(By Sarah Elizabeth Tooker)

“Steve Jobs wanted to be like Edwin Land, he wanted to be like Thomas Edison, he wanted to be like Henry Ford,” Kutcher continued. “So I think understanding and studying the lineage of entrepreneurship and inventors was really valuable in building out a creative process for me and understanding how to manage business and creativity.”

The New York City premiere of “Jobs,” a film that traces the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, brought its stars Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad to the Museum of Modern Art Wednesday evening before it hits theaters next Friday, August 16th.

Alongside the movie’s cast members, guests walking the red carpet included columnist Arianna Huffington, “Orange is the New Black” actor Matt McGorry and “Gossip Girl” actress Jessica Szohr.

Following the screening, the party continued at The Royalton Hotel’s cozy Forty Four bar, and the night quickly became a conversation concerning Job’s famous entrepreneurial spirit.

Speakeasy caught up with Kutcher before the screening and the actor, who is known for investing in several startup tech companies, said preparing for his role as Steve Jobs involved a lot of research and with that research came many savvy business tips.

“I learned a lot about business and entrepreneurship and I also had the opportunity to study the entrepreneurs that he admired, and I think I learned a lot from studying those people,” he said.

“Steve Jobs wanted to be like Edwin Land, he wanted to be like Thomas Edison, he wanted to be like Henry Ford,” Kutcher continued. “So I think understanding and studying the lineage of entrepreneurship and inventors was really valuable in building out a creative process for me and understanding how to manage business and creativity.”

Director Joshua Michael Stern said he also learned a thing or two from Jobs while preparing the film.

“I learned that Steve Jobs, like everyone else including myself, really struggled at communicating when he was trying to start off in this business – he wasn’t that guy everyone knows to be that beautiful keynote speaker,” Stern said. “He was really searching for how to explain an idea that people hadn’t seen yet, and it’s the same for me as a director, you’re constantly having to tell people that this is going to work even though in the back of your head you’re not 100 percent sure it’s going to work.”

Kutcher’s costar Josh Gad said he found out he would play the role of Steve Wozniak, Apple’s other co-founder, only a month before filming began.

“It was like cramming for the SATs the night before,” he said. “I had to literally watch over 200 hours of footage, listen to countless audio recordings of him, then I delved into all the literature that exists and then I took computer programming courses, and you do all that and then you let it go and tell the story the director and screenwriter envision.”

Aside from promoting this film, Gad dished he’s been busy preparing for several new roles in the works.

“Right now I’m shooting the new Zach Braff ‘Kickstarter’ movie and I’m getting ready to shoot a movie with Kevin Hart in the fall, which is a great comedy called “The Golden Tux,” he said. “And then I’m starring in a biopic of Sam Kinison because I don’t feel like I’ve played enough monumental figures from the 1980s so I think it’s important to continue down that path.”

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

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