Ashton Kutcher is visibly emotional in the his first joint interview with his twin brother, Michael.
In the trailer for Paramount+’s new series The Checkup With Dr. David Agus, the That ’70s Show/Two and a Half Men actor has a moving discussion with Michael, who was born with cerebral palsy and has had a heart transplant, about his own battle with a life-threatening disease.
“I was unable to walk and then suddenly you can’t see,” Ashton said. “When you have this face-to-face with death, you instantly lock into, ‘What are you doing with today?'”
Back in August, Kutcher revealed on an episode of National Geographic’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge he’d been battling a rare autoimmune disease called vasculitis.
“Like two years ago, I had this weird, super-rare form of vasculitis,” he said. “Knocked out my vision, knocked out my hearing, knocked out like all my equilibrium. It took me like a year to like build it all back up.”
After the episode aired, Kutcher shared on Twitter to further clarify that his “Running Wild” episode had been filmed three years prior: “Before there are a bunch of rumors/ chatter/ whatever out there. Yes, I had a rare vasculitis episode 3 yrs ago. (Autoimmune flair up) I had some impairments hear, vision, balance issues right after. I fully recovered. All good. Moving on.”
Kutcher is one of several celebrities sitting down with Dr. David Agus, a cancer specialist and one of the world’s leading innovative medical authorities, to have powerful conversations about their personal health issues and how it has impacted on their careers and families.
The six-episode docuseries will feature conversations with Oprah Winfrey and Maria Shriver on women’s health issues, Howie Mandel on his OCD diagnosis, Amy Schumar on her long battle with reproductive issues, Nick Cannon on his near-fatal lupus diagnosis, and Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin on aging.
Agus shared with Entertainment Tonight that he was blown away with the stars’ vulnerability in their conversations.
“These artists were willing to take us deep into their own health stories, often for the first time in such a revealing way,” he said. “Their stories are captivating and scary, though ultimately uplifting and inspiring.”
Paramount+ will drop the first three episodes of The Checkup With Dr. David Agus on Dec. 6.