James Franco
Encyclopedia
James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University
. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s. Franco landed a lead part on the short-lived cult hit television program Freaks and Geeks
and later achieved recognition for playing the titular character in the TV biographical film James Dean
(2001), for which he was awarded a Golden Globe Award
. He achieved international fame with his portrayals of Harry Osborn
in Sam Raimi
's Spider-Man trilogy.
Franco is critically acclaimed as an actor. He has done both dramatic and comedic work in projects and has appeared in an eclectic range of films since the 2000s, ranging from period to contemporary pieces, and from major Hollywood productions to less publicized indie films
, as well as fantasy film
s to biopics
and soap opera
s. Other notable films include Pineapple Express
, a 2008 stoner comedy that earned him his second Golden Globes nomination; the 2008 Harvey Milk
-biopic Milk
; and Danny Boyle
's 2010 drama film
127 Hours
, about real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston
's struggle to free his hand from a boulder. His performance in 127 Hours earned him nominations for many high-profile awards, including the Academy Awards, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2011, he starred opposite Andy Serkis
in Rupert Wyatt
's successful science fiction film
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise
.
Franco has hosted Saturday Night Live
twice as well as the 83rd Academy Awards
with Anne Hathaway
. He volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity. Franco currently teaches a class at New York University
about transferring poetry to film.
. His mother, Betsy Lou (née Verne), is a poet, author, and editor, and his father, Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco (1948-2011), ran a non-profit agency and a shipping container company. The two met as students at Stanford University
. Franco's father was of Portuguese
and Swedish
descent and Franco's mother is Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia
(her family's surname had been changed from "Verovitz" to "Verne"). His paternal grandmother, Marjorie (Peterson) Franco, is a published author of young adult books; his maternal grandmother, Mitzie (Levine) Verne, owns the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, and was an active member in the National Council of Jewish Women
.
Franco's family upbringing was "academic, liberal and largely secular." He grew up in California with his two younger brothers, Tom and Dave
("Davy"), the latter of whom is also an actor. Talented at mathematics, Franco interned at Lockheed Martin
. Franco was often encouraged by his father to get good grades and did exceptionally well on his SAT
s. He graduated from Palo Alto High School
in 1996, where he acted in plays. In his high school years, Franco was arrested for underage drinking, graffiti and for being a part of a group that stole designer fragrances from department stores and sold them to classmates. These arrests led to him briefly becoming a ward of the state. Facing the possibility of juvenile hall, a judge decided to give Franco a second chance. "It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades", he recalled of his troubles with the law.
Although the idea of becoming a marine zoologist interested him, Franco had always secretly wanted to become an actor but feared rejection. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) as an English major, but dropped out after his freshman year against his parents' wishes to pursue a career as an actor, since he would have to have waited two years to audition for their acting program. Franco instead chose to take acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West. Around this time, Franco took up a late-night job at McDonald's
to support himself since his parents refused to do so. He was a vegetarian until working there. While working at the establishment, for his acting classes, he would practice accents on customers. Knowing that the aspiring actor was doing his best to follow his passion, Carnegie poignantly told Franco to pay him what he could and later on pay him back.
. The program, which ran for 18 episodes and was canceled due to low viewership, later became a cult hit among audiences. He has since described the series as "one of the most fun" work experiences that he has had. In another interview, Franco said: "When we were doing Freaks and Geeks, I didn’t quite understand how movies and TV worked, and I would improvise even if the camera wasn’t on me ... So I was improvising a little bit back then, but not in a productive way." Franco made his film debut in a brief role in the 1999 Drew Barrymore-starring Never Been Kissed
and his first major movie was the romantic teen comedy Whatever It Takes
(2000), in which he played popular jock Chris. The latter is a modern day remake of the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
.
He was subsequently cast as the title role
in director Mark Rydell
's 2001 TV biographical film James Dean
. To immerse himself in the role, Franco went from being a non-smoker to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, dyed his dark brown hair blond, and learned to ride a motorcycle as well as play guitar and the bongos. To have a greater understanding of Dean, Franco spent hours with two of Dean's associates. Other research included reading books on Dean and studying his movies. While filming James Dean, the actor, to get into character, cut off communication with his family and friends, as well as his then-girlfriend. "It was a very lonely existence," he notes. "If I wasn't on a set, I was watching James Dean. That was my whole thinking. James Dean. James Dean." Despite already being a fan of Dean, Franco feared he might be typecast if he'd captured the actor too convincingly. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
wrote: "Franco could have walked through the role and done a passable Dean, but instead gets under the skin of this insecure, rootless young man." He received a Golden Globe Award
and nominations for an Emmy Award
and a Screen Actors Guild Award
(SAG).
