After eight seasons of misadventures in the “Me Decade” as Fez, the foreign exchange student of indeterminate origin, Wilmer Valderrama is about to put away his bellbottoms for good.
Fox’s hit sitcom That ‘70s Show is about to shoot its final episodes, but that hardly means that the Venezuelan-born actor, who started on the series when he was a junior in high school, will be going the way of the eight-track tape. These days, Valderrama is one of Hollywood’s hottest properties with an enviable slate of projects in play, including a sort-of return to the ‘70s playing Ponch, the Latin highway patrolman with the mega-watt smile, in a big-screen version of the classic cop show ChiPs. In an exclusive chat, the actor told with Hollywood.com about revving up the next phase of his career–while still staying behind the wheel of the Vista Cruiser.
Hollywood.com: Have you been thinking about the end of That ‘70s Show?
Wilmer Valderrama: Yeah, it’s a little sad right now, but equally as exciting. We’re very excited to embark on the next chapter of our careers. A lot of us, you know, have been setting up a lot of things for the past year and a half.
HW: More than just about any TV cast I can think of, you guys are seriously tight–you hang out together, you’ve gone into business together, opened restaurants and clubs together…What is it going to be like not working with these people, who are your really close friends, any more?
WV: For us, working together is like…Us working together is more like hanging out. And we hang out all the time regardless, you know, so it’s not gonna feel too different, because we see each other all the time. But sharing this bond was special, it’s gonna stay here.
HW: Will some of you look for other projects together?
WV: We’ll see, yeah.
HW: Are you going to take any souvenir from the set of the show?
WV: Yeah, I’ve got dibs on the Vista Cruiser. Oh yeah. I collect cars, so. I need to have that one.
HW: You still have your hot ride, the Aston Martin?
WV: Yeah, and I got something else. I got a black four-door Bentley.
HW: Now I know why I see you in Vegas all the time. You must be winning!
WV: I don’t gamble. That’s why I can afford these.
HW: You’re not exactly headed to the unemployment line. You’ve got the smack-talking competition you created and produced, Yo Mama, coming up on MTV?
WV: I have the MTV show, we just finished our first season, it’s incredible, it’s a monster. And Handy Manny, the animated series for the Disney Channel is coming out this year too. And then I’m doing, I just finished doing a movie with Richard Linklater called Fast Food Nation, which is fantastic.
HW: Who do you play in that one?
WV: Just a normal kid–he and his girlfriend go across the border, take a job at a place in the United States, kind of American dream kind of thing, but it’s based on the book Fast Food Nation, so it’s fantastic. It also stars Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Greg Kinnear, Bruce Willis… a bunch of great people. I’m very excited, very excited. That’s amazing. And I have CHiPs in the spring.
HW: Have you been hanging out with real CHiPs and honing your motorcycle skills?
WV: Oh yeah. I’ve been going on ride-alongs already. Yeah. I’m really excited. I grew up watching that.
HW: Was Erik Estrada a hero for you when you were young, especially as a Latino leading man on TV?
WV: It’s the role to have, you know what I mean? For anyone like me, it’s the role to have. He came over the set of That ’70s Show to say congratulations. He said “I could never imagine anybody else playing me but you.”
HW: Did Erik give you any pointers on the key to playing that part, or did he say go do your own thing?
WV: He just said “Look, be you. Because you’re me.”
HW: You’ve also said that growing up you were a serious fan of Top Gun. If they did a remake of that, would you line up to play Tom Cruise’s part, Maverick?
WV: It’s in the works, man, it’s in the works. I love that movie so much. I definitely want to convince someone to make me do that movie.
