--- title: Ashton Kutcher Thanks Wife in Character Award Speech description: Ashton Kutcher thanked his wife, Mila Kunis, and his family while accepting the Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award at Drake University. canonical: https://time.com/4732852/ashton-kutcher-role-model-award/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-10T16:39:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:24.288Z og:title: Ashton Kutcher Says Parenting Is an 'Amazing Honor' og:description: The actor discussed love and family while accepting an award at Drake University og:url: https://time.com/4732852/ashton-kutcher-role-model-award/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0024d3174bf5e41a/6988a027bc6cfc3ee73de08f/mila-kunis-ashton-kutcher-wedding-ring.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Celebrities At The Los Angeles Lakers Game og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ashton Kutcher Says Parenting Is an 'Amazing Honor' twitter:description: The actor discussed love and family while accepting an award at Drake University twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0024d3174bf5e41a/6988a027bc6cfc3ee73de08f/mila-kunis-ashton-kutcher-wedding-ring.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ashton Kutcher Says Parenting Is an 'Amazing Honor' by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 10, 2017 4:39 PM UTC  Mila Kunis (L) and Ashton Kutcher attend a basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on December 19, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Mila Kunis (L) and Ashton Kutcher attend a basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on December 19, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.Noel Vasquez—GC Images/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 10, 2017 4:39 PM UTC [Ashton Kutcher](http://time.com/4672257/ashton-kutcher-human-trafficking-speech/) paid homage to his wife, [Mila Kunis](http://motto.time.com/4555360/mila-kunis-gender-bias-essay/), and their [two children](http://motto.time.com/4588764/mila-kunis-ashton-kutcher-baby-boy/) on Saturday as he accepted the [Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award](http://drake.edu/raycenter/recognition/rayaward/) at Drake University in Iowa. Kutcher, [a native Iowan](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005110/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F1), got choked up as he spoke about his family, love and what character really means to him. When talking about his twin brother who was born with cerebral palsy, Kutcher said, “Loving people isn’t a choice… We’re all created incredibly inequal to one another in our capabilities and what we can do and how we think and what we see. But we all have the equal capacity to love one another.” Kutcher continued his declarations of love while crediting Kunis for teaching him about character. “This morning, I woke up and she kicked my a— on character… And she’s the best for it.” He continued, “I thought I was awesome because I got up early and helped with [the kids](http://motto.time.com/4446731/mila-kunis-raising-children/) before she woke up and I let her sleep a little bit and then she’s like, ‘Well, now you’re gonna act tired? I do it every day.’ But it was a character moment, right? Because she’s right!” Kutcher also discussed how parenting Wyatt, 2, and Dimitri, 4 months, has transformed him. He called it an “amazing honor,” and that “I wanted to call my parents and say, ‘I’m sorry, because I never knew how much you loved me.'” Watch Kutcher’s full speech above. \[h/t [Cosmopolitan](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a9253618/ashton-kutcher-mila-kunis-character-award-speech/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4732852/ashton-kutcher-role-model-award/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4732852/ashton-kutcher-role-model-award/"},"headline":"Ashton Kutcher Says Parenting Is an 'Amazing Honor'","datePublished":"2017-04-10T16:39:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:24.288Z","description":"The actor discussed love and family while accepting an award at Drake University","url":"https://time.com/4732852/ashton-kutcher-role-model-award/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0024d3174bf5e41a/6988a027bc6cfc3ee73de08f/mila-kunis-ashton-kutcher-wedding-ring.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0024d3174bf5e41a/6988a027bc6cfc3ee73de08f/mila-kunis-ashton-kutcher-wedding-ring.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Celebrities At The Los Angeles Lakers Game","caption":"Celebrities At The Los Angeles Lakers Game","creditText":"Noel Vasquez—GC Images/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4732852/ashton-kutcher-role-model-award/","name":"Ashton Kutcher Says Parenting Is an 'Amazing Honor'"}}]}] ```