Topher Grace

Christopher John Grace (/ˈtoʊfər/ TOE-fer; born July 12, 1978)[1] is an American actor. He is known for playing Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film Spider-Man 3, Pete Monash in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, Carter Duryea in In Good Company, Edwin in Predators, Getty in Interstellar, Adrian Yates in American Ultra, and David Duke in Spike Lee's film BlacKkKlansman. His other film roles include Traffic, Mona Lisa Smile, Valentine's Day, Take Me Home Tonight, The Big Wedding, War Machine, and Breakthrough.

Topher Grace
Grace in 2019
Born
Christopher John Grace

(1978-07-12) July 12, 1978
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2016)​
Children2

Early life

Grace was born in New York City,[2][3] the son of Pat, an assistant to the schoolmaster of the New Canaan Country School, and John Grace, a Madison Avenue executive.[4][5] He has a sister, Jenny.[6] His paternal grandmother was from a German-Jewish family, and his mother is of Irish descent.[7][8]

Grace grew up in Darien, Connecticut, where actress Kate Bosworth was a middle-school friend, and actress Chloë Sevigny—who later appeared with him in high school stage plays—was sometimes his babysitter.[6]

Career

Grace was cast as Eric Forman on Fox's That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998. He played the role until the show's 8th and final season. His character was written out and replaced with a new character named Randy Pearson (Josh Meyers). Grace made a brief guest appearance in the final episode.[9][10]

Grace played a prep school student who used marijuana and introduced his girlfriend to freebasing in director Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film Traffic, as well as having uncredited cameos as himself in Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven and its 2004 sequel, Ocean's Twelve. "The joke is that you're supposed to play the worst version of yourself and I don't think too many people are comfortable with that. I never thought for a second that people were really going to think that's what I was like. I think that people will know that I was faking it in those movies", he told Flaunt magazine in 2007.

He planned to cameo in Ocean's Thirteen. However, due to his role in Spider-Man 3, he had to abandon these plans. As Grace said, "I was doing reshoots on Spider-Man 3. I was bummed. I actually talked to Steven Soderbergh about that and we had a thing and then I couldn't do it."[11] He appeared in director Mike Newell's 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile.[12]

Grace at the Spider-Man 3 premiere, April 2007

In 2004, Grace played the leading roles in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and In Good Company. That same year, he starred in P.S., which received only a limited theatrical release. Grace won the National Board of Review's 2004 award for Breakthrough Performance Actor for his work in In Good Company and P.S.[5]

On January 15, 2005, Grace hosted Saturday Night Live.[5][13]

In 2007, Grace portrayed Eddie Brock/Venom in Spider-Man 3, directed by Sam Raimi. Grace himself was a fan of the comics and read the Venom stories as a child.[14] In 2009, Grace became the subject of a recurring column on the entertainment/pop culture site Videogum, entitled "What's Up With Topher Grace?"[15]

In 2010, Grace appeared in the ensemble comedy Valentine's Day and played the character of Edwin in Predators.[16]

In 2011, Grace appeared in the 1980s retro comedy Take Me Home Tonight.[17] He co-wrote the script and co-produced the film. Grace also starred opposite Richard Gere in the spy thriller The Double.[18]

In 2012, Grace starred alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Matthew Gray Gubler in the social film The Beauty Inside, which won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding New Approach to an Original Daytime Program or Series in 2013. The film was directed by Drake Doremus and written by Richard Greenberg.[19]

In 2014, Grace starred in the indie thriller The Calling, alongside Susan Sarandon,[20] and appeared in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi adventure Interstellar, in a supporting role.[21]

In October 2013, Grace joined HBO comedy pilot People in New Jersey with Sarah Silverman, but in January 2014, the pilot was passed on.[22][23]

Grace co-starred in the comedy film American Ultra (2015), alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, playing a CIA agent.[24] That same year, he co-starred in Truth, with Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett, and based on the story of CBS's 60 Minutes report that George W. Bush had received preferential treatment to keep him out of the Vietnam War. Grace played Mike Smith, a researcher on the story.[25]

In January 2018, Grace joined the supernatural-thriller Delirium, which centers on a man recently released from a mental institute who inherits a mansion after his parents die. After a series of disturbing events, he comes to believe it is haunted.[26]

In 2019, he played Billy Bauer in the 2nd episode of Black Mirror’s 5th season, titled "Smithereens".

