Wilmer Valderrama Talks Comeback, Charity Work

Wilmer Valderrama might still be best known as Fez from “That '70s Show," but that won't always be the case. The actor, 32, is trying to set himself up for a major comeback.

Valderrama, who smartly stayed out of the spotlight for a few years after the end of his teenage stardom, weaved his way back into fans' living rooms this year on the NBC thriller “Awake.” Though the show was short-lived, it's just the beginning for Valderrama.

He chatted with The Huffington Post at a recent Dr. Scholl’s Sole Space event about what he's been up to and what the future has in store for him -- essentially crafting the anatomy of how to have a successful celebrity comeback. 1. Take a breather. “I worked on who I needed to be,” Valderrama said of staying out of the spotlight. “I grew up a little bit and matured. I feel like at the beginning of your career, you feel like you haven’t figured anything out.”

2. Be charitable. “I created this clothing line with a charitable component,” Valderrama said. “But it will become a brand that can be allocated to anything. Right now, it is called ‘This Shirt Helps.’ But we can do it with anything to raise money for any number of organizations."

3. Play to your strengths. Valderrama, Miami-born and of Colombian and Venezuelan descent, is bilingual and quite popular with the Latino audience. One of his upcoming projects, a bilingual album, will take advantage of that. “It has to remain a secret until we can surprise everyone with the collaborations, but we have been doing a ton of music and now is my time to connect with the bilingual audience,” he said. And there you have it -- take some time off, be a good person and then be yourself. Life lessons from Wilmer Valderrama.