Christopher John "Topher" Grace 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.
Early life 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.
Grace grew up in Darien, Connecticut, where he knew actress Kate Bosworth, as well as
Opie & Anthony producer Nathaniel Bryan; the actress Chloë Sevigny - who later appeared
with him in high school stage plays - was sometimes his babysitter. Grace chose to use
the name Topher because he did not want his full name abbreviated to Chris at school.
Career Grace was cast as Eric Forman on Fox's That
'70s Show, which debuted in 1998.
He played the role until the seventh season.
His character was written out and was replaced with a new character named Randy Pearson who
was portrayed by 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 due to his filming of 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 also 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.
Personal life He dated Ivanka Trump in 2006.
He 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.
He is also a celebrity supporter of FINCA International, a microfinance organization.
Filmography Film
Television Video games
Music Videos Theatre
References
External links Topher Grace at the Internet Movie Database
IGN Films interview About.com interview