Topher Grace was born Christopher Grace in 1978 in New York City, the son of an office worker/assistant and a business executive. He has one sister, Jenny, who is three years younger. He grew up in Connecticut where he knew Kate Bosworth and Chloe Sevigny. He opted for the nickname Topher due to frustration of being called Chris.

Grace attended the Fay School in Massachusetts, The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, and Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. While in New Hampshire, he was noticed by the producer of That 70’s Show. Grace was playing the lead in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the school and the producer’s daughter also attended.

Grace’s first break came in 1998 after being cash in That 70’s Show, which became successful and helped boost the careers of all of the young actors. He played Eric Forman on the show for six seasons and then left to prepare for his role in Spider-Man 3 as Venom. Grace attended the University of Southern California very briefly, leaving to concentrate on his role in television and pursue a film career. He appeared in the 2000 movie, Traffic and in Mona Lisa Smile in 2003. Grace had cameo appearances in Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve.

In 2004, Grace had the lead roles in two major films: Win a Date with Tad Hamilton and In Good Company. Another film that year, P.S. had limited theatrical release, but for his work in these films, he was recognized by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures for “Breakthrough Performance by an Actor.” Grace also hosted Saturday Night Live in 2005. Grace has been linked with several Hollywood actresses – Anne Hathaway, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ivanka Trump, Emmy Rossum, and Teresa Palmer – but remains single at age 30.

Topher Grace is slated to appear in Kids in America, for which he co-wrote the script and is co-producing. He will also star in The Crusaders, a film about the Brown versus Board of Education.