Franco achieved worldwide fame and attention, in the 2002 superhero film Spider-Man
, when he played Harry Osborn
, the son of the villainous Green Goblin
(Willem Dafoe
) and best friend of the title character
(Tobey Maguire
). Originally, Franco was considered for the lead role of Spider-Man/Peter Parker
in the film, though the lead went to Maguire. Todd McCarthy of Variety
noted that there are "good moments" between Maguire and Franco in the film. Spider-Man was a commercial and critical success. The movie grossed $114 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $822 million worldwide. He next starred in Sonny
, a 2002 release in which he was directed by fellow actor Nicolas Cage
. It was Cage's involvement that had attracted Franco to the film. Set in 1980s New Orleans, Sonny follows the titular character (Franco) returning home after just being discharged from the Army. To prepare for his role, he met with sex workers or people who had previously been prostitutes. The movie was panned by critics, with the New York Post
s Lou Lumenick calling it an "instant candidate for worst movie of the year." Franco was cast as a homeless drug addict in the drama City by the Sea
(2002) after co-star Robert De Niro
saw a snippet of his work in James Dean. He lived on the streets for several days to better understand the subject of the matter as well as talk to former or still using drug addicts. Both projects were released in September.
Following City by the Sea, he co-starred alongside Neve Campbell
in Robert Altman
's ballet movie The Company (2003). The success of the first Spider-Man film led Franco to reprise the role in the 2004 sequel, Spider-Man 2
. The movie was well received by critics, and it proved to be a big financial success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America. With revenue of $783 million worldwide, it became the second highest grossing film in 2004. The following year he made and starred in the black comedy
The Ape and the 2005 war film
The Great Raid
, in which he portrayed Robert Prince
, a captain in the United States Army's elite Sixth Ranger Battalion
. In 2006, Franco co-starred with Tyrese Gibson in Annapolis
and played legendary hero Tristan
in Tristan & Isolde
, a period piece
dramatization of the Tristan and Iseult
story also starring English actress Sophia Myles
. For the former, he did eight months of boxing training and for the latter, he practiced horseback riding and sword fighting. He then completed training for his Private Pilot Licence in preparation for his role in Flyboys, which was released in September 2006; the same month, Franco appeared briefly in The Wicker Man
, the remake of the seminal horror film. Also in 2006, he made a cameo appearance
in the romantic comedy The Holiday
.
He again played Harry Osborn in Spider-Man 3
(2007). In contrast to the previous two films' positive reviews, Spider-Man 3 was met with a mixed reception by critics. Nonetheless, with a total worldwide gross of $891 million, it stands as the most successful film in the series, and Franco's highest grossing film to date. In this same year, Franco made a cameo appearance as himself in the Apatow-directed comedy Knocked Up
, which starred Freaks and Geeks alumni Seth Rogen
, Jason Segel
and Martin Starr
. Franco co-starred with Sienna Miller
in the low-budget independent films Camille
, a dark fantasy dramedy about a young newly wed couple and Interview
, where he appears in a voice only role, both 2007 movies that were ignored by audiences and critics alike. Among his other 2007 projects were Good Time Max, which Franco wrote, directed and starred in. The movie premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival
and centers around two talented brothers who take very diverse paths in life, one going on to become a doctor whilst the other sibling (Franco) experiences unemployment and uses drugs. The actor chose to cast himself in that role because, "It was really just a process of elimination. I was better suited for this role than the responsible surgeon."
(2008), a stoner comedy co-starring and co-written by Rogen and produced by Apatow. Of Franco's character, Apatow said, "You tell him, 'Okay, you're going to play a pot dealer,' and he comes back with a three-dimensional character you totally believe exists. He takes it very seriously, even when it's comedy." In her New York Times review, critic Manohla Dargis wrote: "He’s delightful as Saul, loosey-goosey and goofy yet irrepressibly sexy, despite that greasy curtain of hair and a crash pad with a zero WAF (Woman Acceptance Factor). It’s an unshowy, generous performance and it greatly humanizes a movie that, as it shifts genre gears and cranks up the noise, becomes disappointingly sober and self-serious." His performance earned him a second Golden Globe nomination, for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. He has stated in some interviews that he no longer uses cannabis
(although he has occasionally alluded to his smoking marijuana, most notably during an extended segment on The Colbert Report.) He was awarded High Times magazine's Stoner of the Year Award for his work in Pineapple Express. In 2008 he also appeared in two films by American artist Carter
, exhibited at the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris. On September 20, 2008, he hosted the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live
(SNL), and a second time on December 19, 2009.
Franco starred opposite Sean Penn
, Josh Brolin
, and Emile Hirsch
in Gus Van Sant
's Milk
(2008). In the film, he played Scott Smith
, the boyfriend of Harvey Milk
(Penn). Kenneth Turan
of the Los Angeles Times
, in review of the film, wrote: "Franco is a nice match for him [Penn] as the lover who finally has enough of political life." For his performance in the film, Franco won the Independent Spirit Award in the category for Best Supporting Actor. In late 2009, he joined the cast of the daytime soap opera General Hospital
on a recurring basis. He plays Franco
, a multimedia artist
much like himself, who comes to Port Charles
with unfinished business with mob enforcer Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). Franco has called his General Hospital role performance art
. In March 2011, he will reprise his role in two episodes of General Hospital. In September 2011, Franco will reprise his role as Robert "Franco" Frank
for an extended stay.
2010 was a prolific year for Franco. He kicked off the year by making an appearance on the sitcom 30 Rock
where he played himself and carried on a fake romance with Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) in a scheme concocted by their respective agents. After appearing in the commercial successes Date Night
, an action comedy, and Eat Pray Love, an adaption of a self-help novel, Franco played poet Allen Ginsberg
in the drama Howl
, released on September 24. The latter, about his most known poem and the trial about the work, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and earned modest reviews.
