Ashton Kutcher insists he didn't base his The Beauty character on Elon Musk

However, he told The Hollywood Reporter: "This guy's nothing like Mark.

"Some people have asked me about Elon Musk, and this is not based on Elon Musk. He might be the closest in wealth.

"I think The Corporation is the richest person in the world. Maybe Elon will be second - but after Starlink goes public, he might go back to first. [laughs]"

Ashton insisted he's not based The Corporation on "any individual", but rather the general idea of "people in very powerful positions".

He added: "But it's not based on him. It's not based on any individual. "There's an air about people in very powerful positions - they have so much at their disposal that it appears as if everything they're doing has this effortlessness to it.

"I hope to imbue that on camera."

Meanwhile, Ashton - whose other major roles over the years include Dude, Where's My Car?, Two and a Half Men and Just Married - thrived on the opportunity to play a darker and more villainous character.

He said: "It's a fun challenge to try to justify what appear to be absolutely unjustifiable decisions, right?

"That becomes this mental gymnastics that you have to play - to not judge your character and just go out as if, 'No, this is the way things have to happen.' "

Ashton was recently praised by model Bella Hadid, who turned to her more experienced castmates - including Jeremy Pope - for advice after landing a role in the show.

She told PEOPLE magazine: They were able to just tell me a lot of words and wisdom and explain to me that even being crazy and weird is still positive.

"And sometimes things are embarrassing and at the end of the day, it's not embarrassing.

"We're all able to be different versions of ourselves and that's what was most important for me on this set."

Bella often filmed separately from her co-stars but still found them "so impactful".

The aspiring actress said: "Ashton was so helpful with just little words. I love Jeremy so much, everybody was just so welcoming to me."