story that most people know about Kutcher's background was that he was attending the University of Iowa for biochemical engineering when he was "discovered" and became a model. That's all true, but because he usually plays dopey characters (and because he was, y'know, a model), everyone finds the biochemical engineering part kind of unbelievable. He was asked about it years later:

"I wanted to be a genetic engineer. That was my goal in college. I wanted to figure out what the codon sequence was that causes replication in a cardio myopathic virus. That was my goal."

The interviewer didn't bother to ask why. The reason was because of his twin brother Michael, who had suffered from health problems since they were kids, receiving a heart transplant when he was 13. Kutcher had hoped that if he became a genetic engineer, maybe he could help find a cure for his brother.

Though it certainly makes for a good heartwarming story, it also suggests that Kutcher was perhaps one of those guys who gets excited about doing something and then just impulsively does it, even if that impulse doesn't last. (He dropped out of college after a year.) But throughout his life, he's been sustained by some pretty amazing good luck. After college, he entered the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling contest, winning first prize and heading over to New York to the International Modeling and Talent Association Convention. Kutcher did well there, too, but he lost out to someone you might recognize:

Then he decided to move to Los Angeles, where his luck continued to hold: His first day in L.A., he got the part of Kelso on "That '70s Show."

From there, you can probably fill in the rest yourself. He starts starring in movies like "Dude, Where's My Car?" and "Just Married." He gets involved with Demi Moore. He keeps getting terrible reviews. His movies keep doing well enough. He does "Punk'd." He almost gets his big dramatic break in Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown," but the writer-director at the last moment decides to go with an actor who's similarly better known for his looks than his talent, Orlando Bloom. He keeps starring in movies -- none of them gigantic hits, but all of them successful enough for him to accrue a track record. By the time he's in "No Strings Attached," it doesn't seem that weird that he's in a movie with Natalie Portman: These are the sorts of movies he does, right?

In a little more than two weeks, Ashton Kutcher is going to be 33. As he's done throughout his life, he doesn't seem to have any real plan or creative path. He's just going to do whatever comes to him and then go from there. We should all be so lucky.

Ashton Kutcher [Details]
Ashton Kutcher [People]