His next project was 127 Hours
, directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle
, where Franco portrayed real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston
. It was given a limited release starting on November 5, 2010. 127 Hours centered on Ralston trying to free his hand after it became trapped under a boulder in a ravine while canyoneering alone in Utah
and resorting to desperate measures in order to survive, eventually amputating his arm. During the five-week, 12-hours-per-day shoot, Franco would only leave the gully set to use the lavatory and would read books such as academic textbooks to keep busy. Franco later called making 127 Hours a once in a life time experience. To date, 127 Hours is one of his most well-reviewed movies and was also a commercial success, commissioning $57.5 million against an $18 million budget. His performance earned him universal acclaim from critics. Subsequently, he was nominated for most of the high-profile awards, notably an Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG as well as winning an Independent Spirit Award.
's Minute to Win It
where the real-life Ralston was participating as a contestant playing for charity. After having an uncredited cameo in the opening scene of The Green Hornet
(2011), he starred opposite Natalie Portman
and Danny McBride in the Medieval fantasy comedy Your Highness
on April 8. In it he plays Fabious, a prince who teams up with his brother (McBride) to rescue Fabious' soon to be bride (played by Zooey Deschanel
). In May 2010, he was cast to star in Rupert Wyatt
's $90 million budgeted Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes
series which was released on August 5. Franco has also announced that in the fall of 2011, he will appear on Broadway with Nicole Kidman
in the upcoming revival of Sweet Bird of Youth
by Tennessee Williams
, which will be directed by David Cromer
. Franco will star alongside Winona Ryder
in a film entitled The Stare, which is to be directed by Jay Anania. Production is expected to begin in New York on May 6, 2011. He was cast as a drug-addicted lawyer in Cherry, which will start shooting the following month in California and also star Heather Graham
. He dropped out of the indie While We're Young
to star in Oz: The Great and Powerful
, a Disney
prequel to L. Frank Baum
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(1900), as the Wizard, superseding Johnny Depp
. Filming began in July.
At the end of September 2010, the actor acquired the rights to Stephen Elliott
's The Adderall Diaries, with the intentions to adapt, direct and star in it. It was announced in January 2011 that the actor has planned to not only star in but direct himself in The Night Stalker, a film version of author Philip Carlo
's book about the 1980s serial killer, Richard Ramirez
. Co-screenwriter to the screenplay, Nicholas Constantine, was initially unconvinced that Franco would be right for the movie, until he learned of Franco's desire to be a director and later watched three of his short films, one of which featured a serial killer, ultimately confirming to the writer that the actor had a darker side. One of his other upcoming projects, The Iceman, will reunite Franco with Michael Shannon
, after the two worked together on the short film Herbert White. The movie is based upon real-life contract murderer Richard Kuklinski
, who notoriously froze his victims. The actor also has plans to direct a film version of William Faulkner
's As I Lay Dying.
and McSweeney's
. In summer 2010, the fictional Franco from General Hospital held an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Los Angeles, while the real Franco held an exhibit at the museum based on his experiences on the soap opera.
One of his short movies, The Clerk's Tale, was screened in competition at the Hamptons Film Festival at the end of 2010. The short was also shown at the Cannes Festival. During an interview with Screen Comment’s Ali Naderzad, Franco had this to say about his Cannes experience: "Cannes is a huge honor. As a film student, having my short play on the closing night of Critic’s Week is the best thing I could ask for. The festival has honored so many of my favorite films and so many of my heroes, it is still hard to believe I will be involved with such an amazing festival. It is so nice to be recognized as a director."
On October 19, 2010 Scribner
published a collection of short stories called Palo Alto: Stories by Franco. The book is named after the California city where Franco grew up and is dedicated to many of the writers he worked with at Brooklyn College
. Inspired by some of Franco's own teenage memories, Palo Alto consists of life in Palo Alto as experienced by a series of teenagers who spend most of their time indulging in driving drunk, using drugs and taking part in unplanned acts of violence. Each passage is told by a young narrator. The book has received mixed reviews; Los Angeles Times
called it "the work of an ambitious young man who clearly loves to read, who has a good eye for detail, but who has spent way too much time on style and virtually none on substance." The Guardian
said that Franco's "foray into the literary world may be met with cynicism in some quarters, but this is a promising debut from a most unlikely source." Writing in the New York Times, reviewer and fellow author Joshua Mohr
praised Franco for how, in the story "American History", he juxtaposed historical parts with a present-day social commentary
that "makes the we wonder how much we’ve actually evolved in post-bellum America."
Publishers Weekly reviewed the collection, stating "The author fails to find anything remotely insightful to say in these 11 amazingly underwhelming stories."
In January, the actor screened his multimedia project entitled Three's Company The Drama, in which he merges video and art to update the former sitcom, at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival
. Franco reunited with Milk director Van Sant to make Unfinished, a project that features two movies: Endless Idaho and My Own Private River. Endless Idaho showcases edited outtakes, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage from the 1991 movie My Own Private Idaho
, while My Own Private River focuses on the late actor River Phoenix
. The idea for the exhibition was conceived after Van Sant introduced unused footage from the 1991 film to Franco, inspiring him to turn it into something more. Unfinished opened from February 26 to April 9 at the Gagosian Gallery
in Beverly Hills.
