Wedding warfare in Las Vegas

As usual, when two stars come to Japan to promote their movie, they can’t praise each other enough. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher certainly poured it on thick during their visit this month for "What Happens in Vegas." Kutcher got so enthusiastic at one point that he knocked a bottle of water onto Diaz.

It could have been a scene out of their movie – a sort of romantic comedy in reverse about a slacker (Kutcher) and a Wall Street control freak (Diaz), who head to Las Vegas to forget their troubles for awhile (he’s been fired, she’s been given the heave-ho by her fiance). One morning they wake up beside each other and discover they’ve gotten hitched following a night of debauchery. Before they can get divorced, they win $3 million on a slot machine, complicating matters. The judge orders them to stay married for six months before he rules on who gets how much. So the pair tries to make life miserable for each other as much as possible. But along the way, they … well, you can guess the rest.

It’s the sort of comedy that Diaz, 36, excels in. For some reason, whenever she comes to Japan, she is always asked if she is anything like her characters. This time – her 6th visit in six years – was no exception. “I’m nothing like my character. I’m not a big planner. I don’t need to know what is going on. I enjoy spontaneity and a little bit of surprise in my life,” she said.

Kutcher, 30, making his first visit to Japan, sheepishly admitted that his character fits him like a glove. “Vegas is a dangerous place for a guy like me. I’ve had a reckless past and could get into lots of trouble. I think it is in everyone’s nature to test those boundaries. Fortunately, we were working at night when others were playing.”

Diaz said she was overwhelmed by Vegas. “It’s one of the best places on Earth. Everything about it seems wrong, and yet we have embraced it fully. Everyone wants to go there. For us, having this wonderful story set in Vegas made it even more fun to be there. It is a great comedy and the dialogue is really funny. When I read the script, I wanted to be part of it as a movie.”

During their visit to Japan, both Diaz and Kutcher did something that visiting stars rarely do – they actually spent a few days here on holiday, seeing the sights. “When I was 16, I lived in Tokyo for three months while I was working as a model,” said Diaz. “I had been telling my mother about Tokyo ever since, so this time, she finally got to come with me.”

Kutcher, who is married to actress Demi Moore, said they spent three days in Kyoto, visiting gardens and shrines. The only dubious experience was eating a meal that he called a “little bit frightening” at a ryokan. Of more interest to Kutcher, though, was meeting people in the entertainment world and finding out what they like and don’t like. “For us, it is easy assume, and maybe it’s a little arrogant as well, that the media or movies we create in the US will be liked and appreciated here,” he said. “Because it is my first visit, I wanted to find out what Japanese appreciate and enjoy.”

© Japan Today