Without any prior professional acting experience in hand, Topher Grace got cast lead Eric Forman after the show’s creators saw him in a high school play. This was his debut professional performance which was widely acclaimed, and he stayed with the show until season seven playing the love interest of Laura Prepon.
Although his accomplishments haven’t been that huge compared to his cast members in the show, he has been an in- demand actor who has played everything from smart-aleck villain Venom in Spiderman 3, to smart-aleck serial killer Edwin in Predators, to smart-aleck Jason Morris in Valentine’s Day.
1999 was an important year for James Franco as he starred in a breakthrough role in the NBC series Freaks and Geeks. He also made his film debut that year in 1999’s Never Been Kissed, followed by the 2000 romantic comedy Whatever It Takes. His performance in 2001’s TNT cable biopic James Dean which made the world aware of this young actor for which he earned a Golden Globe in 2002.
Franco went on to land major roles in movies such as the Spider-Man franchise, Flyboys, Tristan + Isolde, Milk, Eat Pray Love and 127 Hours for which he won an Academy award. The actor is very well known for his educational pursuits having had 3 degrees from a wide range of universities like UCLA, Columbia, and Yale, etc. His most notable work has been the very controversial political satire movie The Interview which didn’t get to go to box office rather had to be released digitally.
Like his fellow cast mate Franco, Segel got his big break when got cast by Jude Apatow in his new coming of age TV show Freaks and Geeks at a young age of 18. Segel had decided to drop college to focus on acting and eventually landed this role. The show, which also featured James Franco, Seth Rogen and Linda Cardellini, lasted only a season, but it later developed a strong cult following. However, he tried collaborating with Apatow in another project called Undeclared which unfortunately did not do well either.
