Wilmer Valderrama's time playing Fez on That ‘70s Show was monumental, meaningful and, of course, funny. However, during his run on one of the best sitcoms of all time, the Miami native almost died in a terrifying plane incident. Now, Valderrama is opening up about that experience, his need to reset after it, and how Johnny Depp helped get him through it with some great acting advice.
Actor, producer, and Global USO Ambassador Wilmer Valderrama is telling his life story in his new book, An American Story: Everyone’s Invited. In it, he delves deep into growing up in Venezuela and how he used his calling as an actor to help his struggling family. He also shared his frightening experience of surviving a plane incident during the early days of That ‘70s Show and how Johnny Depp’s great advice helped him reset his career.
Wilmer Valderrama’s Near-Death Plane Crash Experience
In a passage from Wilmer Valderrama’s new book, which was posted by US Weekly, he detailed the story of almost dying in a plane incident with Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Colin Hanks and others. The group was on a “small chartered plane” that was flying back to Hollywood from New Orleans after the Super Bowl, and Valderrama wrote that there was nothing “smooth” about it:
Outside is nothing but darkness and sleet. The plane is pitching up, down, side to side. I’m feeling lightheaded. It’s getting hard to breathe. Oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, and I wonder if they dropped because the turbulence shook them loose or if it’s something else.
The captain on the plane said the result of an oxygen valve “stuck closed” caused carbon monoxide to fill the interior of the charter plane. Wilmer Valderrama and Ashton Kutcher shared one mask, and they gave Danny Masterson an extra mask as he told them he was losing feeling in his arm.
Fortunately, the plane landed safely after an emergency landing in El Paso. While waiting for his next flight, the NCIS actor gave his mother a heartwarming phone call to tell her, “I love you.”
Johnny Depp’s Sage Advice for Wilmer Valderrama To ‘Bet On Yourself’
Following this scary accident and wrapping That '70s Show in 2006, Wilmer Valderrama took an acting hiatus. While using that time to travel and think deeply about his future, Valderrama returned to acting but was very choosy with his roles.
After the unfortunate plane incident, an agent set up a meeting between the television actor and Johnny Depp while he was filming his Pirates of the Caribbean movie Dead Man’s Chest. This exchange proved to be motivational for Valderrama as the Sweeney Todd actor offered him valuable advice during his career reset to “focus on one character at a time” and “bet on yourself:”
[After we talk], I’m thinking, What if my life had ended that day on the plane? All of us are going to die someday, and we have to prepare for what’s next. But it’s also important to live here and now.
Wilmer Valderrama sure had great success outside of That ‘70s Show.
He did animation work voicing Manny in the Disney Junior series Handy Manny, Prince Phillipe Charming in the animated film Charming, and Agustín Madrigal in Disney’s Encanto. He’s also been in live-action feature films like Larry Crowne and The Adderall Diaries.
Most prominently, Valderrama took over for Michael Weatherly on NCIS in Season 14. He has been a series regular for the past seven seasons, and he'll be back soon as the show's 22nd season is set to air this fall.
It’s a huge relief that Wilmer Valderrama lived to tell the tale of that horrific plane accident that almost took the lives of him and his friends. It's also nice to hear that he had support from people like Johnny Depp, who gave him advice on how to manage his life going forward. Clearly, all these experiences have added up to create quite the life and career for the successful actor.
You can see Valderrama return in his starring role on CBS’s NCIS when it premieres on the 2024 TV schedule on October 14th. Also, to learn more about his life and career, make sure to read his new book An American Story: Everyone’s Invited, which is available on Amazon.
