Only in Hollywood Ashton Kutcher on Demi Moore and Bruce Willis By Ruben V. Nepales Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 18:55:00 05/08/2008
LOS ANGELES, California—“It would be an insult to my wife not to respect a man with whom she spent several years of her life and had three children,” Ashton Kutcher said in a recent press con about Bruce Willis, the ex-husband of his wife, Demi Moore.
Placing a hand on his chest, Ashton added, “He (Bruce), shares the three most precious things in his life with me. If I didn’t honor that, I would be an idiot.”
The three precious ones are Bruce and Demi’s daughters, Rumer Glenn, 19; Scout LaRue, 16 and Tallulah Belle, 14. In a rare real-life Hollywood set-up, Ashton and Demi keep a harmonious relationship with Bruce and the three thespians happily share parenting duties.
The master prankster in the now defunct “Punk’d” has not gone completely sentimental and mawkish on us. In “What Happens in Vegas,” Ashton and Cameron Diaz play two strangers who wake up to discover they’ve gotten married during the previous night’s drunken debauchery in the Sin City. One of them wins a huge jackpot after playing the other’s quarter. The newlyweds devise schemes to undermine each other and claim the money, only to find themselves falling in love even amidst the backstabbing.
The title is part of the marketing slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” which the Nevada city has adopted in its effort to draw more visitors to come, gamble and party away.
The former model answered all questions, including those about his May-December romance with Demi (he’s 30; she’s 45). Behind his “Punk’d” persona, Ashton is articulate and can be quite serious, even as he keeps a smiling face. He rued how the tabloids can get away with a lie with the way they write their headlines: “As long as their headline is in the form of a question—like ‘Ashton and Demi having a baby?’—the tabloids think it’s okay. ‘Ashton and Demi are having a baby’ is not okay.”
Below are excerpts of our interview with the Iowa native on a recent afternoon in a beachside hotel:
In this movie, a man and a woman are learning to live together, especially the guy who’s a typical bachelor. When you married Demi, what kind of adjustments did you have to make?
When I met my wife, I was living in a bachelor pad to the fullest extent. The bar was somewhat the centerpiece of the house. There wasn’t furniture in a lot of rooms. There were definitely TV sets, video games, baseballs, basketballs and footballs. I think my biggest decoration was a football jersey that was hung on the wall.
When Demi decided she was going to move back to LA, she didn’t have a house yet so I said, “Why don’t you come out and stay with me?” I didn’t want to be apart from her. We had just met and we were building a relationship. So she and the girls moved in to my bachelor pad. Things changed very quickly. All of a sudden, there was a new housekeeper. Things were getting cleaned and straightened up. There was more than beer and condiments in the refrigerator for the first time. I realized that the refrigerator kept cold food as well.
Those midnight drop-bys of visitors slowly began to trickle off. Apparently, single women don’t like to be greeted by Demi Moore at my front door.
When you hear the slogan that is also part of the movie’s title, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” what comes to your mind?
That saying is a giant lie. I actually have a lawsuit against Vegas right now because that slogan is such BS. The notion that Vegas is a city with no consequences and when we go there, we can indulge in anything and everything—that’s a big fallacy. What happens in Vegas, you pay for when you get home.
How well did you know Cameron before this movie?
We met at an awards show like, seven years ago. I was barely famous. She was already wildly successful. When she was onstage, she made some joke about how she was sweating. She wiped her armpits with her dress, which I thought was every definition of what she is like. She is not afraid to be herself. I was so enamored by that. When I met her backstage, I was nervous. I was like, “Hi, how are you? I’m Ashton. I just wanted to say what you did was really funny.” She was like, “Thank you” and was really gracious. I looked at her creepily for a while and then I walked away. That was basically our only interaction before this film.
We were both kind of bamboozled into doing a film together. We are both better people for it, I think. We really enjoyed ourselves making it. It was a blast.
In the movie, your character, a boy, becomes a man. Was there a decisive moment when you realized that you have become a man?