In 2020, Grace was cast in ABC's Home Economics pilot.[27]

Editing and "Lou's Cafe"

Grace has long held an interest in making his own edits of popular films, particularly those involving Star Wars. He has stated that this has become a source of relaxation for him. His edits were shared on his now-defunct pop-culture website Cereal Prize.

In 2012, he edited the Star Wars prequel trilogy into one 85-minute film,[28] titled Star Wars: Episode III.5: The Editor Strikes Back[29] and showed it to select audiences. The edit utilized original footage, music from the Clone Wars series, and a portion from Anthony Daniels' audiobook recordings.

In 2014, he created a cut of Boogie Nights that served as a reconstruction of the character Brock Landers' fake movie "Angels Live in My Town".[30]

In 2018, he created his own edit of The Hobbit, stating that “I think that maybe The Hobbit should’ve been one movie, and many people would agree. Money drives a lot of those franchises. It's better when the art leads”.[31] He specifically edited this as a way to relax while portraying David Duke in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman.

In 2019, Grace and editor Jeff Yorkes started a Twitter account for "Lou's Cafe", the pseudonym by which the two credit their work. The name comes from the diner featured in the film Back to the Future. Later that year, he and Yorkes were commissioned by Pixar to edit a retrospective for Toy Story 4, which was titled "Toy Story 4 Ever" and released on Pixar's YouTube account.

Personal life

Grace started dating actress Ashley Hinshaw in January 2014, and the two became engaged in January 2015.[32] On May 29, 2016, Grace and Hinshaw married near Santa Barbara, California.[33] On August 1, 2017, Hinshaw confirmed that she and Grace were expecting their first child.[34] Their daughter, Mabel Jane Grace, was born on November 1, 2017.[35] On January 5, 2020, Hinshaw confirmed that she and Grace are expecting their second child together.[36]

Grace is a supporter of FINCA International, a microfinance organization.[37]

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Traffic Seth Abrahams
2001 Ocean's Eleven Himself Uncredited cameo
2002 Pinocchio Leonardo (voice) English dub
2003 Mona Lisa Smile Tommy Donegal
2004 Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! Pete Monash
2004 P.S. F. Scott Feinstadt
2004 Ocean's Twelve Himself Uncredited cameo
2004 In Good Company Carter Duryea
2007 Spider-Man 3 Eddie Brock / Venom
2008 Personal Effects Clay (voice) Uncredited
2010 Valentine's Day Jason Morris
2010 Death Bed Subtext Ben Short film
2010 Predators Edwin
2011 Take Me Home Tonight Matt Franklin Also writer and executive producer
2011 The Double Ben Geary
2012 The Giant Mechanical Man Doug
2013 The Big Wedding Jared Griffin
2014 Don Peyote Glavin Culpepper
2014 The Calling Ben Wingate
2014 Playing It Cool Scott
2014 Interstellar Getty
2015 American Ultra Agent Adrian Yates
2015 Truth Mike Smith
2017 The Institute Vincent
2017 War Machine Matt Little
2017 Opening Night Nick Also producer
2018 Delirium Tom
2018 BlacKkKlansman David Duke
2018 Under the Silver Lake Man at Bar
2019 Mississippi Requiem
2019 Breakthrough Pastor Jason Noble
2020 Irresistible Kurt Farlander

Music videos
Year Song Role Artist
1999 In the Street Eric Forman Cheap Trick
2011 Don't You Want Me Baby Himself Atomic Tom

