Hollywood movies
are going to the bugs
By Gregory Koteles
Special to The Acorn

In Hollywood, movies are big business, but for Steve Kutcher, motion pictures are "bug business." Since 1976, the Arcadia entomologist has provided all manner of bugs for moviemakers looking for that next set of six to eight perfect legs or that special sparkle of multifaceted eyes.

Kutcher’s insects and spiders have been featured in 75 feature films and hundreds of television commercials and music videos, including "Arachnophobia" and "Jurassic Park." He was the agent to the now infamous blue and red arachnid who bit Toby McGuire’s character Peter Parker in the movie "Spider-Man," conferring on the superhero his fantastic powers (the spider, a Steatoda grossa, even got its turn in the makeup chair to get the proper coloration for the part).

Replete with a butterfly pattern print shirt and bow tie and his signature red cap emblazoned with "Bugs are my business," Kutcher regaled an audience of about 90 at the National Park Visitor Service Center in Thousand Oaks last Saturday with tales about how to teach an old phylum new tricks.

A self-described "entophiliac" in a world of "entophobiacs," Kutcher seems at times almost amazed that producers and directors are willing to fork over thousands of dollars for him to "play with bugs."

"I get paid a lot of money to have fun," he said. "I’ve always been fascinated by nature and insects, and I’ve been able to turn that into a career."

With bugs appearing in one-third of all films by Kutcher’s estimation, and his ability to get the often stubborn arthropod actors to perform on cue, Kutcher has become an in-demand commodity in Hollywood — a bug wrangler. His name may not often appear in the credits, but his protégés certainly make their mark on celluloid.

Kutcher has worked with many of Hollywood’s A-list celebrities, aside from those with more than two legs. He’s rubbed shoulders with directors Steven Spielberg and Sam Raimi, taught a wasp to fly into the mouth of Roddy McDowell and even taken a bath in thousands of mealworms on "Late Night With David Letterman" (before "Fear Factor" made such things fashionable on television).

"I got to put Sigourney Weaver into bed with 2,000 carpenter ants for the movie ‘Copycat,’" he recalled during his presentation with a wry smirk. "That was fun, too."

With a little help from kids in the audience, Kutcher demonstrated a few tricks of the trade, making a tarantula crawl over the shoulder of one and giving another the creeps with the aid of a few cockroaches.

Since his subjects don’t respond to verbal cues and hand signals, Kutcher uses other methods to coach his actors, such as changing temperature or lighting conditions. A touch on a tarantula’s legs will make it walk and covering its eyes will make it stop. A little honey will make a fly’s natural cleaning instincts kick in. And a simple fantail artist’s brush was used in "Spider-Man" to give the eight-legged actor something to descend from onto the hapless Peter Parker.

Undoubtedly, anyone who has sat down for more than an hour in front of the television or munched on popcorn in a movie theater has seen at least a few of Kutcher’s bugs. His next project will be a John Grisham movie that calls for spiders, butterflies, ants and more keep coming as commercial makers seek to capitalize on bug appeal.

Between his work in movies and television, Kutcher teaches biology at West Los Angeles College and lectures at schools and universities around the country, as well as consulting for local government agencies and private industry.

Kutcher doesn’t know precisely where his career choice will take him next, but one thing is for certain, he said.

"Part of my job will be playing with bugs."