American actor Fran Kranz was born on July 13, 1983. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he enrolled in Shakespeare: Histories and Tragedies during the fall season of 2002. He was a member of Suite 13 Sketch Comedy, and of the Exit Players improv comedy troupe during that time. Before that, he attended Harvard-Westlake High School in North Hollywood, California. While there, he performed leading roles in the school's drama productions, including the title character in Shakespeare's King Lear, as well as Judas in their musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He also attended high school with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who became his co-star in Donnie Darko in 2001.
After his role in Donnie Darko, Fran Kranz got a small part in Training Day, starring Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Tom Berenger, Scott Glenn, Raymond J. Barry and Cliff Curtis. In 2002, Kranz was cast as Scott Brainard on the comedy film Orange County, starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black. Kranz’s next performance was in Matchstick Men, and he later played the character Adrian in Swordswallowers and Thin Men. In 2004, he was chosen to portray Christop Crane in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village. That year, he was also seen on Admissions as James Parks.
In 2006, Fran Kranz landed the part of Ralph in Bickford Shmeckler’s Cool Ideas. He was next featured in The Night of the White Pants, The TV Set, Whirlygirl, and Homeland. The following year, he got a role in Rise, as well as in Careless. In 2008, he played Josh Flug in several episodes of Welcome to the Captain. This was followed by appearances in Wieners and the series Private Practice. He later portrayed a student on an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and was cast as Noah in Last Meal. That year, Kranz was chosen to play Topher Brink on the Fox series Dollhouse, created by Joss Whedon.