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The 12 coolest 'That '70s Show' guest stars: Billy Dee Williams, The Rock, Eliza Dushku & more
The wardrobe department must’ve had a field day coming up with costumes for these killer cameos.
That ‘70s Show made a star out of Ashton Kutcher and featured a core cast of familiar faces that aren’t exactly tough to recognize themselves. Running for eight seasons at Fox (and newly available to stream in all its groovin’ glory at Peacock), Kutcher anchored a big sitcom celebrity fam that also featured Tommy Chong, Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Laura Prepon, Debra Jo Rupp, Kurtwood Smith, and Wilmer Valderrama.
But eight seasons and 200 episodes made for tons of opportunities for well-known stars from the show’s 1990s era and beyond to drop by the house for some walk-on cameo fun. A long list of actors who were famous then (and even more famous now) took full advantage of the sweet 1970s-vintage wardrobe department for a chance to yank up those tube socks, kick it in bell bottoms, and even sport an afro or two — which is exactly what Season 1 guest star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did for a funny throwback wrestling bit.
Here’s just a peek at some of the famous faces you’ll spy as you binge backwards in time at Peacock. But remember: That ‘70s Show featured loads more celebrity cameos than the ones we list here — so keep your peepers open to see how many you can spot.
Amy Adams — Season 2, Ep. 15: “Burning Down the House”
It's common knowledge that Amy Adams had a small but memorably role early in her career on The Office, but the actress also loaded up on her sitcom bona fides with a Season 2 stop on That ‘70s Show as a rich chick who drops in on a house party. Sporting blonde hair and a fur jacket that signaled her blingy 1970s social status, Adams played the role of Kat Peterson, a cheerleader too snooty to admit to her friends that she had a low-key thing for Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson), Eric’s rebellious, stick-it-to-the-man best friend.
Alice Cooper — Season 3, Ep. 14: “Radio Daze”
Most of Alice Cooper’s many cameos have found the face-painted shock rocker playing some version of himself, and that’s the case in the Season 3 episode where Cooper stars as Eric’s archetypally on-brand version of a debauched music celebrity he made up in his head. Fearing that girlfriend Donna (Prepon) would ditch him for the glamorous life after she lands a gig in radio, Eric jealously dreams up a panicked vision of the celeb circles he thinks Donna’s running with; one in which Cooper shows up in full costume — complete with a python around his neck. In a fun end-credits scene, Cooper even sits in for a game of Dungeons & Dragons (take that, Stranger Things!)
Eliza Dushku — Season 7, Ep. 15: “It’s All Over Now”
It was Donna’s turn to be jealous in Season 7, when Eliza Dushku came on the scene as “Sizzling” Sarah, an upstart radio station newcomer with looks and attitude that threatened to upstage Donna’s own career aspirations. Sarah uses her sex appeal to sneakily get Donna fired — at least for a hot second — before the gang hatches a righteously clever revenge scheme that turns the tables, scores one for feminism, and sends Sarah and her ladder-climbing ways packing for good.
Jenna Fischer — Season 7, Ep. 12: “Don’t Lie to Me”
The show anticipated another casting connection with The Office when Jenna Fischer turned up in Season 7 as Stacy Wanamaker, a former classmate of Eric’s who owns the bridal store where Donna’s forced to return her wedding shoes (via Jackie, who helps save face by posing as Donna) after the big event falls through. Everyone thinks Stacy’s got a picture-perfect life as an adult — and she doesn’t do much to shatter that image, dishing platitudes to Jackie about finding the right guy and getting hitched before her “expiration date” arrives.
Bobcat Goldthwait — Season 5, Ep. 17: “Battle of Evermore”
Like the beleaguered assistant he played in Scrooged, Bobcat Goldthwait has a knack for showing up in quirky-character roles, and here he found another one in “Battle of Evermore”— the 17th episode of the Led Zeppelin-themed season 5. Goldthwait guest starred as Eli, a grimy cousin of Leo (Chong) who’s temporarily crashing at the apartment of the Army vet-turned-hippie. This is the show, in fact, that sent Chong on a lengthy hiatus from the series (though he’d return as Leo in later seasons): When the gang drops by his Foto Hut business, they discover the shop (and Leo with it) has apparently gone AWOL. Goldthwait wasn’t the only celebrity cameo in this episode: Seth Green, Fred Willard, and Mo Gaffney also starred.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt — Season 1, Ep. 11: “Eric’s Buddy”
Famous for a then-sensational same-sex kissing scene opposite Topher Grace, “Eric’s Buddy” — the season 1 episode in which Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared — featured Gordon-Levitt as a high school classmate of Eric’s named (what else?) Buddy. A gay character harboring a major crush on Eric (they were lab partners), Buddy eventually steels himself to plant a big ol’ kiss on his unsuspecting, totally straight friend. Eric, of course, was as shocked as the audience when he found himself on the other side of the sudden smooch, but it didn’t ruin their bond: The two had a heart-too-heart chat, agreeing to keep things on the amiable friendship tip.