On February 27, 2011, he and Anne Hathaway
hosted the 83rd Academy Awards
. The two were selected to help the awards show achieve its goal of attracting a younger audience. Franco had previously said that he accepted the job for the experience and because it was like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Numerous media viewers criticized Franco for his discontent and lack of energy on stage and the show was widely panned, with some reviewers dubbing it the worst telecast in its history. The actor later spoke about his hosting in an interview on The Late Show with David Letterman. He explained that when accepting the job he never had high hopes, adding “It was never on my list of things to do. It doesn’t mean I didn’t care and it doesn’t mean I didn’t try, right?” Regarding allegations that he was under the influence of marijuana while hosting, Franco commented "I think the Tasmanian Devil
would look stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway. She has a lot of energy!" He concluded that he tried his best and could have had "low energy" during the telecast.
In May, Franco made his dance-theater directorial debut at New York's Stella Adler studios, where he narrated all the performances. Entitled "Collage" and described as a "mixed-media piece", the show featured live dance, theater, music, and poetry. Tickets were free but were distributed on a first come, first serve basis. The actor will also direct two short films for songs ("Blue" and "That Someone Is You") by R.E.M.
from their album Collapse Into Now
(2011). Franco continued his career as a filmmaker with The Broken Tower
, a 90-minute docudrama
shot in black and white about poet Hart Crane
, who committed suicide by jumping off the steamship SS Orizaba. It originally started out as his masters thesis. After being screened at 2011's Los Angeles Film Festival
among more than 200 feature films, short projects, and music videos from more than 30 countries to be selectedit is slated for a 2012 theatrical release.
, Franco was named the Sexiest Man Living in 2009 by Salon.com
.
There has often been frequent media coverage of Franco, particularly regarding his interest in going to colleges. In addition to that, Franco has also claimed to have been strongly misquoted by reports in the media and news outlets reporting erroneous information about him. This led to the actor being parodied in an episode of SNLs Weekend Update segment, which an Entertainment Weekly
writer deemed "clever". In a 2011 interview, he stated:
In response to questions regarding his sexuality now that he has portrayed three gay characters during his acting career, he insists he finds plenty more dimensions to the characters than their bedroom proclivities. "Or, you know what," he quipped, "maybe I’m just gay." Those rumors led to a Gawker article linking him to a New York Post
Page Six blind item
about a closeted gay actor, nicknamed "the Gay Rapist". Despite the victim of the alleged attack denying that it was Franco, two magazines then contacted Franco's lawyer to alert them that they might run stories suggesting his involvement, but were unable to as at least part of their stories were fabricated. However, Gawker refused to take their article down as they were simply reporting what another outlet published and instead offered him a chance to make a comment about the speculation on its website. He declined, hoping it would die down. The actor later called the episode very offensive because he has friends who have been raped.
's men's fragrance line. Regarding his secular upbringing, Franco told The Guardian
that he feels as if he has "missed out on the Jewish experience", but has been told not to worry about that by his Jewish friends. He said in the same interview that he likes "the idea of religion as a source of community." When asked if he was a "believer", he responded "In God? I don't know. Yes. To a certain extent. It's a complicated question." After meeting on the set of Whatever It Takes, Franco dated co-star Marla Sokoloff
for five years. He was in a relationship with actress Ahna O'Reilly for several years since around 2006. He confirmed their separation in an interview for Playboy
magazine's August 2011 issue, saying that his interest in education got between them.
major with a creative writing
concentration. He received permission to take as many as 62 course credits per quarter
compared to the normal limit of 19, while still continuing to act. He received his undergraduate degree in June 2008 with a GPA over 3.5/4.0. For his degree, Franco prepared his departmental honors thesis as a novel under the supervision of Mona Simpson. While at the university, the actor studied French, the Holocaust, philosophy of science, and American literature among other things. To continue acting, he would study on film sets.
He was selected as the commencement speaker at his alma mater, UCLA
, and was to speak at the ceremony on June 12, 2009. On June 3, however, a press release announced Franco's cancellation due to a scheduling conflict, making it the second cancellation in a row, after commencement speaker Bill Clinton
had canceled the appearance. On January 26, 2011, Franco and the Harvard Lampoon released a satirical video on prominent comedy website Funny or Die
mocking his last-minute cancellation.
He moved to New York to simultaneously attend graduate school at Columbia University
's MFA writing program, New York University
's Tisch School of the Arts
for filmmaking, and Brooklyn College
for fiction writing, while occasionally commuting to North Carolina
's Warren Wilson College
for poetry. He received his MFA from Columbia in 2010. Franco is a PhD
student in English at Yale University
and will also attend the
Rhode Island School of Design
. The actor opted against watching the 2011 Academy Award nominees be announced (where he was a top contender) in favor of attending class. "I’m not gonna miss class to go and presume that I’m going to be nominated, but if you want to bring out a camera crew to Yale and wait and see if I get nominated, I’d be happy to step out of class and say I’m very grateful", he commented.
