Fez from That 70s Show is all grown up in the second instalment of From Dusk Till Dawn, writes Debashine Thangevelo
REMEMBER Fez – the foreign student – in That 70s Show? Well, Wilmer Valderrama is a far cry from that these days. In fact, he is hot, and I’m talking more in a jaw-dropping way. The 35- year-old has a chiselled body and, well, he is quite the eye-candy. Viewers will be delighted to know that he has been cast as a drug lord in the second season of Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn.
But that’s not all – his girlfriend Demi Lovato has also been cast in the show. However, the scope of her role has been kept under wraps.
Interestingly, Daniel “Danny” Trejo (Desperado, Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy) has also been cast in the new season. And he effortlessly slots into the unfolding war between good and evil in the vampire-vs-human world.
With the image of Fez still so deeply embedded in the minds of fans, they will be pleasantly surprised to see him unleash a ruthless side as drug lord Carlos Madrigal. He offers refuge to the Geckos while Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez is relentless in his pursuit of them.
At the end of season one, Richie swallows the serpent containing Santanico’s blood. Carlos betrays Katie and holds Richie hostage until Seth delivers $30 million in oil bonds. Meanwhile, Gonsalez (Jesse Garcia) is allowed to return home to his family.
But his thirst for vengeance hasn’t been quelled. And that’s where he comes into play in the new season, when the stakes are higher and the threats even bigger.
In a chat with Dread Central, Garcia shed light on where things stand with his character.
He said: “Freddie is just adjusting to his new life in a world that he didn’t know existed. He’s having to learn how to negotiate his life with his career and family and keeping them safe and away from the culebras and all that other supernatural stuff. It got really bloodly last season and now that his ancestral blood has been awakened, he’s only getting smarter and stronger and is gonna f**k up whoever he has to, to keep his family safe and put the smack down on them evil ass b*****s.”
On his character being created as he doesn’t feature in the film, he responded: “Because he is a new character, we had a clean slate. He is a young Texas Ranger, taken under the wing of Earl McGraw (played by Don Johnson in the series). My life and Freddie’s kind of paralleled each other’s . I’ve never been a lead in a series before. And I grew as an actor. Freddie also grew into his role and turns into a badass.”
From Dusk Till Dawn seduces the imagination with its themes of immortality, vampires and power struggles as well as shifts. With so many badasses around, it is supernatural anarchy at its bloody best.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW…
In the meantime, the other members of the teenage cast of That 70s Show have gone on to leave deeper footprints in TV and film.
Topher Grace is bagging seriously big hits in Hollywood, from Spider-Man 2 to In Good Company and Interstellar. Aside from former co-stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher tying the knot and being new parents, both are also busy with their acting commitments; with Kutcher attracting a lot of attention when he gave the nod to Two and A Half Men and Kunis recently hitting the big screen with Jupiter Ascending.
Laura Prepon is the IT girl with Orange is the New Black and Danny Masterson has been keeping a firm foothold in both sectors. His more notable TV offering, of late, being Men at Work.
l From Dusk Till Dawn season 2 airs on M-Net Edge on Thursday at 2am on Express and then on Monday, August 31 at 9pm.