Ashton Kutcher has proven himself to be a Hollywood star and a smart investor. Does he also know sign language?
Ashton Kutcher learned some American Sign Language (ASL) for his role in his 2005 movie “A Lot Like Love”. He likely is not fluent, although his coach apparently said he was a natural in using sign language. We do not know whether or not he already had some familiarity with it before making the movie.
For more on the history of sign language and Ashton Kutcher’s use of it in “A Lot Like Love”, read on.
Sign Language
Modern sign language first took shape a few hundred years ago but its origins are much older.
About 2500 years ago, Ancient Greek philosopher Plato quoted Socrates as saying that if people “hadn’t a voice or tongue and wanted to express things”, they might try to “make signs by moving our hands, head and the rest of our body”.
As long as there have been deaf and mute people, there has been a need to provide them with some means of communication.
Later, monks used a system of signs to communicate during the times of day that they were forbidden from communicating verbally. This wasn’t really a silent language but a system of gestures used for basic tasks.
It’s believed that some Native American tribes used a form of common sign language to communicate with neighboring tribes. This was known as Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL) by English speakers.
Sign language as we know it today first took shape in France, where an existing system was modernized and developed to allow full, nonverbal communication. It quickly grew in popularity as the country’s people realized they could finally have a widespread language for the deaf to communicate and be communicated with.
American Sign Language is believed to have been formed in the early 1800s by the American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded in Harford, Connecticut by Yale graduate Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Gallaudet traveled to Europe to learn French Sign Language (LSF) and the early students at the ASD learned LSF. Over time, LSF was adapted for the United States, forming American Sign Language (ASL).
Although there aren’t definitive figures regarding how many ASL users exist in America today, due to the language not being included in the census, estimates place it at somewhere around a million. ASL offers a form of physical communication to people who would otherwise have no voice.
A Lot Like Love
In 2005, Ashton Kutcher starred in “A Lot Like Love” alongside Amanda Peet. During the film, Kutcher uses sign language extensively, leading some to question whether or not he actually knows ASL.
There’s very little information regarding this, beyond the DVD commentary for the movie. There, it is revealed that Kutcher practiced ASL for the role, working with a coach to ensure that he was convincing.
The coach apparently said Kutcher was natural at using ASL and there’s a confidence and flow to his hand movements in the film, even if they’re somewhat unrefined.
An online commenter stated that they had seen a screening of the film for the hard of hearing, with a sign language interpreter on the screen. Kutcher apparently received the ultimate compliment during his sign language scenes, as the interpreter did not translate his gestures for the audience and instead let Kutcher’s ASL speak for itself.
Although Kutcher might not be able to carry on a conversation using ASL in real life, his household is multilingual.
His wife, Mila Kunis, is from former Soviet Ukraine and speaks fluent Russian, keen to raise their children to do the same. Their young daughter, Wyatt, has apparently also spoken Spanish for years.
Languages are clearly something very important to Ashton Kutcher and his family and sign language is vital to improving the quality of life for countless people around the world.