That ’90s Show Stars Address the Finale’s Romantic Cliffhanger

That ’90s Show was released on Netflix this weekend, and it featured the return of many fan-favorite actors from That ’70s Show. While the sequel series does explain where many of the original characters ended up, the show puts a lot more focus on the new cast of characters. That ’90s Show sees the return of Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty Forman) and Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman) as they deal with a whole new generation of teens played by Callie Haverda (Leia Forman), Mace Coronel (Jay Kelso), Reyn Doi (Ozzie), Ashley Aufderheide (Gwen), Sam Morelos (Nikki), and Maxwell Acee Donovan (Nate). Warning: Spoilers Ahead! Most of the season features a romance blossoming between Leia and Jay, but the young Forman nearly shares a kiss with Nate before she heads home to Chicago in the finale. During a recent interview with E! News, Haverda, Donovan, and Coronel addressed the romantic cliffhanger and shared their hopes for the future.

“That’s really difficult,” Haverda explained. “I think Leia and Jay have nice moments that pop up throughout the series. But then there’s a nice little moment between Leia and Nate, but of course, I don’t want to get in the way of Nate and Nikki’s relationship.” She added, “Personally, I would like to see Leia grow on her own for a bit and find herself before she hops into something new.”

“It’s a tough question,” Donovan shared. “I love the relationship between Nate and Nikki. But there are those couple of crazy moments right at the end of the season with Nate and Leia that are like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s something there.’ It’s intriguing to explore that.”

“Look, my character is a Kelso,” Coronel joked. “I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. I don’t think he can commit to a relationship. My character is pretty in love with himself already.”

What Advice Did That ’70s Show Stars Give the That ’90s Show Cast?

“I talked to Wilmer a lot,” Aufderheide shared. “He gave a lot of advice, but almost all of the legacy cast was very helpful in giving advice.” She added, “I just need to stay authentic to who I am. That’s what [Valderrama and the cast] said, just like, ‘You’re going to be funny if you just do what you want to do, and be as real as possible.’ Then that’s how you emulate the chemistry, and how to be the best that you can be.”

“Something that I admired a lot about the original is their chemistry,” Aufderheide added of the original show’s stars. “When I was actually working with them, they were saying that the most important part is to be authentic. So I built such great relationships with all of my castmates, and so it’s so easy to emulate the same sort of chemistry and vibe, because I’m friends with them in real life.”

“They share so many little nuggets of wisdom in between regular conversations,” Morelos added. “Like me and Wilmer, we would talk… I had a scene with him and then in-between takes, first we’d talk about music, and well, just life, but then he’d be like, ‘Don’t forget to stay grounded throughout the whole process and know where you came from and that’s really important.’”

Doi also shared advice given to him by Valderrama: “He said, ‘Take advantage of those rehearsals, because you only have one shot to show it to the network.’” 

That ’90s Show is now streaming on Netflix.