‘That ’90s Show’: Ashton Kutcher Practiced Saying ‘Damn, Jackie’ With Mila Kunis
That ’90s Show is a brand-new series that is earning praise from both fans and critics alike. The TV show, which is a sequel to the beloved sitcom That ’70s Show, welcomes back many of the franchise’s legacy characters, including Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. Although the roles that Kutcher and Kunis had in the first season of That ’90s Show were small, there’s no doubt that their scene had an impact. And Kutcher planned well in advance, taking time to run his lines in the same manner that he did when he worked on That ’70s Show so many years ago.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis starred in ‘That ’70s Show’
Kutcher and Kunis both rose to fame on That ’70s Show, which ran from 1998 through 2006. Kutcher played Michael Kelso, a dumb but handsome young man who is often getting into trouble due to his ditsy personality and inability to take things seriously. His romance with Jackie Burkhart is a focus of the show for several seasons, ironically mirroring the real-life romance that would later form between Kutcher and Kunis.
Kunis’ Jackie was shown to be superficial and shallow, caring mostly about material things until her father, a crooked politician, goes to jail. Jackie is also the youngest member of the show’s friend group, pretty and sassy. While Jackie and Kelso didn’t end up together in That ’70s Show, with Jackie dating Fez by the series end, many fans shipped the two, especially after Kunis and Kutcher tied the knot many years after starring together in the sitcom.
‘That ’90s Show’ writers knew what scene they wanted to write for Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
When That ’90s Show was in production, writers knew that they wanted to bring in Kutcher and Kunis in some capacity to reprise their roles as Kelso and Jackie. Writer Gregg Mettler even said that the scene with Kutcher and Kunis was the easiest to write. According to BuzzFeed, Mettler said “That scene, I wrote all at once. Just spilled out of my fingers. I wanted Ashton to say, ‘Damn, Jackie,’ so bad.”
Writer Terry Turner added “God, I loved it. When Ashton and Mila came in together in that scene, I thought that was really the icing on the cherry on the sundae of this show.”
How did Ashton Kutcher prepare for his cameo in ‘That ’90s Show’?
Kutcher was especially thrilled to reprise his role as Kelso. According to Mettler, the actor even sent him videos of himself “running around” his house dressed as Kelso and yelling “Damn, Jackie!” “I guess Ashton had kept all the old Kelso wardrobe. He was texting me pictures of him in Kelso’s old winter jacket. Then Ashton was sending me videos of him playfully annoying Mila by running around their house going, ‘Damn, Jackie,'” Mettler said.
While preparing to film his cameo, Kutcher studied his lines in the basement of the old house, on the same set that That ’70s Show was filmed on. Reportedly, the actor fell asleep there, only to wake up to see Kunis hovering over him.
“He said, ‘When I woke up, it was Mila standing over me, and I opened my eyes,'” show creator Bonnie Turner recalled. “I looked around and I was in the Forman basement with my wife staring up at the (lighting) grid, dressed as Jackie. It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had. I literally didn’t know (what year) I was (in) for a minute,'” Bonnie recalled.