He has been accepted to the University of Houston
for the doctoral program—one of 20 people to be selected out of 400 applicants—in literature and creative writing
and plans to enroll in fall 2012. Having previously shown a desire to teach, in March 2011, it was announced that Franco will teach a fall semester course on modifying poetry into short films to ten to twelve third-year graduate film students at NYU. The course will focus mainly on production, meaning that the students will be in charge of creating their own film based on poetry. At the time of the announcement the actor had yet to put together a syllabus, but has until the summertime to do so.
When asked about his education, Franco said that he loves school and that it keeps him focused as well as grounded. "I go to school because I love being around people who are interested in what I’m interested in and I’m having a great experience… I’m studying things that I love so it’s not like it’s a chore", he told the Washington Post, according to a New York Magazine article. Franco has also credited his education for helping him "take acting seriously" when his parents did not see it as a successful post-college career. Franco developed an aptitude for art—painting in particular—during his high school years while attending the California State Summer School for the Arts
(CSSSA). Franco has said painting was the "outlet" he needed in high school, and he "has actually been painting longer than he has been acting." His paintings were displayed publicly for the first time at the Glü Gallery
in Los Angeles, from January 7, through February 11, 2006. He launched his first European art exhibition in 2011 at Peres Projects in Berlin.
He enjoys reading on the set of his films. Pineapple Express producer Judd Apatow
has said of him: "He's a very education-minded person. We used to laugh because in between takes he'd be reading The Iliad
on set. We still haven't read The Iliad. It was a very difficult book. With him, it was always James Joyce
or something."
for advice. At the suggestion of Dunst, he started volunteering at the charity Art of Elysium, where she also volunteers, which helps children with serious medical conditions. He said the experience helped save his life. In January 2011, at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles, Franco was honored for his work at the hospital, receiving the Spirit of Elysium accolade.
On March 31, 2011, the actor took part in "An Evening with James Franco", a Washington DC dinner benefit for 826DC, a non-profit foundation created to help neighborhood students reach their goals, as well as provide after-school literature programs and workshops which encourage them to improve their writing skills. Franco became involved with Dave Eggers' 826 National
after Eggers asked him to do a conceptual idea for the program, and he directed a documentary for them and has since been a supporter of them. At the event, Franco spoke about how he thought schools needed to be more original with their literature programs. "Writing can do things that video cannot", he added.
In April, Franco autographed a T-shirt that will be auctioned-off through the Yoshiki Foundation, with the proceeds being donated for the Japanese tsunami relief
occurring in 2011. On June 14, he was honored by amfAR
, the foundation for AIDS research, at the Museum of Modern Art
. Franco received the Piaget Award of Inspiration for his humanitarian work and contributions to men’s style.
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s. Franco landed a lead part on the short-lived cult hit television program Freaks and Geeks
Freaks and Geeks
Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series, created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season...
and later achieved recognition for playing the titular character in the TV biographical film James Dean
James Dean (film)
James Dean is a 2001 biographical television film based on the life of the American actor of the same name. James Franco plays James Dean under the direction of Mark Rydell, who chronicles Dean's rise from a struggling actor to an A-list movie star in 1950s Hollywood...
(2001), for which he was awarded a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
. He achieved international fame with his portrayals of Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn is a fictional character, a supporting character of Spider-Man in the . In addition to being Peter Parker's best friend, Harry was the second Green Goblin and is the son of Norman Osborn...
in Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
's Spider-Man trilogy.
Franco is critically acclaimed as an actor. He has done both dramatic and comedic work in projects and has appeared in an eclectic range of films since the 2000s, ranging from period to contemporary pieces, and from major Hollywood productions to less publicized indie films
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
, as well as fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
s to biopics
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
and soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s. Other notable films include Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express (film)
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American stoner action comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story,...
, a 2008 stoner comedy that earned him his second Golden Globes nomination; the 2008 Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
-biopic Milk
Milk (film)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
; and Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
's 2010 drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
127 Hours
127 Hours
127 Hours is a 2010 biographical adventure drama film co-written, produced and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah in April 2003....
, about real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston
Aron Ralston
Aron Lee Ralston is an American mountain climber and inspirational public speaker. He is widely known for having survived a 2003 canyoneering accident in Utah in which he was forced to amputate his own right arm with a dull pocketknife in order to free himself from a dislodged boulder.The incident...
's struggle to free his hand from a boulder. His performance in 127 Hours earned him nominations for many high-profile awards, including the Academy Awards, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2011, he starred opposite Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
in Rupert Wyatt
Rupert Wyatt
Rupert Wyatt is a British writer and film director. His debut film was The Escapist, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008...
's successful science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise
Planet of the Apes (franchise)
Planet of the Apes is a United States media franchise with seven films , two television series, and comic books. The series began with the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes, which was based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle.-Background:The original series of...
.
Franco has hosted Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
twice as well as the 83rd Academy Awards
83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...
with Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
. He volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity. Franco currently teaches a class at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
about transferring poetry to film.
