Age: 46
Birthplace: New York City, New York, U.S.
Christopher John "Topher" Grace (/ˈtoʊfər/; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Eric Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, Eddie Brock/Venom in the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 3, Carter Duryea in the film In Good Company and Edwin in the 2010 film Predators.
Grace was born in New York City, New York, the son of Pat, an assistant to the schoolmaster of the New Canaan Country School, and John Grace, a Madison Avenue executive. He has a sister, Jenny.
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.
Grace was cast as Eric Forman on Fox's That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998. He played the role until season 7. 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.
Grace plays a prep school student who uses cocaine and introduces 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; but, because of 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." He also appeared in director Mike Newell's 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile.
In 2004, Grace played the leading roles in the Robert Luketic-directed Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and the Paul Weitz dramedy, 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 won the National Board of Review's 2004 award for Breakthrough Performance Actor for his work in In Good Company and P.S.
On January 15, 2005, Grace hosted Saturday Night Live. 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. In 2009, Grace became the subject of a recurring column on the entertainment/pop culture site Videogum, entitled "What's Up With Topher Grace?". In 2010, Grace appeared in the ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, alongside That '70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher, and played the character of Edwin in Predators, the newest installment of the science fiction franchise.
In 2011, Grace appeared in the 1980s retro comedy Take Me Home Tonight. He co-wrote the script and co-produced the film. Grace also starred opposite Richard Gere in the spy thriller The Double.
In 2014, Grace starred in the indie thriller The Calling, alongside Susan Sarandon, and appeared in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi adventure Interstellar, in a supporting role. In October 2013, Grace joined HBO comedy pilot People In New Jersey with Sarah Silverman, but in January 2014, the pilot was passed on.
Grace co-starred in the comedy film American Ultra (2015), alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, playing a CIA agent. Also that year, Grace 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 gotten preferential treatment to keep him out of the Vietnam War. Grace played Mike Smith, a researcher on the story.
In January 2014, Grace joined the upcoming supernatural-thriller Delirium, which centers on a man, who is recently released from a mental institute, he inherits a mansion after his parents die. After a series of disturbing events, he comes to believe it is haunted.
Grace dated his Take Me Home Tonight co-star, Teresa Palmer, in mid- to late-2007. They reunited in 2009 after she broke up with Russell Brand, and later broke up again. Grace started dating actress Ashley Hinshaw in January 2014, and the two subsequently became engaged in January 2015.
He is a supporter of FINCA International, a microfinance organization.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Traffic | Seth Abrahams | Young Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Performance - Male Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
2001 | Ocean's Eleven | Himself | Uncredited |
2002 | Pinocchio | Leonardo | Voice |
2003 | Mona Lisa Smile | Tommy Donegal | |
2004 | Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! | Pete Monash | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor - Comedy Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock |
2004 | P.S. | F. Scott Feinstadt | National Board of Review of Motion Pictures for Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor |
2004 | Ocean's Twelve | Himself | Uncredited |
2004 | In Good Company | Carter Duryea | National Board of Review of Motion Pictures for Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor |
2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Eddie Brock/Venom | Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Villain |
2009 | Personal Effects | Clay | Uncredited voice |
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 | |
2016 | Delirium | Post-production | |
2016 | War Machine | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998-2006 | That '70s Show | Eric Forman | 180 episodes Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series Young Ensemble Nominated - Teen Choice Award for TV Breakout Performance Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor Comedy |
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 | 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 Daytime Emmy New Approaches Original Daytime Program or Series |
2013 | People in New Jersey | Carl Levin | Pilot |
2015 | The Muppets | Himself | Episode: "Pilot" |
2015 | Drunk History | Milton Bradley | Episode: "Games" |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Eddie Brock/Venom (voice) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | Cheap Trick - In The Street | Eric Forman | With cast of That 70's Show |
2011 | Atomic Tom - "Don't You Want Me Baby" | As himself | With cast of Take Me Home Tonight |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Lonely, I'm Not | Porter | Second Stage Theatre |