The cast of That '70s Show might've been "all alright" in their on-screen smoke circles
most of the time.
But behind the scenes, there was a lingering haze of drama, some of which came to light
in 2017 with disturbing allegations about star Danny Masterson during his time on the
show.
That got us wondering what else the cast might be sweeping under the rug.
Of course, not all secrets are created equal.
From the serious to the silly, here's a look at some of the other dark secrets the cast
of That 70s Show tried to hide.
The young one
Ukrainian transplant actress Mila Kunis started landing TV gigs at the tender age of 13, appearing
in guest stints on shows like Baywatch and a small recurring role on 7th Heaven.
But while those shows might've been game for working with under-aged actors, the producers
of That '70s Show weren't quite so kid-friendly.
She admitted to People that in order to nab the role of Jackie Burkhart on the show at
the age of 14, she pretended to be a good bit older than she really was.
She said, "I told them I was going to be 18.
But I didn't tell them when I was going to be 18!"
As fate would have it, her "first real kiss" took place in front of the cameras that year.
In character, she planted one on her future husband Ashton Kutcher, who played her character's
then-boyfriend Michael Kelso — and was 23 at the time.
If not for that so-called "little white non-truth," she might not have ended up making the Jackie-Kelso
ship sail onto a romantic island of marriage and babies together.
Of course, there was more to the story than just that.
The unlikely lovers
They played an on-again-off-again young couple on That '70s Show and got together in real-life
several years after the show's end.
But Kunis and Kutcher didn't care for each other very much during the years they shared
the screen.
Kunis told Glamour in 2016, "There's nothing we don't know about each other because we've
known each other for so long: the ugly, the bad, the good.
We went through a period where I thought he was crazy.
At the height of his career, I was like, 'Ugh, I don't like you.
I don't even know you anymore.
You think you're such hot sh-t.'"
She added that even though they went through "full friendship breakups" over the years
of working with and knocking each other, they always reconciled in the end.
What ultimately brought them together was a mutual decision to become bedroom buddies
without any romantic entanglements.
Perhaps not coincidentally, both of them had starred in movies where that exact arrangement
failed to work out.
In 2011, Kutcher appeared in No Strings Attached and Kunis appeared in the similarly-styled
rom-com Friends with Benefits the same year.
"And if we would've just paid attention to how those movies turned out we would know
that we can't go into a relationship this way."
The jailbird
One of the most memorable minor characters of That '70s Show was Leo, the pothead who
works with Hyde and develops a friendship with the gang thanks to his marijuana connections.
The character was played by Tommy Chong, who could've easily floated between his off-screen
persona and on-screen alter ego for how similar they seemed to fans.
But after regular appearances in the show's second, third, and fourth seasons, Leo disappeared
from the group.
His absence was the subject of a season 5 manhunt mission after which only a good-bye
note was found.
He eventually returned near the end of season 7.
In his big comeback episode, Leo explained his absence in his usual way.
"Nah.
Just wandering around, trying to find my place in life."
In reality, though the reason for his time off the show was that he was actually doing
time.
In 2003, Chong was sentenced to nine months in jail for selling pot pipes.
Talk about being far out.
The troubled one
Actress Lisa Robin Kelly portrayed Eric Foreman's big sister Laurie for the show's first five
seasons.
But her role was significantly lessened after the third season.
She didn't appear at all in season 4 and only in a handful of episodes in season 5.
Thanks to her off-screen issues, though, she was completely replaced by actress Christina
Moore in season 6, after she decided to leave the show altogether.
She would later explain her departure to ABC News by saying, "I had lost a baby.
As a result of that I lost it.
I lost everything and I was abusing alcohol … With That '70s Show I was guilty of a
drinking problem, and I ran."
She claimed to have recovered from the troubles that sparked her departure from the show in
time to make a celeb comeback.
But she subsequently spiraled in the spotlight, with a DWI in 2010, followed by allegations
of domestic abuse in 2012, and, ultimately, her death from a drug overdose in 2013.
Too big for his bell bottoms
The hatchet may have been buried over the time that's passed since the group left Point
Place.
But when Topher Grace and Kutcher left the show, Grace's departure was a little more
cutting than his co-star's.
When the two announced they would not return for season 8, Kutcher came back for a couple
of salutary episodes in the new season, while Grace only stopped back by the Foreman residence
for the finale.
Grace has claimed there's no bad blood between them and that he's still close to all of his
former co-stars.
But he has still been noticeably absent for major show-related events, like the cast reunion
in 2016 and Kunis and Kutcher's wedding.
He said he was working on both occasions, but he's also the only major cast member who's
had nothing to do with Netflix's The Ranch.
The show stars Kutcher alongside Danny Masterson and has featured Wilmer Valderrama with public
intentions to welcome Kunis and Laura Prepon to the guest list soon, too.
He was also the only one of major cast members who was never Punk'd by Kutcher.
"Hey, I'm sorry I just got swept away by the super good burn."
Even though he got together with the gang in 2013 to sing the theme song, he's still
been the odd man out on a lot of occasions.
The devoted wife
It may have seemed a little out of left field that Donna's parents, the Pinciottis, suddenly
got a divorce and Brooke Shields came along to play her dad's new love interest in season
6.
But there was a very good reason for actress Tanya Roberts to take her leave of the series.
"Ah, yep.
It was Midge's idea."
The former "Bond girl" reportedly left the program because of the news that her husband,
screenwriter Barry Roberts, was terminally ill.
She did end up coming back for a few episodes, after a three-year hiatus, so there was obviously
no bad blood between her and the show's producers for her decision to take a leave of absence
from the role.
The terrible kisser
Nowadays, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is something of a big screen powerhouse with flicks like
Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, and Looper under his belt.
But in the late '90s he was still just a former child star whose biggest claim to fame was
playing an ancient alien on 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Shortly before his breakthrough role in 10 Things I Hate About You, Gordon-Levitt appeared
in a season 1 episode of That '70s Show.
He played Eric's pal Buddy Morgan, who had a secret crush on him and shared a kiss with
him before being turned down.
That on-screen kiss is credited as being the first gay smooch on North American prime time
TV, but audiences reportedly hated it.
What would've been a potential recurring role was relegated to just one episode appearance.
It didn't hurt Gordon-Levitt's career much, of course, but filming the scenes did leave
a bad taste in his mouth.
He told The Advocate that Grace was "probably one of the worst kissers [he's] ever kissed."
"Aw, look at our poor little tough guy.
Hurting others to ease his own pain."
"I think someone needs a tickle."
Grace's long-time love interest on the show, Laura Prepon, echoed the kiss diss when she
said on a radio show that her Orange Is the New Black co-star Taylor Schilling was the
better kisser of the two.
"Oh ummm."
Talk about bad lip service.
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