I don’t know if I’m there yet. Somebody asked me about the age difference thing with my wife when I was in London. I kind of stumbled into the notion that one’s age is defined by the amount of responsibility one is willing to take on in life. The more responsibilities you’re willing to take on, the older you are. I know a lot of really irresponsible men who are in their 30s, 40s and 50s. They behave like teenagers. I started taking a lot of responsibilities when my parents divorced. I was the oldest male in the house. I was not an adult yet.
When my brother had his heart transplant, a lot of my parents’ energy was focused on him and his health. I became a little bit more independent when I went to college. When I moved from my home to New York, it has been a gradual thing of taking on more responsibilities. The most responsible thing I’ve done in my life is finding a partner to share everything with because now I’m accountable to another human being and three daughters. That’s a lot of responsibility I’ve taken on.
What does a mature woman bring to a relationship?
I found someone whom I was really compatible with, someone in my life who doesn’t have to tell me what I want to hear but tells me what I need to hear. [And even] when she told me things I didn’t want to hear, she stood by me and was able to love me while I made mistakes. I don’t necessarily associate that with a mature woman. Like what happens with our characters in this film, even when a person is doing something that’s making you infuriated, you still want to be with that person. And that person still wants to be with you. That’s what I found in my relationship. I don’t think it has anything to do with trends or maturity.
You seem to be a very upbeat, positive person. Where does this outlook come from?
I just publicly show myself as very positive. When I go home, I beat the life out of myself. Seriously, what’s not to be happy about? I have a really blessed life. I’ve had a lot of guidance, help and great friendships along the way. It’s so easy to be positive when you’re looking for ways to give to other people. It’s easy to be insecure when you’re looking for ways to take from other people.
You and Cameron do seem to be having so much fun in the movie.
Every single day, we laughed. We sort of kept one-upping each other. I got it really quick that she is a really competitive person. And I’m a really competitive person, too. I hate to lose anything. She hates to lose, too. I knew we were going to have fun with this movie, no matter what. I started working out because I didn’t want my co-star to be in better shape than I was. I stole her trainer to work out with me. So I knew what her regimen was. I knew that I was working out more than she was.
When we had that sort of run through Central Park, we shot that for two days. It was just a blast. She’s so fast. You may know the Cameron Diaz secret—she’s one of the fastest human beings on earth. She doesn’t have that great butt for no reason. She works out to get fast and utilizes every inch of that butt for running.
Did Demi ever get a little jealous?
She doesn’t have anything to be jealous about. If she were, I would look at it as something that I needed to work on because I wasn’t giving her enough to make her feel that she’s the most important person in my life—she is. I think I’ve managed to give her everything she needs to feel 100 percent secure in our relationship.
What else do you do to help keep your relationship?
Most couples that I know who are married for several years have less sex. In my relationship, I’m a very fortunate guy. Being married is a lot of work. Most people work on their relationships when they’re bad, like when there’s an argument or a blowup. What we forget is that you also have to work on your relationship when it’s good. That goes for my relationship with my wife, Bruce, my daughters, friends and co-workers.
That you get along with Demi’s ex, Bruce, is wonderful. Can you talk about that aspect?
Bruce Willis is a great guy. He’s a really great, giving, sharing, openhearted person. I’d be an idiot not to make an attempt to share what I have with a person who’s sharing so much with me.
So how do you and Bruce share parenting duties without feeling like you’re interfering with each other?
Last night, Bruce and I had dinner together with Tallulah. We parented together and talked to Tallulah. She got into trouble for something. Bruce and I talked about what restrictions we’re going to impose on Tallulah, what the guidelines were on those restrictions. We communicated and shared information. The more that Demi, Bruce and I share together, we can create more consistency in a home for our girls. That’s what we try to do. Our jobs take us halfway around the world for three months at a time. I try to build a consistent environment for the girls to live in.
Among the other hundred things that you do, you also co-own two restaurants, right?
Four restaurants, a bowling alley and a bar.
Do you like to cook?
I can’t cook. That’s why I have restaurants. I warmed up some chicken for Tallulah in the microwave the other night. I can barbecue, though. If I have meat and a fire, I can survive.
E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.
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