"I'm Ready for Fatherhood" Says Ashton

Ashton Kutcher is ready to become a father. The star, who already acts as a surrogate dad to girlfriend Demi Moore's three daughters with Bruce Willis, lets out a huge sigh and leans his lanky 6ft 3in frame back into his chair.

'Yeah, I feel ready for fatherhood,' he says. 'It's something I'm looking forward to. I get along really well with Demi's girls and I try to help them with any problems they have. They bring me a lot of joy.' Kutcher, 26, who is rumored to be planning a 2004 wedding with Demi, was transformed into a bona fide A-list celebrity when he and the 41-year-old actress went public with their relationship last summer, at the premiere of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. He says he was unprepared for the intense scrutiny the couple's romance has attracted.

'Nothing can prepare you for that,' he says quietly, drawing heavily on a Lucky Strike cigarette. It's the first of many Kutcher will smoke during the interview the only one he is giving to English Press to promote the British opening of his film, supernatural thriller The Butterfly Effect.

'Sometimes I think someone should write a handbook to prepare you for being a celebrity,' he says. 'I didn't create my image, the press and the whole "Hollywood machine" did. I don't have control over anything except myself and my own free choice. I can only say "yes" or "no", and decide right from wrong.

'There has been so much written about Demi and me and the whole age thing, and it's so biased. If it was the other way round, with an older guy dating a younger woman, no one would say a word. That happens every day and not just here in Hollywood.

'What has happened today is that people decide to turn your life into entertainment. It's not about the films you do or the work you do. It's your life. Is that right or wrong? I don't know. All I know is that Demi and I do our best to live a good, decent life, and that's the only thing that matters to us. I know what the truth is. I have a wonderful relationship, a great family and amazing friends.' For Kutcher, being thrust into the public eye also means having to contend with the rumour mill working overtime.

When we meet, he is the subject of two unflattering news stories being published around the world. The first is that he has lied about his age and, in fact, was born in 1974 and not 1978. The other is that he was unceremoniously dumped by director Cameron Crowe from the upcoming drama Elizabethtown because his acting did not measure up during readthroughs.

Orlando Bloom will now play the lead role.

Kutcher responds to this with a broad smile. 'What can I say? Unless my parents lied to my twin brother and me, and the whole school system lied and the report cards and everything were faked, then it's just rubbish. And with Elizabethtown, it was down to a scheduling change. I moved my schedule around to do the latest series of That '70s Show and then the filming dates changed. There was no more flexibility left in my schedule.

It's nothing more dramatic than that.' Kutcher was already well on his way to stardom when he met Demi. A star of That '70s Show, he became an idol of the teen market by hosting MTV's highly successful series Punk'd a modern-day version of Candid Camera involving hidden camera stunts on celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and Halle Berry.

Halle nearly popping out of her orange dress when she was refused entry to her own movie premiere, and Justin crying when he thought America's inland revenue was about to repossess his house for non- payment of taxes were just two of the highlights of the series. Viewers couldn't get enough of watching A-listers behaving like 'normal' people, and Punk'd became one of MTV's mostwatched shows.

Kutcher had also appeared in a string of downmarket comedies (Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married and My Boss's Daughter), as well as enjoying a lucrative modelling career for Gucci, Calvin Klein and Abercrombie Fitch.

But it was as Demi's toy boy that he finally hit the big time. In person, Kutcher is cute, unfailingly polite and very sweet.

But it is hard to imagine the gangling man-child sitting in front of me being the equal of the ultra-sexy, confident star of Striptease and Indecent Proposal. He is clearly trying to present a mature image today he is wearing a rather ugly unflattering grey pinstriped suit, navy-blue knitted tank top and flat grey cap. A light dusting of facial hair is so fuzzy and fine that it makes one wonder whether he has started shaving yet.

