How do you unwind after a challenging day at the office? Perhaps you have a bath, or kick back and watch television. Maybe you go jogging, or finally call your mum back.
Whatever the case, chances are you do not spend your precious evenings editing famous movies down into shorter versions of themselves. Yet, that’s exactly what Topher Grace – the actor best known for That ‘70s Show and Spider-Man 3 – does.
Many years ago, Grace decided to re-edit the Star Wars prequels from three feature-length movies into one 85-minute cut. Now, thanks to a stressful time playing Ku Kulx Klan Grand Wizard David Duke in Spike Lee’s new movie BlacKkKlansman, the actor has edited another famous trilogy down to one movie: The Hobbit.
“I was so depressed,” Grace told IndieWire of playing the infamous man. “It was so disturbing to go home and turn on the news to see how his ideology was affecting us at the moment.”
To detox from playing the Grand Wizard, the 40-year-old set about changing Peter Jackson’s sprawling adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, a series that received mixed reviews, especially compared to the original Lord of the Rings films.
“I think that maybe The Hobbit should’ve been one movie, and many people would agree,” Grace said. “Money drives a lot of those franchises. It’s better when the art leads.”
The actor added that, while he never wanted to edit professionally, the exercise was relaxing: “Like doing woodwork in my garage.”
“I don’t know what other guys do. Go fishing? For me, this is just a great way to relax,” he added. “There’s something really zen about it.”
Chances are the public will never get to see Grace’s version of The Hobbit – his edit of the Star Wars prequels was only ever screened once due to legal issues.