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1998–2006 That '70s Show Eric Forman Main role, 179 episodes
2002 What's New, Scooby-Doo? Guard 1 (voice) Episode: "Space Ape at the Cape"
2003 King of the Hill Chris (voice) Episode: "Megalo Dale"
2005 Saturday Night Live Himself / Host Episode: "Topher Grace/The Killers"
2005 Stella Older Kevin Episode: "Paper Route"
2005 Robot Chicken Eric Forman (voice) Episode: "Gold Dust Gasoline"
2008 The Simpsons Donny (voice) Episode: "The Debarted"
2011 Too Big to Fail Jim Wilkinson Television film
2012 Comedy Bang! Bang! Cameraman Episode: "Seth Rogen Wears a Plaid Shirt & Brown Pants"
2012 The Beauty Inside Alex 6 episodes
2013 People in New Jersey Carl Levin Unsold pilot
2015 The Muppets Himself Episode: "Pilot"
2015 Drunk History Milton Bradley Episode: "Games"
2016 TripTank Leonard (voice) Episode: "Sick Day"
2017 Workaholics Noel Episode: "Weed the People"
2017 Get Shorty Tyler Mathis 2 episodes
2019 Love, Death & Robots Rob Episode: "Ice Age"
2019 The Hot Zone Dr. Peter Jahrling 6 episodes
2019 Black Mirror Billy Bauer Episode: "Smithereens"
2020 The Twilight Zone Mark Episode: "Try, Try"
2021 Home Economics Tom Main role

Theatre
Year Title Role Notes
2012 Lonely, I'm Not[38] Porter Second Stage Theatre

Video games
Year Title Voice role
2007 Spider-Man 3 Eddie Brock / Venom

Awards and nominations

Film
Year Nominated work Award Result
2001 Traffic Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast on a Motion Picture Won
Young Artist Award for Breakthrough Performance – Male Won
2004 In Good Company

P.S.

 National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance by an Actor Won
New York Film Critics Circle Online Award for Breakthrough Performance Won
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Comedy Nominated
Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Hissy Fit Nominated
Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Lipock (shared with Kate Bosworth) Nominated
2005 In Good Company

P.S.

 International Online Cinema Award for Best Breakthrough Nominated
N/A Premiere New Power Award for Actor Won
2007 Spider-Man 3 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Villain Nominated
Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Rumble (shared with Tobey Maguire, James Franco & Thomas Haden Church) Nominated
2008 MTV Movie + TV Award for Best Villain Nominated
2018 BlacKKKlansman Cinema Vanguard Award Won
Artist of Distinction Award Won
2019 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast on a Motion Picture Nominated

Television
Year Title Accolade Results
1999 That '70s Show Teen Choice Award for Choice TV – Breakout Performance Nominated
Young Artist Award for Breakthrough Performance in a Television Series – Leading Young Actor Nominated
Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Television Series – Young Ensemble (shared with Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama, Danny Masterson & Ashton Kutcher) Nominated
2000 Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor Nominated
2001 Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor Nominated
2002 Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor – Comedy Nominated
2003 Nominated
2004 Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor – Comedy Nominated
2013 The Beauty Inside Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding New Approaches – Original Daytime Program or Series Won

