Wilmer Valderrama

Wilmer Valderrama
Valderrama in 2007
Born	Wilmer Valderrama (1980-01-30) January 30, 1980 Miami, Florida, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1998–present

Wilmer Valderrama (born January 30, 1980) is an American actor and television personality, best known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show, hosting the MTV series Yo Momma, and voicing the character of Manny in the children's show Handy Manny.

Early life

Valderrama was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Sobeida and Balvino Valderrama, who owned a farm equipment rental place. He is of Colombian and Venezuelan descent. The family moved to Venezuela when he was three years old, while in Venezuela he contracted Lupus, then to Los Angeles when he was thirteen. He has two sisters, Marylin and Stephanie, and a brother named Christian.

Career

Valderrama got his start performing in numerous plays, including A Midsummer Night's Dream and Rumors. He made his professional debut in a Spanish-language Pacific Bell commercial. At his drama teacher's suggestion, he got an agent and was immediately cast in the CBS miniseries Four Corners and in Omba Makamba on the Disney Channel. He made his big screen debut starring opposite Freddie Prinze Jr., Brittany Murphy, Matthew Lillard and Jessica Biel in the Warner Brothers film Summer Catch.

Valderrama played Fez on That '70s Show from 1998–2006; he was a junior in high school when the pilot episode was filmed. He also played DJ Keoki in the 2003 film Party Monster along side Macaulay Culkin, Chloë Sevigny, Wilson Cruz and Seth Green. He has produced and hosted the MTV series Yo Momma since 2006, and appeared (involuntarily) as many as three times on another MTV mainstay, Punk'd, hosted by fellow That '70s alum Ashton Kutcher.

Valderrama appeared in the Los Angeles Times critic's choice play Blackout, an adaptation of the feature film Drunks, and starred opposite Anjelica Huston and Ben Kingsley in the Actors' Fund of America one-performance only reading of Sunset Boulevard. He filmed the short film La Torcedura in which he played the lead, and appeared in The Darwin Awards, an independent film directed by Finn Taylor, starring Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes.

In animation work, Valderrama voiced Rodrigo in Clifford's Really Big Movie, playing alongside John Ritter, Wayne Brady and Jenna Elfman. He also voices the main character, Manny, in Disney Channel’s Handy Manny series for preschoolers (He even starred in a minisode featuring his acting counterpart). He had a starring role in El Muerto, an indie film directed by Brian Cox and based on the successful comic book created by Javier Hernandez. In January 2007, Valderrama launched his own men's fashion label called "Calavena".

Valderrama made an appearance in Paula DeAnda's music video for "Easy", Co-Directed Omar Cruz's To The Top featuring Frankie J. Also worked with Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel's video Imagínate featuring the rapper T-Pain, as well as Colombian singer Fanny Lu's video "Tu No Eres Para Mi", where he portrays her boyfriend.

Currently, he is working on a new sitcom he has created for Nickelodeon, entitled Earth to Pablo. It is about a family that receives a teenage space alien instead of the foreign exchange student they were expecting.

In 2010, Wilmer guest-starred on Disney Channel's series Wizards of Waverly Place playing the role of Theresa Russo's brother, Ernesto.

Personal life

Valderrama maintains close friendships with former That '70s co-stars Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson.

He dated Mandy Moore for 18 months between 2000 and 2002 and Lindsay Lohan in 2004. Much buzz was generated from a March 2006 radio interview with Howard Stern, where Valderrama talked about the size of his penis, claimed to have taken Moore's virginity, and rated the supposed sexual prowess of singer-actresses Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ashlee Simpson. In 2006, Valderrama appeared on The Howard Stern Show and detailed that he and Moore were each other's "first loves", although he did not claim that their relationship was sexual, as was alleged by several media sources who misquoted his remarks. Moore later referred to Valderrama as a "good guy" and a "gentleman", although she has stated that his comments about their relationship were "utterly tacky".

According to the TV gossip show, Access Hollywood, Valderrama purchased the 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser driven by Eric Forman on That '70s Show for $500 USD after the conclusion of the series.

During a July 2008 interview on The Jace Hall Show, Valderrama stated that his home was previously occupied by Chuck Norris.

Filmography

Features:

• Summer Catch (2001)
• Party Monster (2003)
• Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004) (voice)
• Beauty Shop (2005)
• The Darwin Awards (2006)
• Zoom (2006)
• Fast Food Nation (2006)
• Unaccompanied Minors (2006)
• El Muerto (2007) (also known as - The Dead One)
• The Condor (2007) (voice)
• Save the Date (2007)
• Columbus Day (2008)
• Days of Wrath (2010)
• The Dry Land (2010)
• Larry Crowne (2011)

Short Subjects:

• La Torcedura (2004)
• Longtime Listener (2006)
• What a Girl Wants (2005)
• Wizards of Waverly Place (2010)

Television work

• Four Corners (1998) (canceled after 4 episodes)
• That '70s Show Fez (1998–2006)
• MAD TV (2002)(Guest Star) (Skit- Chips 2002, as Erik Estrada)
• Yo Momma (TV series) (2006–2008)
• Handy Manny (2006–present) (voice)
• A Day in a life of Allan Lund (In Production for 2009)
• What A Girl Wants
• Robot Chicken
• Punk'd Himself
• Grounded for Life (2002)
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2010)
• Wizards of Waverly Place (2010) (Uncle Ernesto)

Music Video Appearances

• Paula DeAnda – Easy (Paula DeAnda song)
• Omar Cruz Feat. Frankie J – To The Top
• Fanny Lu – Tu No Eres Para Mi
• Wisin & Yandel Feat. T-Pain – Imagínate
• Rob Thomas – Ever the same

Charity

In 2008 he used his celebrity status to endorse a charity against drunk driving.

See also

• Celebrities who have been Punk'd
• Famous Colombians
• Famous Venezuelans

External links

• Wilmer Valderrama at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com person