Yet while he looks and acts young, there is obviously more to Kutcher than just a pretty face. He says his 'lifechanging moment' came when he was 13 and his fraternal twin Michael born five minutes after Kutcher had to undergo a heart transplant. Michael suffered myocarditis, a viral heart inflammation, which had led to a heart attack.

'Michael is my hero, and him going through a life-or-death experience at 13 gave me a huge reality check. It made me value life, and made me realise that this could all end in a second. It gave me a really good grasp on death. We all come into this life and we're all, eventually, going to depart.

'I believe in an afterlife. I think we all started as one and we're all connected.

We can make life difficult, a life of pain or suffering, or we can make it one where we control our destiny in some way and try to make it a better world.

'My brother had about an hour left to live when the transplant came through.

That kind of experience can't help but profoundly change you. It makes you want to change the world, to make it a better place.

'We're twins and so we are so alike and yet so different and we have been competitive our entire lives. We spent 17 years together with never a single day apart. We definitely have that "twin thing" going on. That connectivity never stops. If I'm having a bad day, he'll call me up out of the blue, and it happens the other way, too.

'Of course we fought like brothers do, but family is so important to me. I know my family is proud of me, but I also know I have to stay grounded. I go home about three or four times a year and I fly them out to see me.' The two boys, along with elder sister Tausha, 28, were raised in the small town of Homestead, Iowa, by Larry and Diane, both factory workers.

Kutcher caught the acting bug at school playing Jem Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. 'That was a revelation,' he says. 'The director of that play made me believe in myself.' He says that small-town life prepared him for Hollywood: 'I knew every single person in that town, and they all knew my business even before I knew my business,' he says. 'Hollywood is exactly the same, but just on a bigger scale.' Kutcher lasted one year reading biochemical engineering at university before winning a 'Fresh Faces of Iowa' modelling contest and heading to New York. He signed up with an agent and, in 1998, at his first audition, was offered the part of dimwitted Michael Kelso in That '70s Show.

With his latest film, Kutcher who was this year voted one of People magazine's 'Most Beautiful People' has seemingly gone out of his way to change his image. In The Butterfly Effect, he plays Evan Treborn, a young man who is able to travel through time to change the past often with disastrous results.

The film's title is a nod to chaos theory, which contends that a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world could set in motion a chain of events resulting in a tornado on the other side. In the movie, which was made for just $9 million (Pounds 5 million), Kutcher variously plays a longhaired hippy, a slick college heartthrob, a paraplegic and other diverse characters.

I ask whether Kutcher chose the role because he wants to be taken 'seriously' as an actor, rather than as a pretty boy.

'The movie only cost $9 million and I felt really responsible because the producers were taking a chance on me it was like they were giving me a $9 million loan. I felt I could handle that and do a good job. Ten years ago, $9 million would have been beyond my comprehension, but in the movie business where films cost $50-$100 million, it is a relatively small budget. I figured I could get that many people to go and see it.

'I liked the premise behind the movie, which is that all of us have to look at things that make us feel uncomfortable and deal with them head-on in order to be a responsible person. People put on blinkers and, if something's not in front of them, they black it out. If we stop blacking the nasty stuff out, everything can change and you can make a difference."

While many critics hated the film, you have to admire Kutcher for even taking the role particularly when he could easily have carried on taking big bucks (he was paid $8 million by MTV last month to develop two new teen shows), risk-free. 'Thank you for saying that,' he says modestly, 'I just keep stretching myself. The film has made more than $50 million so far. That's my answer. I try hard, I give my best. What worries me most is giving everything I can and it still not being good enough.' Kutcher says he has become used to people misunderstanding him: 'People are afraid of what they don't understand, and they don't understand me. They don't understand my friendship with P Diddy [J-Lo's ex and bad boy rapper].' 'If I was hanging out with a white guy my own age who was in a TV sitcom, they'd understand. But because I'm hanging out with a black man from the rap world, people freak out. They think there must be something wrong with it.

'The same goes for my relationship.

