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Ashton Kutcher Clarifies Inspiration for The Beauty Villain, Cites Unabomber Manifesto in Research

Kutcher says he built the antagonist from observations of power, informed by reading Kaczynski's manifesto.

Overview

  • Kutcher stars as Byron Forst, also called The Corporation, a tech billionaire behind the original drug The Beauty in Ryan Murphy's FX body-horror thriller.
  • He said the character is not modeled on Elon Musk or any single figure, describing it as a composite of traits seen in people with immense power.
  • Kutcher disclosed he read Ted Kaczynski’s Industrial Society and Its Future to study how a self-described villain rationalizes his logic without endorsing it.
  • He described his approach as finding ways to justify seemingly unjustifiable decisions while resisting judging the character during performance.
  • The first three episodes are streaming now, with outlets reporting availability on Hulu or Disney+ depending on region.