‘That ’90s Show’: Laura Prepon and Topher Grace Returned ‘So Easily’ to Donna and Eric’s Dynamic
That ’90s Show is brand-new to Netflix, but the lighthearted sitcom already has many fans hooked. A reboot/sequel to the iconic early 2000s series That ’70s Show, That ’90s Show has everything that longtime fans of the franchise want — including many of the original show’s beloved characters. Topher Grace and Laura Prepon, of course, appear as Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti Forman. The two performers were able to effortlessly slip back into the personas of Eric and Donna, according to show creators — and by their own admissions, they have thoroughly embraced the chance to act in That ’90s Show.
Topher Grace and Laura Prepon starred as Eric and Donna in ‘That ’70s Show’
In That ’70s Show, Grace played Eric Forman, a nerdy teenager growing up in Wisconsin. Grace appeared in nearly every episode of the show until Season 7, when the character of Eric opted to take a teaching job in Africa. Throughout the series run, however, Eric was very much in love with Donna, the girl next door played by Prepon.
For many viewers, Eric and Donna’s romance was the highlight of That ’70s Show. So it thrilled fans when it was announced that That ’90s Show would continue their story by having the new series center on Leia Forman, their teenage daughter, growing up in the ’90s.
Laura Prepon and Topher Grace returned ‘so easily’ to the characters of Donna and Eric
Grace and Prepon joined many of their former cast members for That ’90s Show, reprising their roles of Eric and Donna for a few episodes of the all-new series. Bonnie Turner, one of the creators of That ’70s Show as well as That ’90s Show, admitted that the two actors slipped naturally back into the roles that they originated so many years ago. “The original show was a very special set,” she told BuzzFeed. “It was very happy and playful and loving. The writers on the original show were that way too. The new show is that way too.”
Her husband and co-creator Terry Turner expanded on that, calling out the scene in That ’90s Show that echoed a similar one from That ’70s Show, where Eric and Donna are sitting on the hood of a car in the Foremans’ driveway and push each other’s heads playfully. As Turner noted, the moment was unscripted. “(Topher and Laura) did it without even thinking,” he said. “It was fun to watch people come back from the original cast and drop so easily into the characters. They just put them on like an old shirt.”
What have Topher Grace and Laura Prepon said about ‘That ’90s Show’?
The show’s creators aren’t the only ones to sing the praises of That ’90s Show. Prepon told Us Weekly in June 2022 that she was thrilled to get the chance to reprise the role of Donna. “It’s so fun,” the actor (and director) said. “It’s all the same sets. When I first went there, I cried. I’m just like, ‘The nostalgia is so strong and it was such an incredible time in my life.'”
Grace felt the same way, comparing the feeling of working on the new series as being akin to “going home for Christmas,” as reported by MyTalk1071. Clearly, That ’70s Show is a series that made an indelible impression on the cast as well as the fans themselves.
