At 47, Ashton Kutcher has reached the stage of his career where image matters less than ideas. He returns to television with The Beauty, Ryan Murphy’s new international production for FX, a sophisticated thriller filmed between Paris, Venice, Rome and New York that explores a seductive and unsettling question: what would we sacrifice to become perfect?

Kutcher plays The Corporation, a visionary tech magnate, disconcertingly reminiscent of today’s Silicon Valley titans, convinced he has found the ultimate formula for aesthetic transcendence. The result is a series that feels less like science fiction and more like a mirror held up to our present. When we speak, Kutcher is reflective, analytical, occasionally ironic. He moves easily between philosophy, entrepreneurship and fatherhood. He speaks of Europe with admiration, of Spanish wine with affection, and of his children with visible pride. Beauty, for him, is no longer surface, it is a process.

Q. The Beauty imagines a world in which a virus transforms people into idealised versions of themselves. Is it really that far from reality?

Ashton Kutcher: Not at all. I think we’re already living in micro versions of that world. Every time someone gets braces or Invisalign, they’re cosmetically altering themselves. Every time someone shapes their beard a certain way, changes their hair, wears makeup, takes Ozempic or Mounjaro, those are aesthetic modifications. We’re constantly adjusting our physical selves. In the show, the difference is simply the delivery system, it’s a sexually transmitted virus.
I’m not sure whether it’s a good or bad thing that you don’t need sex to get Invisalign. Probably a good thing. (Laughs.)

Q. The series interrogates our obsession with perfection. Is Hollywood partly responsible?

Ashton Kutcher: I don’t think so. Entertainment reflects society more than it dictates it. When you look at film and television, you see traditionally attractive people, yes, but you also see people who are compelling because they’re different. Breaking the mold doesn’t make you less beautiful. The real shift, I think, is that everyone is on camera all the time now. Social media has turned daily life into performance. That’s where the pressure comes from, not from Hollywood, but from the constant awareness of being seen.

Q. You worked as a model before becoming an actor. Did that change how you understand beauty?

Ashton Kutcher: Completely. I met people I believed were the most beautiful in the world, and every one of them could stand in front of a mirror and find something they disliked. That dissatisfaction is systemic. For me, imperfection is beautiful because it represents potential. We are unfinished. We are evolving. That process, the movement, the becoming, is what I find compelling.

Q. Your character believes he is acting for the common good. How do you approach playing someone morally ambiguous?

Ashton Kutcher: You can’t judge the character. If you judge him, you can’t play him. He believes he’s improving humanity. He believes he’s offering happiness. And if corrupted versions of his invention cause harm, he believes it’s his duty to control them. Most people who do terrible things don’t see themselves as villains. They construct narratives in which they’re right. That’s what makes power so complicated and so dangerous.

Q. The series was shot across Europe. Did that environment shape your reflections on beauty?

Ashton Kutcher: Europe always does. Every time I walk through Rome or Venice — or Madrid — I’m struck by how young the United States is. Every building holds centuries of decisions about what beauty means. And those definitions change. What was beautiful a thousand years ago isn’t what we define as beautiful today. Paris and Milan still influence global aesthetics through fashion. Being immersed in that history affects how you see the present. The show’s cinematography, the light, the composition, carries something almost Bertolucci-like. That texture comes from place. You can’t replicate it artificially.

Q. Beyond acting, you’re also an entrepreneur. How do you define your philosophy of life?

Ashton Kutcher: I believe in building the life you inhabit. It’s easy to exist inside structures created by other people. It’s harder, and more meaningful, to design your own world. But it requires responsibility. I value efficiency. I like solving complex problems. I bought a house five minutes from my office so I wouldn’t lose time in traffic. I organised my wardrobe so I can dress in sequence. I can leave home in four minutes and be at work in twelve. (Laughs.) Efficiency isn’t about control, it’s about freeing space for what matters.

Q. You portrayed Steve Jobs earlier in your career. Did that role influence you?

Ashton Kutcher: It deepened my respect for discipline and focus. Jobs had extraordinary clarity. I don’t necessarily want to be a CEO, I think I could do it, but I don’t crave it. What I admire is the capacity to build something that reshapes how people live.

Q. You and Mila Kunis are raising your children to be multilingual. Why was that important?

Ashton Kutcher: Our daughter Wyatt already speaks three languages, Russian, Spanish and English. She understands and speaks them fluently. It’s extraordinary to watch. Girls apparently develop language faster; I did the research. Our son Dimitri is still in the “pterodactyl phase.” (Laughs.) Languages are about connection. Mila grew up speaking Russian. We love Spanish culture. Giving our children different languages gives them different ways of seeing the world. It teaches empathy. Curiosity. Flexibility.

Q. You’ve expressed particular affection for Spain. What attracts you?

Ashton Kutcher: Spain has this beautiful balance between history and vitality. Mila and I once visited Jerez de la Frontera and tasted sherry at its origin. There’s something deeply meaningful about drinking wine where it’s produced — understanding the land, the climate, the tradition behind it. Spanish wines have identity. They don’t try to be something else. There’s heritage, but also experimentation. I respect that tension between tradition and innovation. It feels artistic.

Q. Do you speak Spanish?

Ashton Kutcher: I’m learning. Slowly. But I’m proud that my kids speak it better than I do.

Q. In The Beauty, the central question is what we are willing to sacrifice to become perfect. What would you refuse to sacrifice?

Ashton Kutcher: My family. Without hesitation. Perfection is unstable. It shifts. If you chase it blindly, you risk losing what actually sustains you. I would rather live in an imperfect world I’ve consciously built, with the people I love, than inhabit a flawless illusion that costs me everything.