In his new guide, Wilmer Valderrama recalled a daunting expertise that grew to become a turning level in how he approached his life in Hollywood.
“A group of actors and insiders is flying back to Hollywood from New Orleans after the Super Bowl, but nothing is smooth about this flight,” Valderrama, 44, wrote in An American Story: Everyone’s Invited, out Tuesday, September 17. “A winter storm rages across the skies, and the mood on board is shaky.”
Valderrama was “in a small chartered plane” along with his That ’70s Show costars Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson, in addition to Colin Hanks and a handful of different buddies.
“Outside is nothing but darkness and sleet,” he continued. “The plane is pitching up, down, side to side. I’m feeling lightheaded. It’s getting hard to breathe. Oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, and I wonder if they dropped because the turbulence shook them loose or if it’s something else.”
That ’70s Show managed to domesticate a few of the most iconic moments in popular culture historical past. It’s additionally chargeable for catapulting its youthful stars Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson into the highlight. Created by Mark Brazill, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner, That ’70s Show centered on a […]
After asking the pilot — who had already placed on “a full Air Force mask, far bigger than ours” — Valderrama and his friends took motion.
“We fumble with our masks. Something is definitely not right with this plane,” the actor wrote. “Colin clutches the armrests of his seat with a death grip. Ashton’s jaw has dropped to his lap. … Our plane is going down.”
According to the captain, carbon monoxide was filling the inside of the airplane as a result of “an oxygen valve got stuck closed.” The results had been noticeable.
Masterson, 48, instructed his costars, “I have no feeling in my arm,” prompting Valderrama and Kutcher, 46, to “share one mask” and provides Masterson an additional. The pilot knowledgeable the passengers that they needed to land, however they had been “still a long way from home.”
“I’m struggling to imagine a best-case scenario if we crash high on a mountainside and they can’t find us,” Valderrama recalled. “Ashton’s gonna wonder who to eat first. It’s probably gonna be me, because he loves Latin American food.”
Ashton Kutcher, Colin Hanks Anna Webber/Getty Images; VALERIE MACON/AFP through Getty Images
After an “incredibly turbulent” touchdown, the airplane reached the bottom safely. “We let out a cheer, but it feels like a lifetime has just passed. It’s not a happy cheer,” Valderrama wrote. “It’s a wobbly cheer, like we’re all trying to process what just happened.”
The emergency touchdown brought on the group to be delayed in El Paso, Texas, on their means again to California. While ready for a brand new airplane to retrieve them, Valderrama referred to as his mother. “I don’t tell her what happened,” he wrote. “I don’t want to worry her. All I say is, ‘I love you.'”
Valderrama didn’t specify when precisely the incident befell, however he famous that it was “a few years into That ’70s Show,” which debuted in 1998. While the model of the story that made its approach to the press on the time was barely exaggerated, Valderrama hasn’t stopped eager about what he skilled.
When That ’70s Show concluded in 2006, Valderrama kicked off his “hiatus years,” which gave him time to journey and “process these larger questions” about the way forward for his profession. Eventually, he returned to the trade — however he was explicit concerning the roles he needed to tackle. One of these roles was Dell Gordo in Larry Crowne, which was cowritten and directed by Tom Hanks, who gave him “some of the best lessons about life and professionalism I’d ever witnessed.”
Valderrama additionally acquired some recommendation from Johnny Depp in the wake of the airplane incident, when he felt like he was “burning the candle at both ends.” The duo had been put in contact by way of an agent, who arrange a gathering with Depp, 61, whereas he was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Depp inspired Valderrama to “focus on one character at a time” and to “bet on yourself” in order to search out success.
“[After we talk], I’m thinking, What if my life had ended that day on the plane?” Valderrama wrote. “All of us are going to die someday, and we have to prepare for what’s next. But it’s also important to live here and now.”
An American Story: Everyone’s Invited is offered now.