Melissa Joan Hart — Season 2, Ep. 9: “Eric Gets Suspended”
The star of Sabrina the Teenage Witch went light on the sitcom occultism and long on straight-laced religion in a guest appearance that also brought along fellow Sabrina costar Lindsay Sloane. As Mary (Hart) and Patty (Sloane), the duo spring for a double blind date with Fez (Valderrama) and Hyde, who thinks he’s getting the sweet end of the deal. But Mary’s good-girl vibes sorta throw water on whatever after-dinner plans he’s got in mind… especially once he and Fez discover that it’s really Patty who knows how to party.
Lindsay Lohan — Season 7, Ep. 7: ”Mother’s Little Helper”
When it comes to Fez’s long, rotating list of crushes, few brought the same kind of high-profile heart throb status as Lindsay Lohan, then riding high on the strength of her recent big-screen role in Mean Girls. Lohan put in a Season 7 cameo as Danielle, a flirty client at Fez’s salon who ends up sparking a squabbling match between Fez and Kelso (Kutcher), who both vie to win her affections. Naturally, Fez comes out on top, which is exactly what contemporary fans would’ve expected… since Valderrama and Lohan were an actual off-screen couple at the time.
Justin Long — Season 8, Ep. 21: “Love Of My Life”
Justin Long is generally known for playing likable characters — never mind his recent turn as the sleazy, selfish Hollywood producer who went down hard in last year’s horror hit Barbarian. In the penultimate episode leading into That ’70 Show’s series finale, Long was in nice-guy mode, plating Fez’s British-accented, wig-wearing friend Andrew, a fellow native of Fez’s home country who claims to speak differently because the two of them (supposedly) grew up on opposite sides of “the island.” Fun fact: Right through ‘til the end, the show never did reveal which (probably fictional) nation Fez was actually from.
Bruce Willis — Season 8, Ep. 4: “Misfire”
Bruce Willis’ walk-on part as a slimy security guy at Chicago’s Playboy Club has to rate among the most memorable That ‘70s Show cameos of them all. In real life, Kutcher was freshly married to Willis’ celebrity ex-wife Demi Moore when Willis’ Season 8 episode aired in 2005, setting up all kinds of awkward comedic potential as Kutcher’s Kelso makes a premature midlife-crisis journey to the Windy City.
Willis plays Playboy Club security chief Vic, a womanizing creep who spies on the talent through a peephole and sports an intentionally awful toupée that makes hilariously great, good-natured meta-fun of Willis’ famous chrome dome. He’s only too happy to hire Kelso now that Kutcher’s character is in crisis: Spurned from marriage by Jackie and left with nothing to lose, Kelso decides that working around Playboy Bunnies is pretty much his dream gig…which more or less positions him as Vic’s ideal job applicant.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — Season 1, Ep. 15: “That Wrestling Show”
The Rock was already a wrestling star when he showed up in a fun Season 1 cameo to portray his own real-life father, WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson. But his 1999 guest spot marked one of Johnson’s earliest appearances as a screen star, coming two years before his official big-screen debut in The Mummy Returns (and a full six years before his headlining role in Doom). Topped by a killer afro wig, The Rock graciously gives Red (Smith) a backstage autograph, even as Red himself turns out to be an absolute embarrassment for Eric and the gang after heckling the crap out of everyone from the stands.
Billy Dee Williams — Season 6, Ep. 14: “Baby Don’t You Do It”
When Eric and Donna’s hanky-panky led to a pregnancy scare that let the whole gang in on their intimate business, Donna’s dad and Eric’s parents agree that it’s time to send them to premarital counseling. What they get is the best darn counselor in all the galaxy, with Lando Calrissian actor Billy Dee Williams playing church Pastor Dan as an immensely wise listener who seems to have gotten half of his therapeutic messaging from Star Wars. Eric and Pastor Dan end up hitting it off over their mutual love of the Force, which of course makes the counselor’s sage advice go down easier…especially when it involves Eric and Donna swearing off any more sex before marriage.
Stream That '70s Show on Peacock.
