Ashton Kutcher Talks Privacy and Career

Ashton Kutcher recently sat down for an interview with Parade Magazine, where he talked about juggling his private life with his career. The magazine quotes him as follows:

You’re huge on social media. Do you ever want to pull back and have more privacy?

"You know what’s interesting? I don’t really share personal things on my social media channels anymore. I have pulled back. At one point I thought, “Heck, if I share things first and I have control what it is that I’m sharing, maybe it’ll devalue the tabloid story fodder.” Ultimately, that came to be something that was untrue. Now the things that I share on social media are stories that inspire ideas, that connect people, that educate people."

How do you juggle it all?

"You hire really great people. I’m surrounded by carefully curated, great people. That ‘70s Show was my first real acting job. About two years into it, I realized I had some extra time on my hands and started a production company. At one point, I was producing Punk’d, starring in Punk’d, producing That ‘70s Show, starring in That ‘70s Show, and shooting a feature film at the same time. I always like to stay busy. The thing I enjoy doing most is work."

Is there somebody who inspired your career path?

"I get inspired by all kinds of things. I’ll watch a movie and see a great performance and get inspired, or I’ll meet with an entrepreneur who’s trying to do something that’s never been done before and get inspired. I think I get inspired by everything. I have mentors in everything that I do that have been very kind and generous to me. Inspiration comes from everywhere."

How has fatherhood—to 18-month-old daughter Wyatt Isabelle—changed your life?  

"It takes whatever table you’re sitting at, flips it upside down and switches all your priorities around. It’s unexplainable. I have a new number-one priority. Only parents understand the absolute awe of parenthood."

You’ve done a lot of comedy.  Are you itching to do more drama like Jobs, in which you played Steve Jobs?

"I’m not really looking at anything right now. I’m just really focused on The Ranch. I feel like what we’re trying to do with this show is not trivial. We’re breaking a lot of traditional sitcom rules and, I think, pushing sitcom towards something that is a little bit more connected for today’s audience. We just have a lot of work to keep doing because I think there are a lot of boundaries that we’re pushing currently and a lot of boundaries that we’re going to push and continue to push. I think that doing that with a careful hand is going to be really important."