Background:

Lara Grice is an American film, television and stage actress. She has acted in many films like “Runaway Jury” (2003), “Because of Winn-Dixie” (2005), “The Dukes of Hazzard” (2005), “Deja Vu” (2006), “Girl, Positive” (2007, TV), “Major Movie Star” (2008), “I Ran Against Us” (2009), “My Own Love Song” (2010), “Father of Invention” (2010), “The Mechanic” (2011) and “Lay the Favorite” (2012). She played a regular role on “Orleans” (1997) and a recurring role on HBO's “Treme” (2010-2012).


Louisiana Native

Childhood and Family:

Lara Grice was born on August 11, 1971, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was named after her father, Larry. She graduated from the University of Dallas with a B.A. in Drama.


Major Movie Star

Career:

16 year old Lara Grice made her television acting debut as Pearl Fruge in an episode of the NBC horror series “Unsolved Mysteries.” About a decade later, she returned to the small screen with a regular role on the short lived series “Orleans” (1997), playing Grace. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore). Her co-stars in the show included Michael Reilly Burke, Larry Hagman, O'Neal Compton and Charles Durning. The same year, she also appeared in an episode of “The Big Easy” and had an uncredited part in the film “Favorite Son” and the TV film “Old Man.”

Grice disappeared again, and did not resurface until playing young nurse in the 2001 drama film “Above & Beyond,” directed and written by Stuart Alexander and starring Costas Mandylor, Alexandra Paul and Adam Baldwin, and Virginia (the ghost) in the 2001 made for TV film “Spirit,” starring Greg Evigan, Elisabeth Moss and Austin O'Brien. Two years later, she appeared as bartender in “Tough Luck,” a thriller directed by Gary Ellis and starring Armand Assante, Norman Reedus and Dagmara Dominczyk, and as Blonde decoy in the Gary Fleder helmed thriller “Runaway Jury,” starring John Cusack, Rachel Weisz and Gene Hackman.

2004 saw Grice appear in the made for TV films “Infidelity,” “Stuck in the Suburbs,” “Torn Apart” and “The Brooke Ellison Story.” In the next year, she teamed up with Brooke Adams, Michael Arata and Barbara Balentine in Tom Anton's “At Last,” which won the Best Narrative Feature category at the Ojai Film Festival, was cast as Opal's mom in Wayne Wang's “Because of Winn-Dixie,” starring AnnaSophia Robb, Jeff Daniels and Eva Marie Saint, and appeared as female passenger in Jay Chandrasekhar's “The Dukes of Hazzard,” starring Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville and Jessica Simpson. Besides, she appeared in two TV films, “Locusts” and “Heartless” (both 2005).

Next up for Grice, she appeared in “Deja Vu” (2006), a thriller movie starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott, Murray Robinson's drama, “The Novice” (2006), where she played the supporting role of Victoria, and “Just My Luck” (2006), in which she had an uncredited part as Jake's bank teller. On the small screen, she appeared in the films “A Perfect Day” and “The Year Without a Santa Claus” and in the miniseries “Thief.” Grice continued on having busy schedule with roles on such films as “The Reaping” (2007), “The Staircase Murders” (2007, TV), “Girl, Positive” (2007, TV, as Loren Wiley), “Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal” (2008, TV), “Major Movie Star” (2008, as Jinny) and “Soul Men” (2008). She also made a guest appearance in “K-Ville” (2007). In 2009, she offered a notable turn as Fechetti in the N.T. Bullock comedy film “I Ran Against Us,” which won the Director's Choice at the Jackson Crossroads Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the New Orleans Film Festival. The same year, she also had small roles in the films “12 Rounds” and “The Final Destination.”

From 2010 to 2011, Grice could be seen in films like “Wrong Side of Town,” “Mask Maker,” “Welcome to the Rileys,” “Quantum Apocalypse” (TV), “My Own Love Song” (opposite Renée Zellweger, Madeline Zima and Forest Whitaker), “Legendary,” “Father of Invention” (starred Kevin Spacey, Camilla Belle and Heather Graham), “Knucklehead,” “The Mechanic,” “Justice for Natalee Holloway” (TV) and “1320.” In 2010, she also began the role of voice actor in the television drama series “Treme,” which premiered on HBO on April 11, 2010.

In 2012, Grice portrayed a waitress in “Lay the Favorite,” a comedy film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis and Vince Vaughn. She also made a guest appearance as Susan in an episode of “Rectify” (2012).

Grice also has acted in several stage productions. She portrayed Val in the Jefferson Performing Arts Society's production of “A Chorus Line” at in Metairie, Louisiana and Debra in Southern Rep's production of “Kimberly Akimbo” in New Orleans, Louisiana.


Awards:

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