Casting the role of Pete presented problems to the “Win a Date” filmmakers. Pete needed to be totally believable as a store manager and believable as competition for one of Hollywood’s hottest stars. Best known for his work on “That ‘70s Show,” Topher Grace was cast as Pete, the manager of a Piggly Wiggly in Fraziers Bottom, West Virginia, because of his ‘every man’ quality. “His work is incredibly intense and smart and real – all the qualities I was looking for in Pete. He auditioned for us, and Pete was born,” recalls director Robert Luketic.
INTERVIEW WITH TOPHER GRACE ('Pete'):
Why wasn’t your character interested in Ginnifer Goodwin’s character?
I know, right? I’m actually glad we didn’t do like a Japanese stand-off love triangle, which
is like everyone’s in love with every one of the lead characters. There’s a little bit of that with the
bartender, but that kind of peters [out]. But you know what? Everyone’s in love with someone else. Ginny and I - she’s one of my best friends, so when she got the part I was so happy.
With so many acerbic lines, were you worried Pete would be less attractive to the audience?
No, I was hoping. I think the trap with these films sometimes is that there’s that ‘nice guy’ and everyone’s so defined by their character. I think layering it is the whole point. It’s pretty obvious where this film’s going from the poster, so I’m really glad that we got a place where the love
triangle, it kind of turns a couple of times.
Was the confrontation in the bathroom between your character and Josh Duhamel’s character a difficult scene to shoot?
Josh was cracking me up. If you ever see the film again - he does this little thing where he grabs the walls. No, it was great. I think I was more proud of that scene than any other scene because it’s like funny and sad, because those two things are really hard emotions to get into [one moment]. I think it’s the point of romantic comedies.
Did knowing Kate Bosworth prior to filming help your relationship throughout the movie?
I don’t think in a real way, because we didn’t know each other that well. But I do think we spoke the same language and we were from the same place, so that definitely helped. She’s great. I totally knew her before this film, just out here in Hollywood, and when I heard she was cast in it before I was cast in the film, I thought, “Oh man, perfect.” She’s like sweet, but not that sweet, where you have a bad reaction to it.
Do you believe in ‘one true love’?
Oh, man, I’ve been getting questions like that [for a while now]. You mean, if I could go on a date
with anyone, who would it be? That’s the other question. I don’t know. I am not the expert, and I hate actors who sit at these things and are the expert on something. They’re actors.
What was your hometown job?
Suncoast Video at the Stanford Mall, where I worked for two summers. I have a good friend who works at the movie theater now. That’s funny, I wonder if this will play there.
Well, it will eventually be at Suncoast.
Yeah, I didn’t even think about that. Oh man, some poor kid filing away, putting me under ‘W’. But I actually went and spent some time in a supermarket before this. I didn’t work there, but I did hang out with the manager for a little bit. I realized that it gives you a feel for the fact that Pete is a strong, great guy. He’s not a weakling. There’s a cliche of playing this guy as very fragile or flawed, and I think what’s really important is that he’s a victim of circumstance. It’s like, what are you gonna do if the girl you like starts dating Brad Pitt? No matter how great a guy you are, you’re going to have a problem. So working at the supermarket, that guy was running a whole operation there. [That’s] more responsibility than I have, so that was fuel for that fire.
What did you think when you heard you remind this director of a young Tom Hanks?
It makes me very happy. It’s the ultimate compliment. At the beginning of this film when I met with Robert [Luketic], I said, “There are two guys you can play as a young actor: the guy you want to be, and the guy you are.” It’s the difference between Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks. And I think he trusted me to play someone who the audience could [relate to]. So that’s the ultimate compliment. What was amazing about this film was both guys are in it. How many films have both of those characters?
Page 2: Topher Grace on "That '70s Show" and Upcoming Projects
Additional “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!” Cast Interviews:
Josh Duhamel / Kate Bosworth / Ginnifer Goodwin
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
"Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!" Photo Gallery
"Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!" Credits, Soundtrack and Trailer
