Disney/Jose Alvarado
Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope are talking to “Extra” about their highly anticipated series “The Beauty.”
The Ryan Murphy sci-fi body horror series explores the dangerous quest for physical perfection via a sexually transmitted treatment that grants users physical attractiveness while concealing lethal side effects.
Ashton opened up about what made him say yes to the show — and wearing a Versace speedo! — joking, “I just do that every day. That’s like my normal outfit, and then they just asked me to wear it for the show.”
Kutcher also poked fun at about being the old guy on set and needing to get back in the gym!
Pointing to Anthony and Jeremy, he said, “I’m an old man. These guys are, like, priming right now… I’m the old guy.”
Ashton recalled seeing Jeremy in the hallway, and thinking, “Wait, that’s what it’s supposed to be? I’m like, I gotta go back to the gym. I got to get a trainer. I got this guy Robbie Egan working me out.”
Kutcher discussed how difficult it was to get abs, saying, “You can’t just work out and get abs. You also have to do the diet and the whole thing. I got like halfway there. I almost got there.”
Over the past few years, Kutcher has been prioritizing being a father to his two kids over acting. He shared, “My kids are young, they’re nine and 11, and these are like the years I want to be home… I coach flag football. I’m doing all this stuff.”
A call from Ryan Murphy was what made him return to TV. He said, “I was like, ‘First of all, like, just, all you had to say was Ryan Murphy and I’ll have a conversation.’”
Ashton recalled, “Walking in the meeting, I was like, I really don’t want to be away from home. I don’t want to be away from my kids. And then Ryan started telling me about what this show is and his idea and he was like, ‘I have this comic book. It’s been around. I’ve been trying to figure out the angle on it.’”
Kutcher went on, “He’s like, ‘And then I started seeing what was happening with like GLP-1s, like Mounjaro and Ozempic and Wegovy and all these things, and how people were like craving this shot that would make them look the way they want to look. And then he was like, ‘What if you went one step further, and this shot would make you like the most beautiful version of yourself? And what would people be willing to give up to get that? How far would they be willing to go?’”
Murphy wrote a character with Kutcher in mind, and the actor was drawn to the timeliness of the themes, including about AI.
Ashton noted, “Now, we’re commoditizing intelligence, and so the question as we move into the future is what is gonna become the most asset to humanity? Is it gonna be kindness? It is gonna be empathy? Is it gonna be beauty? It could be beauty.”
As for what he would sacrifice for perfection, Ashton answered, “Nothing,” elaborating, “I think like the problem with this, like, pursuit of perfection is the most beautiful thing in the world has a tendency to be our flaws.”
He continued, “And not just that, but our ability to, like, learn and grow as people. Like, whether it’s the way we look or the way we act or the things we do or the choices we make, people are flawed, and like, that complexity of flaws is what makes something perfect. And so, this notion of, like, pursuing some other version of perfection to me is wasting life. The whole point of life is to learn and grow and evolve and change, and so I’m not giving up anything to be perfect if perfect isn’t exactly where I’m at.”
Jeremy agreed, asking, “What is perfection?” He shared, “The most beautiful things to be are nuanced. They have texture, they have shape, they have depth, they have perspective, they have experience. So, I think it’s important we make space for that and not necessarily strive for just this idea of perfectionism, because to me, that is unattainable.”
Anthony added, “Ultimately perfection is something that’s different to, you know, every person. What’s perfect to you is probably not perfect to me, and essentially then you’re chasing something that you’ll never actually achieve. Where would you draw the line as far as what you’d sacrifice? You’d just be sacrificing everything to chase something that you’ll never get.”
“The Beauty” premieres on FX January 21.