People just don't understand it, so it freaks them out.' Kutcher has dated other actresses January Jones, Ashley Scott and Brittany Murphy (who quipped when Kutcher and Demi got together: 'It proves that, to him, age doesn't matter and to her, size doesn't matter'). But it is Demi who is clearly the love of his life.

During our interview I can see a glimpse of a black leather 'necklace' at the opening of his shirt one half of the snap-together piece that he and Demi wear constantly.

He smiles sweetly when her name is mentioned again and immediately changes the subject, talking at length about how he plans to quit smoking.

While rumors abound that Demi is pregnant and that the pair are planning to wed, Kutcher remains quiet, saying: 'Hey, I can't talk about that stuff. I just wouldn't believe everything you read. I've stopped reading that stuff now. It doesn't upset me, but it does get to me when it hurts my family. I've told my parents that if a reporter turns up at their door in Iowa, it's not like I've sent them. They always try to be nice and polite, but sometimes you have to put a stop to it.' Kutcher is rapidly turning into a global brand name. He owns a restaurant in Hollywood called Dolce, which is a favourite of stars such as Nicole Kidman and Madonna. He has plans to open a second soon called The Geisha House.

He is developing two new shows for MTV My New Best Friend and Snafu, and there's also a project in the works about an all-male university fraternity house. His next movie is A Lot Like Love with Amanda Peet, whom he calls 'a great girl.' And finally, he's got a remake in the pipeline of the classic culture-clash comedy Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which stars black comic Bernie Mac and reverses the black/white roles.

For a young man who is clearly driven, what scares him?

'Failure,' he answers simply.

The way his life is going, that prospect seems a long way off. 'The Butterfly Effect' is out on Wednesday.

All about Ashton...

First poster on the wall 'Rachel Hunter from the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. She was hot. My next poster was for a Dodge Ram pickup truck.'

Career high/career low?

'One and the same moment. It was in 2000, the day after Dude, Where's My Car? came out. I'd set myself the goal of being in the number one movie in America and I'd achieved that goal, which was a high, but also a low because once you reach your goal, you are left with a sense of loss. You have to stop for a moment and then set the next goal or you head into depression.'

Last film watched

'An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

Demi and I watched it on Valentine's Day together. It's so classy and romantic.'

Favourite Demi film

'Everything she's done. She's a really talented lady. My favourite?

That's tough. I love Ghost, that's a great movie.'

Worst job

'When I was about 17, I had to skin deer at a butcher's shop during hunting season. That was awful. It was winter, and really cold I had to work outside so the meat would stay frozen. You had to spray down the deer with a hose, so you would end up completely soaked and your clothes would freeze.'

Last concert

'Elton John in Las Vegas it was brilliant. Elton played everything.

He started with Benny and the Jets and went through Candle in the Wind, Your Song and all the classics. It was just the best concert ever.'

Life in brief...

Born Christopher Ashton Kutcher on February 7 1978 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Parents Larry Kutcher, 54, and Diane Portwood, 51. His parents divorced when Ashton was 13.

He also has a twin brother Michael and a sister, Tausha, 28, a teacher.

First job Floor sweeper at a cereal factory in Homestead, Iowa.

Education Washington High School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Clear Creek- Amana High School, Tiffin, Iowa. University of Iowa (biochemical engineering).

Dropped out after one year.

Career: 1997-1998: model in New York. 1998: That '70s Show. Films: Coming Soon (1999), Down to You (2000), Dude, Where's My Car?

(2000), Texas Rangers (2001), Just Married (2003), My Boss's Daughter (2003), Cheaper By the Dozen (2003), The Butterfly Effect (2004).

Best quote 'I get really giddy and stupid with girls. I love the company of women. I fall in love superfast and I'll want to spend the next week together, 24 hours a day.' Worst quote Kutcher said that he got drunk with President Bush's underage daughters and hung out with a friend 'who was smoking with the Bush twins on his hookah'. The White House refused to comment.