Early life and family
Nicknamed "Ted", James Edward Franco was born in Palo Alto, CaliforniaPalo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
. His mother, Betsy Lou (née Verne), is a poet, author, and editor, and his father, Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco (1948-2011), ran a non-profit agency and a shipping container company. The two met as students at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. Franco's father was of Portuguese
Portuguese American
Portuguese Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates in the southwest European nation of Portugal, including the offshore island groups of the Azores and Madeira....
and Swedish
Swedish American
Swedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden during 1885-1915. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ; some were Methodists...
descent and Franco's mother is Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(her family's surname had been changed from "Verovitz" to "Verne"). His paternal grandmother, Marjorie (Peterson) Franco, is a published author of young adult books; his maternal grandmother, Mitzie (Levine) Verne, owns the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, and was an active member in the National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Jewish Women
The National Council of Jewish Women defines itself as a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action...
.
Franco's family upbringing was "academic, liberal and largely secular." He grew up in California with his two younger brothers, Tom and Dave
Dave Franco
David John "Dave" Franco is an American television and film actor who played the role of Cole Aaronson for season nine of Scrubs.-Personal life:...
("Davy"), the latter of whom is also an actor. Talented at mathematics, Franco interned at Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
. Franco was often encouraged by his father to get good grades and did exceptionally well on his SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
s. He graduated from Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto Senior High School, known locally as "Paly," was founded in 1898 and is one of the oldest high schools in the region. Located in Palo Alto, California, United States, Paly is nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, and is adjacent to Stanford University. Paly is known for its academically...
in 1996, where he acted in plays. In his high school years, Franco was arrested for underage drinking, graffiti and for being a part of a group that stole designer fragrances from department stores and sold them to classmates. These arrests led to him briefly becoming a ward of the state. Facing the possibility of juvenile hall, a judge decided to give Franco a second chance. "It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades", he recalled of his troubles with the law.
Although the idea of becoming a marine zoologist interested him, Franco had always secretly wanted to become an actor but feared rejection. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(UCLA) as an English major, but dropped out after his freshman year against his parents' wishes to pursue a career as an actor, since he would have to have waited two years to audition for their acting program. Franco instead chose to take acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West. Around this time, Franco took up a late-night job at McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
to support himself since his parents refused to do so. He was a vegetarian until working there. While working at the establishment, for his acting classes, he would practice accents on customers. Knowing that the aspiring actor was doing his best to follow his passion, Carnegie poignantly told Franco to pay him what he could and later on pay him back.
Early work
After 15 months of training, he began auditioning in Los Angeles, and started professionally acting in 1997 with guest roles on television shows. His first break came in 1999, after he was cast in a leading role on the short-lived but well-reviewed television series Freaks and GeeksFreaks and Geeks
Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series, created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season...
. The program, which ran for 18 episodes and was canceled due to low viewership, later became a cult hit among audiences. He has since described the series as "one of the most fun" work experiences that he has had. In another interview, Franco said: "When we were doing Freaks and Geeks, I didn’t quite understand how movies and TV worked, and I would improvise even if the camera wasn’t on me ... So I was improvising a little bit back then, but not in a productive way." Franco made his film debut in a brief role in the 1999 Drew Barrymore-starring Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed is a 1999 comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, John C. Reilly, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, James Franco , Giuseppe Andrews, Jeremy Jordan and Garry Marshall...
and his first major movie was the romantic teen comedy Whatever It Takes
Whatever It Takes (film)
Whatever It Takes is a teen comedy starring Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and James Franco. It was first released in America on 31 March 2000...
(2000), in which he played popular jock Chris. The latter is a modern day remake of the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
.
He was subsequently cast as the title role
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
in director Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell is an American actor, film director and producer.-Career:Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns,...
's 2001 TV biographical film James Dean
James Dean (film)
James Dean is a 2001 biographical television film based on the life of the American actor of the same name. James Franco plays James Dean under the direction of Mark Rydell, who chronicles Dean's rise from a struggling actor to an A-list movie star in 1950s Hollywood...
. To immerse himself in the role, Franco went from being a non-smoker to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, dyed his dark brown hair blond, and learned to ride a motorcycle as well as play guitar and the bongos. To have a greater understanding of Dean, Franco spent hours with two of Dean's associates. Other research included reading books on Dean and studying his movies. While filming James Dean, the actor, to get into character, cut off communication with his family and friends, as well as his then-girlfriend. "It was a very lonely existence," he notes. "If I wasn't on a set, I was watching James Dean. That was my whole thinking. James Dean. James Dean." Despite already being a fan of Dean, Franco feared he might be typecast if he'd captured the actor too convincingly. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
wrote: "Franco could have walked through the role and done a passable Dean, but instead gets under the skin of this insecure, rootless young man." He received a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
and nominations for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and a Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
(SAG).
2002–2007
Spider-Man (film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
, when he played Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn is a fictional character, a supporting character of Spider-Man in the . In addition to being Peter Parker's best friend, Harry was the second Green Goblin and is the son of Norman Osborn...
, the son of the villainous Green Goblin
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
(Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
) and best friend of the title character
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
(Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
). Originally, Franco was considered for the lead role of Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
in the film, though the lead went to Maguire. Todd McCarthy of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
noted that there are "good moments" between Maguire and Franco in the film. Spider-Man was a commercial and critical success. The movie grossed $114 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $822 million worldwide. He next starred in Sonny
Sonny (film)
Sonny is a 2002 film starring James Franco, Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari and Josie Davis. Director Nicolas Cage has a small cameo role. Sonny was co-produced by Cage's production company Saturn Films.-Plot:...
