Jackie Burkhart was the role that changed Mila Kunis‘ life and was her big break into Hollywood. The actor was only 14 years old when she was cast in That 70s Show, revealing later that she lied about her age to get the gig.
“There’s a rumor going around that I may or may not have lied about my age,” Kunis told Vanity Fair in 2023. “I’d like to make it very clear now that I did lie. I did. By the time I went to what was then a producer’s network call, you have to sign a contract before you get the job and in my contract, I had to put an asterisk for ‘studio teacher.’” She continued: “They were like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I was like, ‘Oh PS, I’m 14.’ But at that point, if you talk to the creators, they were like, ‘We loved you at that point, so what did we care?’”
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In its first season, That 90s Show brought back Kunis’ iconic characters and a slew of others—namely, Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), Jackie’s romantic interest on the show, and IRL husband. The show centers on a new generation of teens where the parents from That 70s Show, Kitty and Red, are now the grandparents. But why isn’t Jackie in That ’90s Show Season 2?
Why isn’t Jackie in That 90s Show season 2?
Kunis gave somewhat of a cagey response as to why, but I guess you could just take it at face value. “No,” she told Entertainment Tonight in April when asked if she and Kutcher would come back to the series. “I mean, we did our thing, and I think they introduced the son, right? It was our son in the show. That was, you know,” she said and didn’t elaborate further.
Reflecting on their cameo appearance in season 1, Kunis said it was weird to have returned to the set where she and her husband met. “I was more nervous doing that than anything else in my career – to shoot with my husband on the set of That ‘70s show,” she admitted. “Because the set is exactly the same.”
She continued: “To be married but to be at the place where we met—and it looks the same—was trippy. We walked on set, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is weird.’ It was really weird. I would look at my husband while we were doing a scene or rehearsing and be like ‘Oh my God, that’s what you look like when you act.’”
Because Kunis was a literal child when she was first cast in the show, her relationship with Kutcher, who was 20 at the time, wasn’t romantic straight away. When they shared their first on-screen kiss, it was Kunis’ first kiss ever. “I’m the first guy she kissed? Oh my god, I had no idea,” he told People in 2001. “I’m so glad I didn’t know that or it would’ve been too much pressure.”
That 90s Show is available to stream on Netflix.
