Ashton Kutcher Talks More About Playing the Role of Steve Jobs

Last week, Ashton Kutcher took to Quora to explain some of the reasons why he decided to take on the role of Steve Jobs in the upcoming film JOBS, noting his admiration for Jobs, the challenge of the role, and his interest in the convergence of technology and entertainment.

With the film set for wide release on August 16, Kutcher is now beginning to hit the publicity circuit to talk about the film. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, where he discussed how he missed a chance to meet Steve Jobs six months before Jobs' death and how regret over that decision played a part in his decision to portray Jobs.


Kutcher also sat down with The Verge for a wide-ranging interview including some discussion of his portrayal of Jobs. In the interview, Kutcher describes how he felt almost compelled to take on the role of Jobs out of love for the Apple co-founder. Kutcher felt that if anyone was going to "screw it up", it should be someone should be someone who cared for Jobs.

To prepare for the role, Kutcher assembled a 15-hour SoundCloud compilation of Jobs' speaking voice, including both public presentations and more candid recordings that captured his habits outside of public life. "There were two versions of him, and I got this from a lot of friends of his that I talked to," Kutcher said. "There was the guy who went on stage and presented things, and then there was the guy who was in the boardroom, who was working on a product, who was having an intimate conversation. And 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."

The relevant portion of the interview begins roughly 11:30 into the video.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
160 months ago
Agreed.

This shouldn't even be on MacRumors.

Absolutely. A film about Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, has absolutely no place on a rumour site called 'MacRumors'. :rolleyes:
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GuitarDTO Avatar
160 months ago
Queue all the "OMG Ashton is terrible" comments. Overall it seems he took the role very seriously and seems to have done a good job with it from the trailer.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
likemyorbs Avatar
160 months ago
He still can't act.

Says someone who's made $0 acting in his lifetime. :rolleyes:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LillieDesigns Avatar
160 months ago
Agreed.

This shouldn't even be on MacRumors.

I gotta respectively disagree. I'm really looking forward to the film and appreciate the continued coverage. This movie gets a lot of flack and no one has even seen it yet. I'm sure the 'bigger' film will be incredible, but this looks entertaining and it's always fun to see Jobs come 'back to life'.

:apple:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Roessnakhan Avatar
160 months ago
Agreed.

This shouldn't even be on MacRumors.

I believe that's for the site owners to decide.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
160 months ago
He was fairly articulate in the interview and seemed a lot more tolerable in that specific trailer. It was nice to see a clip that didn't make Ashton out to be a caricature of Jobs, and I can actually say that I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

Seriously, no one cares!
Oops. I do.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)