Eric Forman served as the central character on Topher Grace portrayed the character from 1998 until 2005, but his career goals led the actor to exit the long-running series before its conclusion. As a result, Grace is absent for most of the show's final season, although he did return to bid viewers a proper farewell in the finale.
Even though relationship with his next-door neighbor, Donna, were often the focus of the series. Some of the best moments, however, involved Eric's interactions with his parents, Red and Kitty.
Red taught Eric many tough lessons over his teenage years, including the importance of maintaining a job and becoming self-sufficient. Upon graduating from high school, Eric struggled with what he wanted to do with the next chapter in his life. After taking a year to explore his options, much to the annoyance of Red, Eric found an opportunity to receive a fully-funded college education if he taught for a year in Africa. He accepted the offer and bid farewell to his friends and family in the season 7 finale. The writers for That '70s Show had the ability to write the character out of the show because Grace gave them fair warning about his intention to leave.
Topher Grace Left That '70s Show To Pursue A Movie Career
Eric's departure from the sitcom didn't come from the creative team. The decision was purely made by the actor behind the role. That '70s Show marked Grace's first acting gig. During his time working on the series, Grace explored a movie career. He appeared in 2000's Traffic followed by a cameo in Ocean's Eleven and Mona Lisa Smile. Grace realized that he wanted to grow his movie career but his schedule for That '70s Show was preventing him from acquiring film gigs. In 2004 alone, Grace appeared in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, P.S., Ocean's Twelve, and In Good Company. With that, Grace decided to leave That '70s Show behind to focus on films.
Following Grace's exit from That '70s Show, the actor was cast as Eddie Brock/Venom in Sam Raimi's Breakthrough.