, a 2002 release in which he was directed by fellow actor Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
. It was Cage's involvement that had attracted Franco to the film. Set in 1980s New Orleans, Sonny follows the titular character (Franco) returning home after just being discharged from the Army. To prepare for his role, he met with sex workers or people who had previously been prostitutes. The movie was panned by critics, with the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
s Lou Lumenick calling it an "instant candidate for worst movie of the year." Franco was cast as a homeless drug addict in the drama City by the Sea
City by the Sea
City by the Sea is a 2002 film starring Robert De Niro, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, Frances McDormand and William Forsythe. It deals with a family problems of wayward youth and set against a man trying to break free of his past. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones...
(2002) after co-star Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
saw a snippet of his work in James Dean. He lived on the streets for several days to better understand the subject of the matter as well as talk to former or still using drug addicts. Both projects were released in September.
Following City by the Sea, he co-starred alongside Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...
in Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
's ballet movie The Company (2003). The success of the first Spider-Man film led Franco to reprise the role in the 2004 sequel, Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon. It is the second film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
. The movie was well received by critics, and it proved to be a big financial success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America. With revenue of $783 million worldwide, it became the second highest grossing film in 2004. The following year he made and starred in the black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
The Ape and the 2005 war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
The Great Raid
The Great Raid
The Great Raid is a 2005 war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan, adapted from William Breuer's book of the same name. It tells the story of the January 1945 liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp on the Philippine island of Luzon during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin...
, in which he portrayed Robert Prince
Robert Prince (Captain)
Robert Prince was a captain in the United States Army's elite 6th Ranger Battalion. In 1945 he was chosen personally by Lt. Col. Henry A. Mucci to plan the rescue at the Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines.-Personal life:...
, a captain in the United States Army's elite Sixth Ranger Battalion
6th Ranger Battalion
The 6th Ranger Battalion was a United States Army Ranger Battalion which saw action in the Pacific during World War II. The battalion is best known for its role in the Raid at Cabanatuan in January 1945.-98th Field Artillery Battalion:...
. In 2006, Franco co-starred with Tyrese Gibson in Annapolis
Annapolis (film)
Annapolis is a 2006 drama film directed by Justin Lin and starring James Franco, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Donnie Wahlberg, Roger Fan, and Chi McBride. The film revolves around Jake Huard, a young man who dreams of one day attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland...
and played legendary hero Tristan
Tristan
Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
in Tristan & Isolde
Tristan & Isolde (film)
Tristan & Isolde is a 2006 romantic drama film based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Isolde. It was produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, directed by Kevin Reynolds and stars James Franco and Sophia Myles, with an original music score composed by Anne Dudley...
, a period piece
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
dramatization of the Tristan and Iseult
Tristan and Iseult
The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult...
story also starring English actress Sophia Myles
Sophia Myles
-Early life:Myles was born in London. She is the daughter of Jane, who works in educational publishing, and Peter Myles, a retired Anglican vicar in Isleworth, west London. Her maternal grandmother was Russian, and she refers to herself as "half-Welsh, half-Russian". She grew up in Notting Hill,...
. For the former, he did eight months of boxing training and for the latter, he practiced horseback riding and sword fighting. He then completed training for his Private Pilot Licence in preparation for his role in Flyboys, which was released in September 2006; the same month, Franco appeared briefly in The Wicker Man
The Wicker Man (2006 film)
The Wicker Man is a 2006 American remake of the 1973 British film of the same title. It was written and directed by Neil LaBute, based on a screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, and stars Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn....
, the remake of the seminal horror film. Also in 2006, he made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the romantic comedy The Holiday
The Holiday
The Holiday is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios, it stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who temporarily exchange homes to...
.
He again played Harry Osborn in Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
(2007). In contrast to the previous two films' positive reviews, Spider-Man 3 was met with a mixed reception by critics. Nonetheless, with a total worldwide gross of $891 million, it stands as the most successful film in the series, and Franco's highest grossing film to date. In this same year, Franco made a cameo appearance as himself in the Apatow-directed comedy Knocked Up
Knocked Up
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...
, which starred Freaks and Geeks alumni Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
, Jason Segel
Jason Segel
Jason Jordan Segel is an American television and film actor, screenwriter, composer, puppeteer and musician, known for his work with producer Judd Apatow on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, the films Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, I Love You, Man,...
and Martin Starr
Martin Starr
Martin Starr is an American television and film actor, known for his roles as Bill Haverchuck on the short-lived NBC comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks and as Roman DeBeers on the Starz comedy series Party Down, as well as for his roles in the films Knocked Up, Cheats, and Adventureland.-Life and...
. Franco co-starred with Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
in the low-budget independent films Camille
Camille (2007 film)
-Plot:The plot follows the two characters who have recently married and are going to Niagara Falls on their honeymoon. Silas Parker is a thief who marries Camille Foster , his parole officer's niece, in hopes it will be his chance to escape to Canada...
, a dark fantasy dramedy about a young newly wed couple and Interview
Interview (2007 film)
Interview is a remake of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh's 2003 movie of the same title. The American version, which premiered in 2007, stars Steve Buscemi as Pierre Peders , a fading political journalist interviewing a soap opera star, Katya, played by Sienna Miller...
