Topher Grace is recalling a story from a screening of 2010's Predators which resulted in the actor making a heckler of the film cry.
Grace starred as Edwin in the film, a doctor who was ultimately revealed to be a serial killer. In one scene, prior to the reveal of Edwin's true murderous tendencies, the character's foot gets stuck in a trap and he starts crying. At this point in the film, Edwin is portrayed as a doctor who has no place with a group of would-be assassins and the audience is supposed to sympathize with him. During an interview with "Entertainment Weekly", Grace reveals he had to see the film with a general audience because he couldn't make the film's premiere. One moviegoer was less than thrilled with his performance during that particular scene and called him out for crying, not knowing that Grace was seated behind him. Needless to say, the moviegoer was in for a rude awakening when Grace made his presence known.
“My character starts crying because his foot’s in a trap and you kind of have to feel for him and then it’s revealed that he’s a psycho. And so, I start crying. It was a hard day at work for me to like, get there, and also you’re playing two different characters, kind of. So, I’m watching this film in the movie theater and this guy goes, ‘This guy’s crying like a little bitch!. I turn around and I go, ‘What’s up now?’ And this guy’s mind exploded. He was like, ‘Oh my God! You’re here and you’re on the [screen]. I think it was the most scared I’d ever seen someone in a movie theater because he, like, realized I was [the movie] serial killer and then I turned around in front of him. … He started crying, it was great.”
Predators, directed by Nimród Antal, follows an ensemble cast of characters including Royce (Adrien Brody), a mercenary who appears in an unidentified jungle among other proficient killers. They find that they have been abducted and placed on a planet that acts as a game reserve for two warring tribes of extraterrestrial killers and actively look for a way to return to Earth. In addition to Grace and Brody, the film also stars Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne.
I guess the moral of the Topher Grace story is that you have to watch what you say if you're seeing a film with him in it because you never know when Eric Forman might just be lurking behind you at a movie theater. I can't see Grace being all that intimidating but he has played his share of horrible people with his roles in Black Mirror and BlacKkKlansman so maybe the dude has some edge.
Do YOU have any experiencing stories from heckling a film in public?