Ashton Kutcher won international fame and fans with his role on the hugely popular That ’70s Show. The Spread star reveals to Parade’s Jeanne Wolf how he handles the stress of fame. Plus, what first drew him to wife Demi Moore and how the duo make it work.

Gravitating towards fame.
“Once I got a taste of it, I went: ‘I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything.’ And you start to believe it. I know it to be true because I’ve seen it happen. I’ve experienced it. I’m ambitious. I try to make it look like it’s not work–that’s the biggest key. I’ve got it pretty good. There’s no sense in making life seem like it’s a struggle, because that doesn’t make anybody feel better.”

How he and Demi make it work.
“The real trick is putting yourself around people you admire. That’s why I married my wife. I locked in the brightest light in the room. My wife and I have an agreement in our marriage, and part of that contract is that we are going to shine our lights on each other. My relationship with Demi is so solid, thank God, and we’re so communicative about the way that we’re feeling that we don’t allow space to come between us. I definitely believe that if you stop working at relationships, they go away.”

On being more physically and emotionally exposed onscreen than ever before.
“Why did I make a movie [Spread] with that kind of indulgence in cars and the fancy house, with my character manipulating people and seducing them? Because people can feel the pain of it. As much as you hate this guy for how selfish he is, you know that hurts. It’s the tale of what happens when you’re just a taker.”

Back when times were tough.
“When I told my dad I was going to move to New York and be a model, he didn’t say I was an idiot, but he insinuated it. After a while, I was broke, really running out of money. Christmas was coming. I knew I had to go home for the holidays, but I couldn’t expose the fact that it wasn’t going well. So I bought my whole family these fake watches and fake Versace pants and fake anything I could find, like fake Calvin Klein T-shirts, so I could take them home and show them how well I was doing even though I didn’t even have a place to live. I knew I wasn’t going back to Cedar Rapids.

Trading up for a good night’s sleep.
“I never had to put myself in a compromising situation to keep going, but sometimes I think that would have been easier. It was always a good thing when you hooked up with a girl and got to sleep someplace nice for the night. I wasn’t there to stay, but if you did hit it off with a girl, her place was always nicer than yours.”

The downside of Hollywood life.
“Of course there is a price. I’ve only been back home to Iowa once in the last year and a half to see my family. I go and shoot a film and spend months away from my wife and my girls. And that’s a price to pay. I also don’t get to see my friends very often. You can’t complain when you’re so blessed. I get so many things that the notion of me complaining is obscene. It’s absurd. It’s ridiculous.”

Holding on to his wild sense of humor.
“I’m still looking for trouble. I’m still disruptive. I’m still doing some things that other people don’t like. I hear, ‘You’re a moron,’ about once a day from someone in a genuine way–not as a joke. I see it, and I read it. I don’t have anything that’s too sacred to make fun of. The truth is that I’m an idiot. I am. I don’t do things by the rules sometimes. I say things that I probably shouldn’t say. I push buttons. I deserve to be made fun of. And I feel like, as soon as you can make fun of something, it instantly removes the fear.”

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