While some may still know Wilmer Valderrama best for playing Fez for the entirety of That ‘70s Show (plus a few episodes of the short-lived follow-up That ‘90s Show), at this point he’s been playing Special Agent Nick Torres on NCIS for a lot longer. He joined the series in Season 14, i.e. 10 years ago, to occupy the spot once filled Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo. But as it turns out, Valderrama could have joined this procedural franchise years earlier, as he was up for a key role in NCIS: Los Angeles.
The actor discussed this near-entry point while visiting Partners & Probies to speak with his NCIS co-stars Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover, who respectively Jimmy Palmer and Kasie Hines. While discussing his NCIS origins (not to be confused with the prequel NCIS: Origins), Valderrama shared these details about how the Los Angeles spinoff came into his orbit:
