It’s been over 18 years since That ‘70s Show ended, but it's till one of the most rewatchable series and is easily accessible via streaming. The Fox sitcom produced many eventual stars, like Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Topher Grace. In Valderrama’s new memoir, An American Story: Everyone’s Invited, now out, the NCIS actor is now getting real about his own experiences working on the teen comedy. That includes his friendly competition with Kutcher and the secret to filming before a live audience.
Wilmer Valderrama and Ashton Kutcher played friends Fez and Michael Kelso, respectively, but they had a somewhat different relationship off-screen. While the two were buddies, they were also sort of like brothers in that they tried to one-up each other. Via Us Weekly, Valderrama wrote in his memoir that the two of them would come to set “extremely prepared” and would end up challenging one another while filming:
He and I soon developed a friendly rivalry to see who could get the biggest laughs from the audience on the first take. 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.
Oh, to be in the audience of a That ‘70s Show taping. I can only imagine how fun it must've been to watch the actors mix it up during and between takes. Considering Fez and Kelso were arguably two of the funniest characters on the series, it’s not so surprising that the actors who played them were basically having a “laugh-off.” I just hope they were able to get takes done with no problem and didn’t raise any eyebrows from producers, but that doesn’t seem likely.
Wilmer Valderrama shared that he and his co-stars gave themselves the nickname of the “two-takers." That term alone sums up the pair's approach to filming in front of a live audience, and it sounds like a smart approach:
[W]e’d always try to land the first perfectly, then do the second take just for fun.
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The thought of filming in front of an audience week after week is daunting, so I can appreciate anyone who does it. The approach that the two '70s co-stars stars took to their work seems like a solid way to both ease tension and get the work done effectively. Kudos to them for figuring out a smart way to not only have fun with each but to entertain audiences as well.
Many now dub That ‘70s Show a series that went on too long, especially given that Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher exited as main cast members before the final season. Still, there are plenty of reasons why the show still holds a special place in fans' hearts. Among those factors is the charisma of the cast, and I love hearing more about their work together. Wilmer Valderrama and Ashton Kutcher seem to have been able to bring out the best in each other. And this recent BTS tidbit is just another reason why I appreciate the performances of these "two-takers."
Wilmer Valderrama has many more stories to be told about his time on That ‘70s Show (which is one of the best sitcoms of all time), his childhood, the rest of his career and more in his new memoir, so be sure to pick up An American Story: Everyone’s Invited now. Anyone with a Peacock subscription can also stream all eight seasons of That ‘70s Show now.
