Topher Grace was a high school thespian when he was discovered by the creators of the TV sitcom That '70s Show for the plum role of the central character, Eric Forman. The show ran from 1998 to 2006 and launched his film career, beginning with Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000, with Michael Douglas). Since then he's had a supporting role in Mona Lisa Smile (2003, starring Julia Roberts), starred in In Good Company (2004, with Scarlett Johansson) and, as Venom, battled Spider-Man in the third Sam Raimi movie (2007, starring Tobey Maguire).
Career Highlights: In Good Company, P.S., Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!
First Major Screen Credit: That '70s Show: Season 01 (1998)
Biography
Lanky, personable, and looking for all the world like Alan Alda's long-lost son, Topher Grace made an impressive film debut with his role in Traffic (2000), Steven Soderbergh's epic and widely acclaimed look at the American war on drugs. Grace received positive notices for his work in the film, which cast him as a cocky prep-school boy who turns his girlfriend (Erika Christensen) on to heroin and cocaine. The role marked a drastic departure from the young actor's regular job on the popular Fox sitcom That '70s Show, where he portrayed Eric Forman, a level-headed and predominantly wholesome high school student coming of age in "Me Decade" Wisconsin.
A native New Yorker, Grace was born in the city on July 12, 1978. Raised in Connecticut and Massachusetts, he began acting in school plays and was a student at New Hampshire's Brewster Academy when his performance in a school production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum effectively secured him his first professional job. Among those to see the play were Bonnie and Terry Turner, parents of one of Grace's classmates and the would-be producers of That '70s Show. Impressed with the young actor's work in the play, they tapped him for the role of Eric Forman during his freshman year at the University of Southern California. Grace, who had studied acting at the Groundlings Improvisation School and the Neighborhood Playhouse, made his television debut in 1998, winning over both new fans and critical approval. His acclaimed work in Traffic two years later saw the actor's popularity further increase, acting as another testament to the beginnings of a promising career.
While continuing to appear on That '70s Show, Grace remained selective of his film roles. Aside from showing up in a cameo as himself in Traffic director Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake of Ocean's 11, he didn't appear in a film for three years. However, with his supporting turn in the Julia Roberts drama Mona Lisa Smile, it appeared Grace's film career was building steam.
For his first big-screen starring role, Grace played opposite Kate Bosworth and Josh Duhamel in the 2004 love-triangle comedy Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!, which was mostly well received by critics and audiences. Later in 2004, the young actor could be seen in the ensemble film sophomore effort from Roger Dodger director Dylan Kidd, entitled P.S. Cast as a twentysomething student who appears to be the reincarnation of an older woman's deceased high-school sweetheart, Grace offered a sense of soulful gravity to the under-seen romantic fantasy before rounding out his breakthrough year with a powerful performance as an ambitious young executive whose sense of synergy sets the boardroom ablaze in In Good Company. In the short span of just one year, Grace had proven himself capable of believably playing both a lovelorn Piggly Wiggly manager who can't muster the courage to express his love to the woman of his dreams, and an overambitious white-collar powerhouse who discovers something called a soul after casually assuming the position coveted by an experienced ad man twice his age. Whereas most actors of his generation would have been happy doing teen comedies and cashing in on the success of That '70s Show, it was obvious that Grace was opting for quality over quantity in making his transition to the big screen.
And then it all went quiet. In the years between 2004 and 2007 -- just when it seemed that Grace should have been building momentum in his film career -- the only place he could be seen outside of That '70s Show was in fleeting appearances on Saturday Night Live and the short-lived Comedy Central series Stella. After wrapping up his impressive run on That '70s Show in 2006, many may have wondered what would become of the promising, fresh-faced star. Any concerns that his onscreen momentum may have been slowing would soon be addressed in short order, however, when the grandiose trailers for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 offered the first glimpse of Grace as symbiotically infected web-slinger nemesis Eddie Brock -- aka Venom. A film series that was fast on its way to becoming one of the most successful comic-to-screen adaptations of all time, the Spider-Man films benefited not only from their talented casts, but from director Raimi's meticulous attention to detail. In Grace it seemed that Raimi and company had chosen the perfect mirror for Tobey Maguire's humble hero; not only were both actors of roughly the same age and basic physical stature, but they each possessed the kind of wondrous, wide-eyed gaze that permits the viewer to see the fantastical events that the Spider-Man series so effectively presents through the eyes of characters that, despite being of comic book origin, aren't so different from the filmgoers themselves. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Grace was born in New York City, New York,[4][5] the son of Patricia, an office worker and assistant to the schoolmaster of the Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut, and John Grace, a business executive.[6] He has a younger sister, Jennifer. Grace grew up in Darien, Connecticut, where he knew actress Kate Bosworth, as well as Opie & Anthony producer Nathaniel Bryan and was sometimes babysat by actress Chloë Sevigny, who also later appeared with him in high school stage plays.[7] He chose to go by the name Topher in high school after becoming frustrated with his full name being abbreviated as Chris.
Grace was cast as Eric Forman on Fox'sThat '70s Show, which debuted in 1998. The sitcom was successful and Grace became well known among television watchers; he played the role until the seventh season, after which he left to prepare for his upcoming film, Spider-Man 3. The series was renewed for another season despite his absence before its ending in 2006. Grace would make a very brief guest appearance in the last episode.
Grace briefly attended college at the University of Southern California, but left during his freshman year to concentrate on his television work and to pursue a career in film. He played a prep school student who uses cocaine and introduces his girlfriend to heroin in director Steven Soderbergh's2000 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.[8] He planned to cameo in Ocean's Thirteen but due to his filming Spider-Man 3 he had to drop out.[citation needed]He also appeared in director Mike Newell's2003 film Mona Lisa Smile..
In 2004, Grace had the starring role in two major feature films; he played the leading roles in the Robert Luketic-directed Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and the Paul Weitzdramedy, In Good Company, in which he played an ambitious but troubled corporate executive. That same year, Grace also starred in the film P.S., which received only a limited theatrical release. Grace's work in P.S. and In Good Company was recognized by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures in the category of "Breakthrough Performance by an Actor".
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 kid. A spin off film of Venom is in the works, though it is unlikely that Grace will be returning. Sony is believed to have doubts over whether Grace could carry a blockbuster on his own.[citation needed] Grace is set to appear in the 1980s retro comedy Young Americans.[9] Grace co-wrote the script and will be co-producing the film. Grace will also be starring in the 2009 comedy Coxblocker.[10]
