Wilmer Valderrama and his That 70s Show castmates are all grown up!
On the Hollywood Reporter's Oscar Nominee Night red carpet, the Encanto actor opened up about his journey as a new father, and how all his old friends have been holding up as parents.
"It's funny because we joke around like, what are they going to be like? Are they going to be anything like us? But one thing is, for sure, is that every single one of us who has kids on That ‘70s Show, we really try to make sure that they not only try to understand their roots, but they understand that they come from a heritage of people who came to this country to work really hard. And a lot of them are immigrants, from Mila [Kunis] to me."
Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, is married to her and Valderrama's costar, Ashton Kutcher. Valderrama joked,
"And even Kutcher, coming from the Midwest and trying to make the dream come true, let's put him in the mix!"
Kunis and Kutcher have two children together, whereas Valderrama welcomed his first child in February of 2021. He shared that his role in Encanto is the first father he's ever played while being a father.
"We were talking about this when we were recording Encanto that this is the first role of me playing a father while actually being a father. So, it was beautiful. It was beautiful to be able to see that."
Valderrama also says that he believes his career is on the right path with his current projects. While he admits he'll "never be cool" to his daughter, he's happy to work for a world where she will see their experiences and history taken seriously.
"Seeing that [my daughter]'s going to wake up to a world where all of us have fought those battles and said ‘no,' and said ‘no' enough to all the roles that didn't really empower us to be the community that we really have been to this country, and the contribution that we've given to this country, its beautiful."
Valderrama believes Hollywood is at the brink of a reckoning, and that American culture is becoming more inclusive. He has hope for the future of the industry, as he stated,
"I think immigrants are being celebrated more and more in cinema and television now. There's a wave coming. I've been doing this thing for almost twenty seven years now, and we really have moved the needle forward. So, it's a really exciting time. I'm proud of the next project I'm going to be doing. That's going to be another big moment for my daughter. To be able to create that, it's pretty exciting."
