‘That 90s Show’ Debra Jo Rupp Talks About Returning As Kitty Forman And ‘Agatha All Along’

Debra Jo Rupp is probably best known for her amazing performance as Kitty Forman in the hit series That 70s Show. Returning to reprise her role in That 90s Shows, Rupp is doing just as good of a job as she did the first time around.

In a new interview with our friends over at the Kinda Nerdy Girls, Debra Jo Rupp sat down with KJ to discuss the new season of That 90s Show.

Disclaimer: This is a portion of the full interview, which can be found down below and on YouTube!

KJ: Debra Jo Rupp is here with us on the KJ Today Show. And you’ve got another season of That 90s Show ready to go. We’re two days away. Yeah. Can you even believe it, Debra Jo, that you and Kitty are still a thing? You’re still telling her story.

DEBRA JO: I know. I’m just really incredibly lucky. You know, I was a very, very late bloomer. But once I bloomed, I’ve been just incredibly lucky, really, really lucky. And this character in particular, the writer’s right to my strength. So I get to shine and it’s just as an actor, that’s a lovely thing. Really great thing.

KJ: Well, and the entire run of that 70s show, it was such a relatable show on so many levels for so many people. But it also had a beautiful family element to it, even though, obviously, we’re all dysfunctional. Did it feel like a family to you? And how does it feel to continue that on?

DEBRA JO: No, That 70’s Show was very much a family. I mean, very much a family. I think our first three or four seasons, we never knew if we were gonna get picked up. Because you either loved that show or hated that show. We weren’t like an in-betweeny show, you know? And you either bought it or you didn’t get it. And we actually, we really came through during reruns. Because people started, particularly the East Coast, started finding the show. And then all of a sudden it was just, it became like a really big thing. So we were very much a family kind of fighting to keep it alive. And the writers were so good and so inventive and, and people really related to it. I don’t know that I was aware of it at the time. You know, I just was like, I was just worried about her laugh and her hair really quite frankly. But, you know, as we went on, I mean, it was very sad. When eight years ended, and we ended the show, we were ready to move on. But it was very, very sad. And I have a really hard time saying goodbye. Apparently, I had the cheese grater lights in my basement. I had the grapes in my basement. I had every picture that had ever been taken in my basement.

KJ: You basically had That 70s Show in your basement?

DEBRA JO: I did. I did. But I was shocked. I mean, like Ashton and Mila had some of the furniture in their basement. Wilmer had the Vista Cruiser. I mean, and so when That 90s Show came about, it was like the family coming back together, bringing their treasures. It was really nice, really nice.

KJ: I love that. Was there any hesitation or any additional pressure coming back to share more stories of these characters that we love that you would be able to deliver that same feeling?

DEBRA JO: No, we were really nervous. I know Kurt and I were, well, I think everybody, not the kids, the kids are too young, they don’t know, but we were really nervous, very nervous about it. Because you don’t want to recreate because that’s not, because what is that? You want to create, you know? So you don’t know what the cast is going to be. There were a lot of like questions, you know? And we just, we got lucky again. We got lucky. You know, the young people in this show are, again, amazing in different ways. And, you know, like some of them are offspring of our 70 show kids and some are new. And, you know, it’s still in point place, but it’s new people in point place. It’s also old people in point place. You know, we get to know Tommy Chong’s son, which is phenomenal. It’s just, it’s like, I mean, what we tried to do was life going on. time has passed. And this is life going on in my place, Wisconsin.

KJ: Well, you know, I’m I’m a Wisconsin girl. So that was another reason that I immediately fell in love with the show that was it was very authentic. 70s Wisconsin, and it’s now 90s Wisconsin.

DEBRA JO: Yeah. And I think it’s pretty authentic. I think it’s pretty good. I mean, my 90s was very different from my 70s. And, you know, I think it’s, I mean, these kids, from season one to season two, it’s remarkable what has happened with this show. It’s remarkable. I’m very excited for people to see it.

KJ: We are talking with Debra Jo Rupp. And That 90s Show, we’re getting eight episodes of season two that are dropping on June 27. So just a couple of days away. Then we’re going to get another eight episodes in October. And before I let you go, I do want to talk about another little project in between there, because you are a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And Agatha is coming out. Can you talk about your excitement for a show that’s very anticipated by Marvel fans?

DEBRA JO: Well, it’s really good. I know that I sound like a broken record, but I just have had two really good projects in a row, two really good ones. Marvel is so fun to do because it’s so not of this world. So your imagination, you get to do anything in the world of Marvel. And I’m really excited about this one. I loved doing it. We all loved doing it. And it shows. It’s good. It’s just really good. There’s this section of this season of WandaVision where it’s called The Road. And we travel down this road and it’s all these like trees, and these moving lights, and there are these witches, and oh God, it’s so good. Oh, it’s good.

KJ: Oh gosh, I’m just like getting goosebumps over here thinking about it.

DEBRA JO: Well, Catherine Hahn is our Agatha, and she’s brilliant to begin with. We’ve got Patti LuPone in it. It’s so good. It’s just really, and we all liked each other, and it just makes a difference. It’s good. It’s good. I’m excited. I’m very excited for the fall.