As Ashton Kutcher gears up for the premiere of FX’s The Beauty, he’s candidly acknowledging the comparisons being drawn between the series and The Substance, the provocative body-horror film led by Demi Moore, according to Deadline. Kutcher (That ’70s Show, The Butterfly Effect) stars in the Ryan Murphy-produced drama, which debuts January 21 and examines the unsettling consequences of cosmetic enhancement in an increasingly image-obsessed culture.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Ashton Kutcher praised Demi Moore’s performance in The Substance, calling it one of the film’s defining elements, Deadline reports. Moore (Ghost, G.I. Jane) earned widespread acclaim for her role in Coralie Fargeat’s provocative thriller, with Kutcher saying, “I’m so proud of her. She killed it,” while also acknowledging the thematic overlap between the two projects.
Kutcher went on to explain that both The Beauty and The Substance tap into a larger cultural conversation about appearance, insecurity, and self-modification, per Deadline. Drawing from his early modeling days, the Jobs and No Strings Attached actor reflected on how normalized cosmetic procedures have become, noting that nearly everyone harbors some insecurity they wish they could change.
Kutcher stressed that although cosmetic modification is frequently presented as powerful, it can have unintended consequences a concept at the heart of The Beauty, according to Deadline. He plays a wealthy tech mogul in the FX series who is behind a contentious therapy that promises physical perfection but eventually starts to ruin the lives of those who utilize it.
The Beauty comes from prolific creator Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee, Pose, Feud) and continues FX’s push into bold, genre-bending storytelling, Deadline notes. Meanwhile, Demi Moore (Ghost, A Few Good Men) continues to generate conversation with The Substance, which has drawn attention for its unflinching examination of bodily control and societal pressure, further fueling comparisons between the two projects ahead of The Beauty’s premiere.