Actor Wilmer Valderrama opened up about his “friendly rivalry” with former co-star Ashton Kutcher while they were filming “That ’70s Show.”
In his new memoir, “An American Story: Everyone’s Invited,” Valderrama discussed the dynamics of the popular Fox sitcom, from auditions to landing the role of Fez and sharing behind-the-scene relationships with Kushner.
“Ashton was far more intelligent in real life than the character he played, and he was far more serious about the craft of acting than it appeared,” Valderrama, 44, wrote on Kutcher, 46, who played Michael Kelso.
The “NCIS” actor compared himself to Kushner, saying that his co-star “always came to set extremely prepared, just like I did.”
At some point, the two young adults started to have fun challenging each other.
“He and I soon developed a friendly rivalry to see who could get the biggest laughs from the audience on the first take,” he wrote.
Valderrama was 18, and Kutcher was 19 when they both started the comedy show.
The actor explained that the audience’s “laugh is always bigger” on the first run, according to US Weekly. “If you mess up on the first take and try for a huge laugh on the second, the joke never lands as powerfully. If you need to do a third or fourth take, you might as well forget it.”
The “two-takers,” a nickname Kushner and Valderrama gave themselves, means that they would “always try to land the first perfectly, then do the second take just for fun.”
When he was sent to audition for the show, Valderrama wrote that he didn’t put much effort in the beginning.
“I vowed to give it my all, just like everything else,” he explained. “But after you’ve been auditioning for a few years without much success, you learn not to get your hopes up.”
During the audition process, the “Handy Mandy” voice actor was against Topher Grace, who was later cast as Eric Forman. Valderrama recalled seeing Grace for the first time, calling him “a tall, skinny kid with a shock of dark hair.”
Throughout the years, Valderrama’s respect for Grace grew, calling him “an amazing actor.”
The show first aired in 1998 and ran for eight seasons, ending in 2006. Joining the iconic cast were Laura Prepon, Danny Masterson, Debra Jo Rupp, Kurtwood Smith and Mila Kunis, who was the youngest of the cast at 14 years old.
Gushing over his former co-stars, Valderrama wrote that he had a “beautiful connection” with Prepon, who became like a sister to him while filming. He described the cast as being a close-knit family.
“It seemed the more we bonded in real life and bulls – – tted between takes, the funnier the show became. … We laughed. We joked. We pranked each other. … As co-stars, we became each other’s No. 1 fans,” the actor shared.
When it was time to film the last episode, the cast was not ready to say goodbye to their characters and the community they built.
“For the next 10 days in a row, we all went to lunch together,” he wrote, saying that he will be forever grateful for “That ’70s Show” launching his career.
Valderrama and most of the cast appeared in the first season of the reboot series “That ’90s Show,” which aired in January 2023. Valderrama made the decision not to appear in Season 2.
“This is their show now, and I think it was important that we came and pay respect to their show and have fun with the legacy of what we did,” he said, according to People. “At the same time, it was really about, you know, now seeing them take it over.”
After the show ended, Valderrama went on shows like “From Duck Till Dawn: The Series,” “Minority Report” and most recently “NCIS.”
Valderrama, who plays Nick Torres, spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming season of “NCIS” and what fans can expect.
“We’re playing a lot more with personal journeys for our characters,” the actor told the outlet. “This season will be a little bit more humorous, definitely a lot more emotionally driven for our lead characters, and perhaps — perhaps — they’re going to be in major danger.
Season 22 of the hit crime show will air on October 14 on NBC.