Why Ashton Kutcher Felt ‘Awkward’ Kissing Mila Kunis on ‘That 70s Show’

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis played a couple on That 70s Show, but they didn’t get together in real life until years later. Here’s why Kurtwood Smith, who played Red Forman on the show, said it was “awkward” for Kutcher to kiss Kunis on camera. 

Mila Kunis revealed that Ashton Kutcher was her first kiss – and it was filmed for ‘That 70s Show’

Actor Mila Kunis revealed that her now-husband, Ashton Kutcher, was her first kiss, years before they started dating. The two stars were filming a scene for That 70s Show.

But the kiss was far from romantic: Kunis described it as “uncomfortable,” while Kutcher said it was “nerve-wracking.”

“I was like, ‘Oh, he’s so cute, it’s the Calvin Klein model!’ ” Kunis told People in 2001. “Then I was like, ‘I have to kiss him?’ I was so nervous and uncomfortable. I had the biggest crush on him.”

Kutcher wasn’t aware of Kunis’ nerves or that he was her first kiss. “I’m the first guy she kissed? Oh my god, I had no idea!” he said. “I’m so glad I didn’t know that or it would’ve been too much pressure.”

He added, “I was so nervous. She acted so cool. She seemed as if she’d done it a thousand times. I was the one with the butterflies in my stomach. I mean, here’s this little girl and I have to kiss her. It was nerve-racking.”

Kurtwood Smith said kissing Mila Kunis on ‘That 70s Show’ was ‘awkward’ for Ashton Kutcher

Kurtwood Smith, who played Red Forman on That 70s Show (and recently reprised the role on That 90s Show), said it was “awkward” for Ashton Kutcher to kiss Mila Kunis on camera.

“Of course they played boyfriend and girlfriend, but they had completely separate lives,” Smith told E! News in 2012. 

“You have to remember Mila was a kid,” he continued. “That was awkward for Ashton at the beginning. He was like 19 and she was like 14 or 15.”

The couple shared their first real kiss at a housewarming party in 2012

That 70s Show ended in 2006, and Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis didn’t kiss off-camera until years later, in 2012. Kutcher had invited Kunis to his housewarming party, where he planned to set her up with one of his friends. 

But Kunis may have devised a clever plan to get Kutcher to kiss her at the party. “I think I was smoking cigarettes at the time, and I was still a smoker,” Kutcher said (via Elle). “And she had quit smoking and she was like, she wanted me to like shotgun a cigarette smoke so she could breathe it in and I was like, ‘All right.’ And I started doing this. And gradually through the night, it got closer and closer and closer.”

Although he had planned on introducing Kunis to his friend, Kutcher said their feelings for each other became “obvious.” “I think it was pretty mutual,” he said. “It was kind of obvious that things were happening.”