That ’70s Show star speaks out about rumored Chuck Norris being offered a role in Red

Kurtwood Smith Clears Up Rumor That Chuck Norris Was Offered Red Forman Before He Joined This 70s show.

Smith, alongside fellow actor Debra Jo Rupp, played the beloved characters Red and Kitty Forman on the hit Fox Television sitcom. This 70s show for eight seasons, from 1998 to 2006. Most of the show’s action, of course, took place in Red and Kitty’s basement in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, where their teenage son, Eric (Topher), and his friends hung out.

Smith and Rupp have since returned to their Point Place home for the Netflix sitcom. This 90s showwhere their granddaughter, Leia (Callie Haverda), spends her summers. Like her parents Eric and Donna (Laura Prepon), Leia spends a lot of time in the Formans’ basement with a group of teenage friends, including her boyfriend Jay Kelso (Mace Coronel), the son of Michael (Ashton Kutcher) and Jackie (Mila Kunis).

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Smith, of course, became a television icon with his portrayal of Red Forman, a brutally honest character who often referred to Eric and his friends as “morons.”

However, a rumor persists about Smith’s casting in This 70s show Over the years, it was famous action star Chuck Norris who was first offered the role.

The Internet Movie Database listed the rumor listed in the trivia section of Smith’s page, which states that the actor “won the role of Red Forman in That ’70s Show (1998) when the original choice, Chuck Norris, was unavailable due to his commitment to filming Walker, Texas Ranger (1993).” CBR And Rant on screen also noted that Norris had considered playing Red.

But in a recent Zoom conversation with Smith and Rupp about the early days of This 90s show In Netflix’s third installment, Smith said of the Norris casting rumor, “No, that’s not true at all. It was definitely a rumor. I remember asking the producers at one point and they said, ‘No, who told you that?’ It was kind of a fabrication.”

Rupp reiterated the falsity of the rumor, adding: “No, nooooo. I would never have let that happen. No.”

Smith continues the tradition of “That ’70s Show” in “That ’90s Show”

Fans who broadcasted This 90s show have probably realized that Kurtwood Smith is as direct as he was in This 70s show with his sharp and harsh observations.

However, one of Red’s most famous insults, calling various people “morons,” was all but absent from the sequel series. Rest assured, Smith more than makes up for it with the mother of all “morons” lines in This 90s show Part 3 season finale.

“I didn’t realize until the first season that I had never called anyone an idiot,” Smith recalls. “I’m so used to calling people idiots when we’re not on TV that I didn’t really pay attention to it.”

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These people are, of course, fans, and Smith said he would be happy to playfully accommodate their requests if they see him in public.

“People come up to me and ask me to call them idiots. I don’t understand why people want to be called idiots, but that’s just the way it is,” Smith said with a laugh. “So I didn’t really realize that we hadn’t used that term on the show. I think the writers were waiting for the right moment.”

The three parts of This 90s show are broadcast on Netflix.

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