References
  1. "Topher Grace – Behind The Voice Actors". Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  2. Brunner, Borgna (2005). Time Almanac 2006: With Information Please. Time Inc. p. 295. ISBN 1-932994-41-6.
  3. "Topher Grace Profile". E!. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "About". Yahoo!. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  5. Hill, Logan (May 24, 2005). "Deadpan Alley". New York. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  6. Keck, William (December 21, 2004). "The personification of Grace". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  7. http://books.google.ca/books?id=vPlfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Christopher+John+Grace%22&dq=%22Christopher+John+Grace%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia6NSin4rbAhUIqlkKHSe-Dj0Q6AEIJDAE
  8. http://books.google.ca/books?id=7kE2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Children+of+Walter+and+Blanche+(Sonn)+Hess:+47+Muriel+C.,+b.+17+Nov.+1915;+m.+Walter+Kenneth+Grace.%22&dq=%22Children+of+Walter+and+Blanche+(Sonn)+Hess:+47+Muriel+C.,+b.+17+Nov.+1915;+m.+Walter+Kenneth+Grace.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMmKGz77ThAhWupFkKHcp_Ch4Q6AEIFDAA
  9. "Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace to Return to That '70s Show?". Hollywood.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  10. "10 Sitcoms that Lost Their Lead Actors and Kept Going". Splitsider. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  11. Topel, Fred (April 22, 2007). "No Topher Grace Cameo in "Oceans 13". Rotten Tomatoes; accessed September 26, 2017.
  12. "Topher Grace". TV Guide. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  13. "Topher Grace profile". The SNL Archives. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  14. Rebecca Murray. "Topher Grace Talks About Venom and Spiderman 3". About.com Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  15. "What's Up With Topher Grace?", Videogum; retrieved April 15, 2013.
  16. "The Mystery of What the Hell Topher Grace Is Doing in Predators Deepens". Topless Robot. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  17. Faris, Fogler "Kids" again in comedy film Archived 2007-02-23 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, February 8, 2007.
  18. Browne, Niall (2011). "Richard Gere & Topher Grace See 'Double'", Screen Rant; accessed September 26, 2017.
  19. "A shape-shifting lead played by fans shows inner beauty". Creativity Online. July 24, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  20. Venable, Nick. "Susan Sarandon and Topher Grace Join Indie Thriller The Calling". cinemablend.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  21. Fleming Jr., Mike. "Topher Grace In 'Interstellar' — Supporting Role In Chris Nolan Movie". Deadline. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  22. Andreeva, Nellie. "Topher Grace & Sarah Silverman Topline HBO Comedy Pilot 'People In New Jersey'". Deadline. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  23. Kiefer, Halle. "HBO Passes on People in New Jersey". Vulture. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  24. "Topher Grace Joins 'American Ultra'". Deadline. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  25. Busch, Anita. "Topher Grace Cast In 'Truth' Movie About Dan Rather-George W Bush Scandal". Deadline. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  26. "Topher Grace to Star in Supernatural Thriller 'Home' for Blumhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  27. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/topher-grace-cast-abc-home-economics-comedy-pilot-1203504239/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. "'The Phantom Menace' Ruined Jake Lloyd's Childhood & Topher Grace Edited All 3 'Star Wars' Prequels Into An 85-Minute Movie For Some Reason". theplaylist.net. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  29. "Topher Grace Edited The 'Star Wars' Prequels Into One 85-Minute Movie and We Saw It". /Film. March 7, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  30. Nastasi, Alison. "Watch: Topher Grace's 'Boogie Nights' Remix Shows Us the Complete Fake Porn Movie | Movie News". Movies.com. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  31. "Topher Grace Re-edited 'The Hobbit' To Help Deal With The Stress Of Playing A Racist For Spike Lee". theplaylist.net. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  32. McRady, Rachel (January 11, 2015). "Topher Grace Engaged to Actress Ashley Hinshaw: See Her Ring!". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  33. Leonard, Elizabeth; Quinn, Dave (May 30, 2016). "That '70s Show Star Topher Grace Ties the Knot with Ashley Hinshaw". People. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  34. Rodriguez, Karla (August 1, 2017). "Ashley Hinshaw Confirms She Is Expecting First Child With Husband Topher Grace". Us Weekly. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  35. "Topher Grace and His Wife Ashley Hinshaw Welcome a Daughter".
  36. "Baby No. 2 on the Way! Topher Grace and Wife Ashley Hinshaw Expecting Second Child Together". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  37. Topher Grace about FINCA on Jimmy Fallon Archived 2010-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, finca.org, March 20, 2011.
  38. "'Lonely, I'm Not', With Topher Grace as a Post-Meltdown Corporate Star, Opens in NYC". Yahoo News. May 7, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
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