Ashton Kutcher Opens Up About the Role That “Terrified”

Ashton Kutcher has opened up about one of the most challenging roles of his career: portraying Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the 2013 biopic Jobs.

The actor admitted that taking on the part of the tech icon was intimidating and even terrifying.

Speaking to The Verge at the time, Kutcher said, “It terrified me, and most of the great things I’ve been able to accomplish in my life were things that terrified me.” He explained that his admiration for Jobs made the pressure even greater.

“I almost felt compelled to defensively play the role. I want to make sure it’s protected. Even if I screw it up and totally bomb it, I love that guy. I love that guy. I’d rather have someone that cared about him screw it up than someone who didn’t.”

To prepare, Kutcher spent hours listening to recordings of Jobs’ voice, trying to capture his tone, pitch, and delivery. “There were two versions of him,” Kutcher told The Verge.

“There was the guy who went on stage and presented things, and then there was the guy who was in the boardroom…I tried to find little snippets of stuff where he wasn’t aware that he was being recorded or speeches that he didn’t think anyone was going to hear, so I could get a little more of who he honestly was.” He said.

Despite Kutcher’s dedication, the movie received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, only 27% of 131 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.1/10. The site summarized, “An ambitious but skin-deep portrait of an influential, complex figure, Jobs often has the feel of an over-sentimentalized made-for-TV biopic.”

Metacritic assigned it a score of 44 out of 100, signaling “mixed or average” reviews, while audiences on CinemaScore gave it a B–. E! Online noted that the film was “marred by its superficial and unsatisfying portrait of an icon who deserved better,” and Forbes described the response as “mixed positives for Kutcher’s performance” but a thumbs down for the film itself.

Some experts praised Kutcher’s effort. Robert X. Cringely, author and documentary filmmaker, said, “The film is beautifully shot and Kutcher’s portrayal of Jobs, while not spot-on, is pretty darned good. He certainly has the look down and the walk. But Ashton Kutcher also produced this film and he’s definitely a better actor than producer. There are a lot of historical inaccuracies that just don’t have to be there.”

Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers added, “Kutcher nails the genius and narcissism. It’s a quietly dazzling performance,” while also noting that the film itself didn’t fully reach its potential.

Some critics pointed out historical inaccuracies. Steve Wozniak, Apple’s co-founder, said he read an early script but found it unsatisfactory. He told Gizmodo that “the personalities are very wrong, although mine is closer…our relationship was so different than what was portrayed.”

Kutcher later responded in an interview with the Associated Press: “Steve Wozniak is being paid by another company to support their Steve Jobs film. It’s personal for him, but it’s also business. We have to keep that in mind. He was also extremely unavailable to us when producing this film.”

“He’s a brilliant man and I respect his work, but he wasn’t available to us as a resource, so his account isn’t going to be our account because we don’t know exactly what it was. We did the best job we could. Nobody really knows what happened in the rooms.”

Kutcher’s role as Steve Jobs was clearly one of the most demanding of his career, requiring intense preparation and emotional investment.

While the film divided critics and audiences alike, many acknowledged Kutcher’s dedication and the challenges of portraying such an iconic figure. His experience highlights how difficult it can be to balance respect for a real-life legend with the demands of filmmaking.

What do you think about Kutcher’s performance and the movie’s approach to Jobs’ life? Share your thoughts in the comments.