Star Wars, pizza and Private Eyes: Memphis actress Clare Grant's new movie hits theaters

A "hunky" (per The New York Times) standup comic with a dimpled chin, "suspiciously high cheekbones" (quoth The Daily Beast), shirtless publicity photos, a Netflix special ("Natural Selection"), more than 18 million TikTok followers and a penchant for controversy (domestic abuse jokes), 28-year-old Matt Rife will be riding a crest of extreme popularity/notoriety when he comes to Memphis on Feb. 16 for a pair of sold-out shows at the Orpheum.

He'll be here onscreen before he's onstage. Those who can't wait to see Rife at the Orpheum can head to the Malco Cordova, Collierville, Desoto or Paradiso cinemas for "The Private Eye," a very low-budget mystery-comedy that opens in about 50 theaters nationwide on Feb. 9.

Directed by Jack Cook (it's "A Jack Cook Flick," according to the opening credits), "The Private Eye" casts Rife as the titular (a word ripe for a Rife joke) peeper, a down-on-his-heels gumshoe whose "pigsty" Los Angeles apartment is invaded by a noir-style potential femme fatale, a glamorous and mysterious woman played by Clare Grant of Memphis.

In fact, now it can be revealed: This article you now are reading is not really about the currently hot Rife. Rather, it is about the hardworking Grant, who for the past almost 20 years has carved a career as an actress, producer, writer and voice artist, sometimes in collaboration with her husband, actor Seth Green ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the "Austin Powers" trilogy), and often in productions that relate to comic books, "Star Wars," anime and others expressions of what she calls her "geek" interests.

“I turned my love of geek culture and music into a production company," said Grant, 44, whose multimedia Danger Maidens company and "Team Unicorn" troupe have created music videos, web series, sexy "Star Wars" spoofs (in one, Grant portrays a minimally wardrobed Wookiee-washer), and more.

In addition, "It was through my passion for geek culture that I met my husband," said Grant, noting that she and Green bumped into each other at science-fiction conventions and comic-book shops before they finally tied the knot in 2010 at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, with Memphis filmmaker Craig Brewer — who had cast Grant in his "Black Snake Moan" and "$5 Cover" projects — officiating.

Clare Grant (her professional name) was born and raised in Memphis as Clare Camille Johnson. The oldest of seven children, Grant remains close to her family; pre-COVID, she said, she returned "three or four times a year" to Memphis, where her parents and most of her siblings still live. (Her father, Clarence Johnson, was a longtime FM 100 deejay, while her mother, Glenna Rohrbacher, is co-owner of the Cocoa & Lola's lingerie shop in Cooper-Young.)

Grant attended Shady Grove Elementary School and White Station High School (Class of 1997, holla) before earning a theater degree at the University of Memphis. "I always loved singing," she said, "but honestly, it was the teachers in the schools of Memphis that pushed me to act."

Blessed with striking looks (including Rife-high cheekbones), Grant nonetheless worked for eight count 'em eight years at the Memphis Pizza Cafe (both the Midtown and East Memphis locations), where she was recruited as a model by a customer who was head of the local Colors talent agency. Modeling took Grant overseas and down to Miami, but she wasn't happy.

"I hated modeling, because I've never put too much stock in my looks, and I really fought against being known as 'the pretty girl,'" she said. "Not being able to book jobs based on my personality or talent and just on my looks, it didn't sit right in my stomach."

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What Grant did like was acting. Although she had considered herself primarily a "theater actress" since her school days, her desire to work helped her transition into film. In 2004, she earned a small but significant role in the Oscar-winning made-in-Memphis Johnny Cash biopic, "Walk the Line." Later, Brewer — who had encouraged her aspirations as a guest-teacher in a theater class — cast her as a lead character in his online Memphis music-inspired MTV series "$5 Cover," and chose her as the literal poster girl for the project's advertisements.

"Craig got from me the smaller, more nuanced kind of performance that you really need for film," she said.

Encouraged by Brewer to move to Los Angeles and take a real shot at an acting career, Grant relocated in 2005 and quickly found work. She was a supernatural presence in a 2006 Clive Barker-inspired episode of the anthology series "Masters of Horror," and worked in "Iron Man 2" and an episode of "CSI: Miami."

“I'd be lying if I said I wasn't aware that my face got me into a lot of doors," Grant said. "But then I had to prove that I'm more than that, as well."

As it turned out, Grant in many of her most popular roles is literally faceless. As a voice actor, she has worked frequently on the stop-motion sketch comedy series "Robot Chicken," created by her husband. She's also voiced characters on numerous Marvel-based animated programs and on the lauded series, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." In "Iron Man: Rise of Technovore," a 2013 animated feature, she was Black Widow, the character played in the live-action Marvel films by Scarlett Johansson.

Which brings us to Grant's newly released live-action movie, "The Private Eye." Rated R for its language, the film offers the actress a rare co-lead role, as what she calls "a master manipulator" named Michelle — the type of noir temptress previously embodied by Faye Dunaway in "Chinatown" and Kathleen Turner in "Body Heat."

Grant said she landed the role through her acquaintance with Rife, "who I've been friends with for about 10 years. He pitched me to play his love interest, but I'm a lot older than Matt. And he was like, 'No, don't worry, just read the script — it works.'"

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Grant said "The Private Eye" is "as independent as it gets — a labor of love and passion." She characterized it as the type of small film that is now able to get its foot into the theatrical marketplace amid the general chaos of the old-school movie distribution model, upended in recent years by the disruption of COVID and the popularity of streaming. (Another example would be "Showdown at the Grand," the indie Terrence Howard movie that played theaters in Memphis and a handful of other cities in November.)

Even in these circumstances, "The Private Eye" — which features veteran actor Eric Roberts in a supporting role — might have remained more or less unseen if not for Rife's spectacular rise. The movie was shot in 2020, but not completed until 2023, according to Jack Cook. Now, thanks to Rife's popularity, it's in theaters.

Whatever the explanation for the film's arrival, "I love film noir, I love mystery," Grant said. "I just want Memphis to have an opportunity to see this movie."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis actress Clare Grant on new movie, Matt Rife and geek culture