‘BlacKkKlansman’s’ Topher Grace: Researching David Duke Was ‘Worst Month Of My Life’

Topher Grace sounds like he’s finally where he wants to be.  As he discusses in our interview centered on his role in Spike Lee‘s celebrated “BlacKkKlansman,” the star of the 2000’s hit sitcom “That 70’s Show” has taken his career in a new direction the past six years or so with roles in Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” James Vanderbilt’s “Truth” and David Michôd’s “War Machine,” among others. That being said, he never thought he’d end up portraying David Duke in any shape or form.

READ MORE: Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’ [Cannes Review]

The former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and, shockingly (or not-s0), one-time member of the Louisiana House of Representatives has been blatant about his racist beliefs for over 45 years.  He’s also used a more professional exterior to infiltrate the mainstream media bringing what was thought to be a fringe movement to the living rooms and smartphones of everyday Americans.  But there is an embarrassing chapter of his life that took place in the late 1970’s in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  After numerous phone calls, Duke was hoodwinked into admitting an undercover black police officer, Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington in the movie) into a card-carrying member of the KKK.  It’s a key plot point in Lee’s latest triumph, a movie that has a lot to say about how little has changed for People of Color in America.

The now 40-year-old actor (hard to believe, isn’t it?) jumped on the phone this weekend to talk about the excruciating detail it took to research Duke, how Lee put him at ease regarding the racist aspects of his performance, his role in David Robert Mitchell’s “Under the Silver Lake,” how Cannes is closer to the Hollywood fantasy than Hollywood and how taking out of the box roles led him to find new representation.

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The Playlist:  Hey, Topher. How you doin’?

Topher Grace: How you doin’ man?

Good! I saw “BlacKkKlansman” at Cannes. I loved it. I thought it was fantastic.

Oh, thank you.

What was your Cannes experience like for you with both “BlacKkKlansman” and “Under the Silver Lake” there?

Oh, man. I’d never been to Cannes before. I kind of heard about it, but it’s so far away. I certainly never thought I’d be there unless I had a film there. I was so lucky I was in “Under the Silver Lake,” too. I kind of had a much smaller role in that film, but I had two films over there. I was so excited. I’ll skip to the end, which is it had such a crazy reception. I’m very proud of the film, but the reception was so wonderful. Everyone loves cinema over there so much. You said you were at the premiere?

I wasn’t at the “premiere, premiere.”  There was a press screening at the same time as the world premiere. That’s how they mostly schedule screenings over there now.

No problem. I’m just saying, you know what it’s like over there at Cannes when something blows up like that. I actually called my mom.  I went, “This is what I thought it was going to be like before I moved to Hollywood.” When [I was a kid and]she would take me to Planet Hollywood and MGM Studios in Florida.  I was like, “Yeah.” Then I got into Hollywood and it was nothing like that. This felt like it. It was like palm trees and people really love cinema. Champagne and yachts, it was unbelievable.

It can be crazy. It’s also a really good experience when you have a good movie, which this is.  But let’s go back to the beginning.  How did the role come your way?  I can’t imagine you ever thought anyone was going to ask you to play David Duke in any context.

No. I mean, I wouldn’t have even thought that was possible.  I knew Spike had a new film, so I begged to read the script. When I read it, I thought, “I actually think I have an interesting take on this”.  There was something there about this script where I understood his characters utility to the story and what it was kind of saying.  Also, I truly believe Spike to be the greatest black filmmaker of all time. So, I felt comfortable doing it with him, and when I told people about it, you were right there were a lot of people kinda scratching their heads.  So, I had to go in and read for Spike which is something that I was happy to do. I knew it was not like something I had ever played so it’s kinda incumbent on me to prove it to him. I always watch movies like “Django Unchained” and I thought how did that happen on set?  Still gotta be so awkward, even though it’s a fake movie. Terrible language, kinda terrible ideas they’re dealing with. When I went in there I kinda said, “I just feel so awkward”. I had a little speech planned for him, “I don’t know if this is annoying to you or not for me to say, but I’m just really, really feel uncomfortable about this dialogue.” And he made me feel so good about it. He said, “You’re serving my message.  I know this is a tough scene, but in the context of the film you’re doing a good thing.”  And he made me feel so comfortable.   That’s why you go, “Oh, he’s one of the great masters of cinema”, he just made me feel so good about it.

The film’s tone is very unique.  When you read the script could you tell there was humor in it?

Oh, yeah. I read so many scripts, and every actor has, where you’re kind of crossing your finger about a tone and it might not work out that way.  Movies are such a hard thing to make well and that’s another reason I thought, “Gotta be with someone like Spike”, who’s that masterful about tone because he injected humor into a very serious subject matter [and it’s] wonderful if it works the right way.

Beyond that, in most of your early scenes in the movie, your character’s on the phone.  So, it’s not like you knew on set that it was 100% going to work. Right?

You know, actually, when we shot it they had cameras on both of us. They built the set back-to-back. I’ve never had that in a film before in my life.  Even when you’re shooting a scene opposite someone in a restaurant, you’re not both on camera. It’s very rare that you have two cameras on both people that are performing. So, not only did John David, Spike and I rehearse a couple times face to face, then we get this wall up between us and we’re actually on the phone together.  Look, it only takes an amazing director like that to realize, “I’m sure that’s not the cheapest way to shoot it”, but it was, by far the most effective.

And were you able to watch it on play-back at all? 

No, I never watch playback.

Oh, you never want to see yourself?

Yeah, it’s bad for acting.

Wait, why do you think it’s bad for acting.

I mean, if you’ve never acted, it’s like a difference between saying something to a human or saying something to a mirror. You know how you change how you say something once you’re looking at yourself in the mirror?  It’s just an awareness so you probably don’t want to have a mirror. That’s just my opinion. There’s a lot of actors that watch playback of themselves, but I can’t imagine, once you’ve seen yourself that [your performance is] not going to change somehow the next time you do it.