Fran Kranz Explained

Fran Kranz
Birth Name:	Francis Elliott Kranz
Birth Date:	13 July 1981
Birth Place:	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education:	Harvard-Westlake School
Alma Mater:	Yale University (BA)
Occupation:	Actor
Years Active:	1998–present
Children:	1
Relatives:	Jaclyn Smith (former-mother-in-law) Anthony B. Richmond (former-father-in-law)

Francis Elliott Kranz (born July 13, 1981) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his portrayal of Topher Brink in the science fiction drama series Dollhouse.^[1] Kranz had prominent roles in the films The Cabin in the Woods and Much Ado About Nothing. In 2012, he played Bernard in Death of a Salesman, beginning a career on Broadway that continued with 2014's You Can't Take It with You.

Kranz made his feature directorial debut with Mass (2021), which premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim.^[2] From 2022 to 2023, he was a regular cast member in the Max series Julia.

Personal life

Kranz was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.^[3] He started acting in third and fourth grade, and knew from a very young age that he wanted to become an actor.^[4] Kranz graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in 2000 and from Yale University in 2004,^[5] where he was a member of the improv comedy group The Ex!t Players.

In 2015, Kranz married actress Spencer Margaret Richmond, daughter of Charlie's Angels actress Jaclyn Smith and filmmaker Tony Richmond. In 2016, their first daughter was born. On July 6, 2020, she filed for divorce.^[6] The divorce was finalized in 2021.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Donnie Darko	Frank's Friend
	Training Day	College Driver
2002	Orange County	Shane Brainard
2003	Matchstick Men	Slacker Boyfriend
	Swordswallowers and Thin Men	Adrian
2004	The Village	Christop Crane
	Admissions	James Parks
2005	Hitch	Coca Cola Guy	Uncredited
2006	Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas	Ralph
	The Night of the White Pants	Millian Hagan
	The TV Set	Zach Harper
	Whirlygirl	Freddie
2007	Careless	Mitch
		Alex
2008	Wieners	Joel
	Shades of Ray	Sal Garfinkle
	Last Meal	Noah	Short film
2009	Homeland	Arne
	My Two Fans	Thad
2010	Don't Fade Away	Ben
2011	Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules	Bill Walter
	The Cabin in the Woods	Marty
	The Five Stages of Grief	Daniel	Short film
2012	Much Ado About Nothing	Claudio
	It's Not You, It's Me	Jack	Short film
	Putzel	Salmon Guy
2013	Seasick Sailor	Wormy Guy	Short film
2014	Lust for Love	Astor
	Before I Disappear	Darren
	Murder of a Cat	Clinton
	Last Weekend	Sean Oakes
	The Living	Teddy
	Seven Lovers	Brian
2015	Bloodsucking Bastards	Evan
	The Truth About Lies	Gilby Smalls
	Mojave	Bob
2016	Rebirth	Kyle
2017	A Happening of Monumental Proportions	Mr. Rolf
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Bottom	Also producer
	The Dark Tower	Pimli
2018	You Might Be the Killer	Sam
2019	Fanboy	Jeremiah Brennan	Short film
	Jungleland	Buck Noble
2021	Mass	—	Director, writer, and producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Frasier	Aaron	Episode: "Good Grief"
2007	Untitled Christine Taylor Project	Brian	TV movie
2008	Welcome to The Captain	Josh Flug	5 episodes
2008	Private Practice	Brian	Episode: "Equal & Opposite"
2008	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	College Student	Episode: "Who Pooped the Bed?"
2009–2010	Dollhouse	Topher Brink	27 episodes
2011	Goodnight Burbank	Chaz Parker	Episode: "Lesbians on Acid"
2012	Dating Rules from My Future Self	Sorbet Guy	2 episodes
2013	The Good Wife	Eugene	Episode: "A More Perfect Union"
2014	Dallas	Hunter McKay	3 episodes
2016	TripTank	Various voices	2 episodes
2016	Elementary	Brendan Farley	Episode: "How the Sausage Is Made"
2017	Major Crimes	Stan Pearl	4 episodes
2018	Ballers	Yanni	3 episodes
2018–2020	Homecoming	Ron	2 episodes
2019	The Loudest Voice	Gabriel Sherman	Episode: "2012"
2022–2023	Julia	Russell Morash	Main role
2023	Party Down	Miles	Episode: "Kyle Bradway Is Nitromancer"

Broadway

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Death of a Salesman	Bernard	In Ethel Barrymore Theatre, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman^[7]
2014	You Can't Take It with You	Tony Kirby^[8]	In Longacre Theater, starring James Earl Jones^[9]

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	MegaBot	Blue^[10]
2012	JourneyQuest	Silver Tom	8 episodes

Music videos

External links

• • Interview with Kranz - "Fran Kranz on theater, film, and his haircut"

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dollhouse: Fran Kranz Talks Topher. E!. Drusilla . Moorhouse. April 24, 2009. March 31, 2013.
2. Web site: Mass (2021) Reviews. February 1, 2021. Rotten Tomatoes.
3. Web site: Francis Elliott Kranz, Born 07/13/1981 in California . CaliforniaBirthIndex.org . 1981-07-13 . 2014-02-21.
4. Web site: Interview with Fran Kranz. myfanbase.de. Catherine . Bühnsack. March 31, 2013.
5. Web site: Interview: Fran Kranz . redbrick.me . March 16, 2012 . Charlotte . Lytton . March 31, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113819/http://www.redbrick.me/2012/03/interview-fran-kranz/ . December 24, 2013 . dead .
6. Web site: RICHMOND, SPENCER VS KRANZ, FRANCIS "FRAN" . unicourt.com.
7. Gans, Andrew."Starry Revival of Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' Opens on Broadway" playbill.com, March 15, 2012
8. Web site: Tedder, Michael . Fran Kranz on Joss Whedon and Broadway's 'You Can't Take It With You' . . 2014-09-29 . 2015-03-04.
9. Staff. "The Verdict: Critics Review 'You Can't Take It With You', Starring James Earl Jones and Elizabeth Ashley, on Broadway" playbill.com, September 28, 2014
10. Web site: Caroline van Oosten de Boer, Milo Vermeulen . Post about MegaBot on . Whedonesque.com . 2014-02-21.