Debra Jo Rupp was not ready to let go of her ever-fretting, occasionally kooky and definitely overprotective maternal character Kitty from “That ’70s Show.” When the Emmy-winning Fox sitcom wrapped after eight seasons, just as many years and 200 episodes, the “WandaVision” (and soon to be “Agatha: Coven of Chaos”) actress took anything and damn near everything she could from set.
“I just cried for a month when we ended ’70s Show’ and then I took everything I could,” Rupp told TheWrap in an interview. “I couldn’t get the Vista Cruiser because Wilmer [Valderrama, who reprises his role as Fez] took that, but if I could have, I would have.”
Now, Rupp and her on-screen husband Kurtwood Smith — prickly as ever as patriarch Red Forman — are reunited, along with “’70s” mainstays Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Don Starks, Tommy Chong and Valderrama, all of whom make guest turns throughout “That ’90s Show.” In the Netflix spinoff, the couple, now grandparents, open up their basement (with love from Kitty, with biting resentment from Red) to a new generation of burnouts and outcasts, led by Callie Haverda’s Leia Forman.
For both Rupp and Smith, stepping back into their beloved roles was as easy as baking cupcakes is for Kitty and sticking his foot up delinquents’ asses is for Red. Read on for TheWrap’s Q&A with the stars, as they get nostalgic about the show’s legacy and detail everything they stole from the predecessor’s set:
TheWrap: How were you both approached with the idea of a spinoff and what were your initial thoughts on it? Were there any challenges stepping back into this world for you, or was it just about finding your rhythm?
DJR: I knew it was gonna be probably pretty comfortable because the art director called me at home and said, ‘I hear that you have some ”70s Show’ items from the set that you took with you.’ Everybody knew that I didn’t steal them, but I obviously had a lot of trouble saying goodbye because most of the things she brought up I had in my basement. I even took the cheese grater lights in the kitchen. All of the lights I took home. I had the purple grapes. I had these orange things that were in the back den that no one ever saw. I had Kitty’s recipe things — Did you know I had all this stuff?
KS: What I’m trying to figure out is what kind of defense is that? Do you think it would hold up in court? ‘I took these things, but I didn’t steal them.’
DJR: I didn’t steal them — they knew.
KS: ‘I took the car, Your Honor, but I didn’t steal it.’
DJR: Anyway—
KS: ‘The owner knew I had it, I held a gun on him the whole time, took it.’
You were just borrowing them for a long time.
DJR: I had all of this stuff and some of it I had to ship back. I had all of Kitty’s sweaters, I had Kitty’s nursing uniform. I had to ship that all back. Now I have it back now, so it’s not like a big deal.
KS: What were you gonna do with the nursing uniform?
DJR: I don’t know what I thought I was gonna do, but I was having trouble saying goodbye, and the nursing uniform was important to me.
KS: OK.
DJR: Every slide that was ever taken of that show, honest to God, I just cried for a month when we ended ”70s Show’ and then I took everything I could. I couldn’t get the Vista Cruiser because Wilmer took that, but if I could have, I would have. So I knew that there was going to be a lot of familiarity on the set, and I knew Kitty, and I knew that I would have this guy there with me. So I was kind of all set. It was kind of easy.
Kurtwood, if there was anything else you wanted to add?
KS: I just didn’t have enough room in my car to steal all the stuff that Debra took.
DJR: I made trips, I made several trips.
KS: A few things: Green Bay Packer paraphernalia and some shirts.
DJR: I have some of his shirts. I took those too.
KS: I should have taken the nurse’s uniform. Been all set.
What was it like to be having this mini reunion with all the cameos that occur? With Laura, Wilmer, Mila, Ashton, what was it like to be back on that set?
DJR: It was very emotional for me, I cried. They didn’t come all at one time. They came one at a time, really. And each one would come in the living room and come in the kitchen, and I would cry and we would take a short break, so I could compose myself. And then we would move on. It was very emotional. You know, it was eight years, and these kids grew up on the set. And I’m so incredibly proud of them. I’m just so proud of them and — they have great careers, but the kinds of people they turned out to be. I’ve worked with [them] for eight years, some longer, but it was pretty emotional and obviously really, really happy.
KS: It was great having them back, people that we spent all that time working with. They’ve gone on and blossomed in their own way, and so it’s nice seeing them back again, playing the roles. We’ve seen them on-and-off during that time at various times of our life. Separately we worked on Ashton’s show, ‘The Ranch.’ Used to seeing them — at Father’s Day brunch with Topher one year.
DJR: I felt like we fell back into our roles. When you’re at home with your parents, I could turn into a 10 year old in a second; you say one wrong thing to me — Mom or Dad — I’m 10. I felt like the roles never changed. We were still the mom and the dad. They were still respectful. I mean it was just really great.
What are you most excited for both new and older audiences to experience with this show — if this is their first intro to these characters or, like me, they’re coming back to it for a second time?
KS: I think that what made the show work so well was the fact that the comedy all came out of the characters — as opposed to just being jokes and stuff. It’s really a show about family, about this particular family, and how a family becomes a larger family: the kids in the neighborhood are almost as much kids of yours as your kids. That’s an important truism, especially in suburban life. I think that we have that very clearly on ‘That ’70s Show,’ and I think it’s true of this show.
