Wilmer Valderrama had a “friendly rivalry” with Ashton Kutcher in “That '70s Show”

Wilmer Valderrama remembers his The wild seventies Days with Ashton Kutcher.

On Tuesday, September 17, NCIS: Secret Service Stories Actor, 44, published his memoirs, An American Story: Everyone is InvitedIn the book, Valderrama, who played Fez, talked about auditioning for the sitcom and what it was like working with 46-year-old Kutcher after he landed the role. We weekly.

“Ashton was much more intelligent in real life than the character he played, and he took acting much more seriously than he seemed,” Valderrama admitted. punk alum who became known to fans as Michael Kelso, the host of the show.

According to Valderrama, the commonality between him and Kutcher was that Kutcher “always came to the set extremely well prepared.”

“We soon developed a friendly rivalry over who could get the most laughs from the audience on the first take,” Valderrama wrote, adding that “the laughs were always bigger.”

“If you make a mistake on the first try and try to get a huge laugh on the second, the joke will never go over as well. If you have to make a third or fourth try, you might as well forget it,” he said.

The duo eventually called themselves the “Two-Takers” because they “always tried to land the first take perfectly and then do the second take just for fun.”

Valderrama also admitted that he had not initially given much thought to The wild seventiesoriginally titled Teenage Wasteland.

“At first, I didn't think much of the show. I vowed to do my best, just like I do with everything else. But after a few years of auditioning without much success, you learn not to get your hopes up too much,” Valderrama wrote.

In addition to Valderrama and Kutcher, the series also starred Topher Grace (Eric Forman), Laura Prepon (Donna Pinciotti), Mila Kunis (Jackie Burkhart), Danny Masterson (Steven Hyde), Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty Forman), Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman), Tanya Roberts (Midge Pinciotti), Don Stark (Bob Pinciotti), Lisa Robin Kelly (Laurie Forman) and Tommy Chong (Leo Chingkwake). The wild seventies ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006.

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In January 2023, Netflix launched the The wild seventies Spin-off, The wild 90s.

Although some of the original cast returned to Wisconsin in June for the 2024 Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco, Valderrama told PEOPLE why he was not part of the new series.

“There is no time!” he told PEOPLE exclusively.

“We want 20 episodes per season [on NCIS]but at the same time, it's the kids' job,” he added, referring to the spin-off's new cast members.

The reboot stars Callie Haverda as Leia Forman, the daughter of Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti, as well as Max Donovan, Ashley Aufderheide, Sam Morelos, Reyn Doi and Mace Coronel.

“This is their show now, and I think it was important that we came to pay respect to their show and have fun with the legacy of what we did,” Valderrama continued. “At the same time, it was really about seeing how they take it on now.”

The wild seventies can be streamed on Peacock.