Who plays the role of Grady in The Waterfront? Character explored

The crime drama series The Waterfront was released on June 19, 2025, exclusively on Netflix in the United States. The series was created by Kevin Williamson, who also wrote the script along with Michael Narducci, Katelyn Crabb, Lloyd Gilyard Jr., Brenna Koufe, and Hannah Schneider. It was inspired by true events and consists of eight episodes.

The Waterfront follows the story of the Buckley family that has ruled Haven Port, North California, for decades. However, their empire has started to crumble due to a variety of reasons, forcing the patriarchal head, Harlan, to return to business. Their empire is rivaled by a wealthy outsider, named Grady, who wants to take over Haven Port.

In The Waterfront, the character of Grady is portrayed by actor Topher Grace. The creator, Kevin Williamson, wrote the character specifically for Topher, as per an article published by Netflix Tudum on June 20, 2025.

“I was hoping that he would say yes when he read the scripts. And he did! Nothing pleases me more than to take a lovable, funny actor and turn them into a psychopath,” said Kevin.

The article provides a detailed discussion of the actor's career and his character's arc in the crime drama series The Waterfront.

Who is Grady? A glance at the character's arc

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As mentioned above, Topher Grace portrays the role of Grady in the crime drama series The Waterfront. Grady is the antagonist of the series, who is determined to take over the fishing empire set up by the Buckley family. In the Tudum article, Grace stated that his character is a go-getter, strong-willed, and well-educated. He also warns his character will stop at nothing to take over from the Buckleys.

“There’s nothing Grady won’t do. But on top of it, he’s also very polished and very well-educated,” he said.

In the clip shared by Netflix on Twitter, Grady initially presents himself as a charming guy, beginning the conversation with Harlan Buckley by praising the family, whom he invited to meet at his place. Grady mentioned that he has heard a lot about their family and also read about them online.

However, the tone of the conversation changes when Grady brings up how the Buckleys helped the Cali cartel enter the country.

Grady also reveals to Harlan that he knows about the fact that they killed the person who murdered Harlan's father, but they were never convicted for it. Grady, throughout the conversation, displays a certain bipolar behaviour as he switches between a threatening and friendly tone. As the creator stated above, he intended Grady to be a psychotic antagonist in the crime drama series, The Waterfront.

Topher Grace's career before The Waterfront explored

American actor Topher Grace rose to prominence for his role as Eric Forman in the popular sitcom series That '70s Show. He has also provided voice work for animated TV series such as Love, Death & Robots, The Simpsons, and Robot Chicken. His film credits include Ocean's Twelve, Spider-Man 3, Interstellar, Heretic, and Flight Risk.

Topher Grace has won several awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cinema Vanguard Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award. He is currently featuring in a recurring capacity as the antagonist, Grady, in Netflix's crime drama series The Waterfront. The cast list also includes Holt McCallany, Melissa Benoist, Jake Weary, and Maria Bello.

According to IMDb, the crime drama series has received a positive rating of 6.8/10 based on over 23,000 user reviews so far.

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About the author

Sumit Adyaprasad Yadav is an Entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. He has an educational background in finance, and possesses a cumulative work experience of over four years. After his eldest sister inducted him into the world of shows and films, his penchant for writing naturally grew.

As an Entertainment writer, Sumit’s involvement with media and content extends beyond mere leisure. He engages with them by investing his attention, and seeks to extract meanings from permutations of these audio-visual forms. He upholds journalistic ethics by relying on multiple sources and subscribing to available content only after thorough fact-checking. His professional achievements comprise crafting monthly newsletter for a startup firm, and conducting multiple interviews with employees.

When Sumit is not busy writing about the latest trends in the entertainment industry, he likes to play football. His favorite actor is Robert Pattinson, as he admires the actor's growth after the Twilight film series and his selection of scripts.

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Edited by Sriparna Barui