In 2011, Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman starred together in No Strings Attached. This romantic comedy follows Adam (Kutcher) and Emma (Portman), two childhood friends who decide to make a pact to have a "friends with benefits" relationship. Despite their agreement to keep things purely physical, Adam begins to develop feelings for Emma, but she’s too focused on her career for a serious relationship.
Despite getting mixed reviews, No Strings Attached was a hit at the box office. The movie grossed more than $149 million across the globe against a $25 million budget. But, despite its success, filming this movie was challenging for Kutcher. The That 70s Show star revealed that he had a hard time acting alongside Natalie Portman because of how good of an actress she is.
Natalie Portman Wasn’t Happy About Being Paid Less Than Ashton Kutcher In No Strings Attached
When they got cast in No Strings Attached, both Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher had ample experience. They both had appeared in popular movies and TV shows such as Star Wars and That 70s Show. And Portman had recently finished filming Black Swan (2010). Despite this, the actress was paid a third of Kutcher’s salary. This was a huge shock for Portman.
In a 2017 interview with Marie Claire, the Oscar-winner actress opened up about how frustrated she was over their huge salary gap.
“I knew and I went along with it because there’s this thing with ‘quotes’ in Hollywood,” Portman admitted. “His [quote] was three times higher than mine, so they said he should get three times more. I wasn’t as pissed as I should have been.”
At the time, Portman didn’t bring up the issue in an attempt to not cause drama on set. Despite the salary disparity, she was still making a lot of money, so she didn’t want to come up as greedy. But, reflecting on the issue, the actress admitted that this is part of a much bigger societal problem that we need to address.
“Compared to men, in most professions, women make 80 cents to the dollar,” she explained. “In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar.”
After the interview was released, Kutcher showed his support for his No Strings Attached co-star with a heartfelt tweet. “So proud of Natalie and all women who stand up for closing the gender pay gap,” he wrote.
Ashton Kutcher Found It Challenging To Act Alongside Natalie Portman In ‘No Strings Attached’ Because Of This One Reason
When they were cast to star in No Strings Attached, Ashton Kutcher had much more experience with romantic comedies than Natalie Portman. Despite this, the That 70s Show actor felt Portman was a much better actor. This made acting alongside her a challenge at times.
“I learned more from Natalie in one day of being on set together than I can ever possibly teach her in a billion years,” Kutcher revealed in an interview for Collider.
“She may not have done a rom-com before, but she’s done so much work on so many different levels. I mean, I even watch ‘Garden State’ or something like that, that’s comedic in and of itself, but also is true, specific organic performances. I don’t know that there’s anything I can really teach her.”
The Star Wars star disagreed with Kutcher’s comments and noted that she learned many things from Kutcher as well.
Kutcher admitted that he found it challenging to keep up with her because Portman would be able to act on a whole different level he hadn’t experienced before.
“She’s probably one of the best actresses of my generation. I believe she is and there’s a blessing and a curse in that as an actor,” he admitted. “Because… you know everything you get across from you is going to be real and honest and reactive and beautiful, at the same time when the light shines in the dark room, all the dust shows, and so it was a challenge for me to be as honest as she is.”
Ultimately, they worked well together and made a really good team. This translated into great on-screen chemistry that only made the movie better.
Are Natalie Portman And Ashton Kutcher on Good Terms Nowadays?
Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman had great on-screen chemistry in No Strings Attached. As it turns out, they have a great relationship in real life too! The pair have been friends since they worked together in this movie.
In 2022, Kutcher and Portman reunited for The Ranch star’s marathon-training series Our Future Selves with Peloton. While jogging, the pair recalled how their friendship first started. "I think the first time we really started hanging out is when we shot No Strings together,'" Kutcher recalled, to which Portman jokingly responded: "Who would've thought 20 years later, we'd be on a Peloton together?"
Then, Kutcher pointed out that, around that same time, his now-wife Mila Kunis filmed a similar movie with Justin Timberlake. "Yes, and Mila and I had just shot Black Swan together right before," Portman added. "So we were all making out with each other."
