Ashton Kutcher talks about Steve Jobs

France 24

Cast member Ashton Kutcher poses at the premiere of "Jobs" in Los Angeles, California August 13, 2013. The movie opens in the U.S. on August 16. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

He’s mainly been known as a lanky, model-handsome heartthrob from goofy romantic comedies and popular sitcoms – or as actress Demi Moore’s much-younger ex-husband.

But Ashton Kutcher will go a long way toward shedding that image when his new film, the Steve Jobs biopic “Jobs”, hits screens this month (on August 16 in the US and August 21 in France). The actor slips into the role of the Apple CEO and famous entrepreneur-inventor with impressive ease, delivering a performance of grit and grace in a movie that isn’t always worthy of him.

Promoting “Jobs” this summer in Paris, Kutcher sat down with FRANCE 24 to talk about his career, the actors who inspire him and the challenges of playing an iconic figure who was both loved and loathed.

Here are highlights from the interview.

F24: In the film, Jobs is shown mistreating employees, betraying friends and turning his back on his pregnant girlfriend. But you brought a lot of empathy to the role. Putting aside his professional success, what’s your view of Steve Jobs as a human being?

AK: Anyone who has tried to build something that changes people’s lives sometimes finds life to be a distraction, and finds people who don’t care as much as they do to be annoying. And I think the quality that made him sometimes unlikeable is the fact that he cared so much about this pursuit of creating a tool that would allow people to have a simple, accessible way to connect with technology. He was so passionate about it that he was sometimes abusive to people around him. I think we’ve all been in the middle of doing something we cared about, when someone coming in the room and saying “hello” was annoying. I personally can understand that, as someone who tries to create.