, where he appears in a voice only role, both 2007 movies that were ignored by audiences and critics alike. Among his other 2007 projects were Good Time Max, which Franco wrote, directed and starred in. The movie premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
and centers around two talented brothers who take very diverse paths in life, one going on to become a doctor whilst the other sibling (Franco) experiences unemployment and uses drugs. The actor chose to cast himself in that role because, "It was really just a process of elimination. I was better suited for this role than the responsible surgeon."
2008–2010
He next starred in Pineapple ExpressPineapple Express (film)
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American stoner action comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story,...
(2008), a stoner comedy co-starring and co-written by Rogen and produced by Apatow. Of Franco's character, Apatow said, "You tell him, 'Okay, you're going to play a pot dealer,' and he comes back with a three-dimensional character you totally believe exists. He takes it very seriously, even when it's comedy." In her New York Times review, critic Manohla Dargis wrote: "He’s delightful as Saul, loosey-goosey and goofy yet irrepressibly sexy, despite that greasy curtain of hair and a crash pad with a zero WAF (Woman Acceptance Factor). It’s an unshowy, generous performance and it greatly humanizes a movie that, as it shifts genre gears and cranks up the noise, becomes disappointingly sober and self-serious." His performance earned him a second Golden Globe nomination, for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. He has stated in some interviews that he no longer uses cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
(although he has occasionally alluded to his smoking marijuana, most notably during an extended segment on The Colbert Report.) He was awarded High Times magazine's Stoner of the Year Award for his work in Pineapple Express. In 2008 he also appeared in two films by American artist Carter
Carter (Artist)
John Carter is an American artist and film director based in New York City, using the professional name Carter for his artworks. He was born in 1970 in Norwich, Connecticut...
, exhibited at the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris. On September 20, 2008, he hosted the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL), and a second time on December 19, 2009.
Franco starred opposite Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin
Josh James Brolin is an American actor. He has acted in theater, film and television roles since 1985, and won acting awards for his roles in the films W., No Country for Old Men, Milk and True Grit.-Early life:...
, and Emile Hirsch
Emile Hirsch
Emile Davenport Hirsch is an American television and film actor. He began performing in the late 1990s, appearing in several television films and series, and became known as a film actor after roles in Lords of Dogtown, The Emperor's Club, The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog, and Into the Wild. In...
in Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
's Milk
Milk (film)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
(2008). In the film, he played Scott Smith
Scott Smith (activist)
Joseph Scott Smith was a gay rights activist best known for his romantic relationship with Harvey Milk.-Biography:Smith was widely considered the muscle behind many of Milk's endeavors...
, the boyfriend of Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
(Penn). Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, in review of the film, wrote: "Franco is a nice match for him [Penn] as the lover who finally has enough of political life." For his performance in the film, Franco won the Independent Spirit Award in the category for Best Supporting Actor. In late 2009, he joined the cast of the daytime soap opera General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
on a recurring basis. He plays Franco
Franco (General Hospital)
Robert "Franco" Frank is a fictional character on ABC's daytime drama General Hospital. He has been portrayed by James Franco since November 19, 2009 and was listed as special guest star before the opening credits. Franco left the role for a short time on January 11, 2010.James Franco returned to...
, a multimedia artist
Multimedia artist
Multimedia artists are contemporary artists who use a wide range of media to communicate their art. Multimedia art includes, by definition, more than one medium, therefore multimedia artists use visual art in combination with sound art, moving images and other media...
much like himself, who comes to Port Charles
Port Charles
Port Charles was a daytime soap opera which aired on ABC from June 2, 1997 to October 3, 2003. It is a spin-off of the serial General Hospital, which has been running since 1963 and takes place in the fictional city of Port Charles, New York...
with unfinished business with mob enforcer Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). Franco has called his General Hospital role performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
. In March 2011, he will reprise his role in two episodes of General Hospital. In September 2011, Franco will reprise his role as Robert "Franco" Frank
Franco (General Hospital)
Robert "Franco" Frank is a fictional character on ABC's daytime drama General Hospital. He has been portrayed by James Franco since November 19, 2009 and was listed as special guest star before the opening credits. Franco left the role for a short time on January 11, 2010.James Franco returned to...
for an extended stay.
2010 was a prolific year for Franco. He kicked off the year by making an appearance on the sitcom 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
where he played himself and carried on a fake romance with Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) in a scheme concocted by their respective agents. After appearing in the commercial successes Date Night
Date Night
Date Night is a 2010 action comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. It was released in the United States on April 9, 2010...
, an action comedy, and Eat Pray Love, an adaption of a self-help novel, Franco played poet Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
in the drama Howl
Howl (film)
First Howl is an upcoming horror film directed by David Flores and written by Clint Morris and stars Parisse Boothe, Eric Stoltz and Kristina Anapau...
, released on September 24. The latter, about his most known poem and the trial about the work, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and earned modest reviews.
His next project was 127 Hours
127 Hours
127 Hours is a 2010 biographical adventure drama film co-written, produced and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah in April 2003....
, directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
, where Franco portrayed real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston
Aron Ralston
Aron Lee Ralston is an American mountain climber and inspirational public speaker. He is widely known for having survived a 2003 canyoneering accident in Utah in which he was forced to amputate his own right arm with a dull pocketknife in order to free himself from a dislodged boulder.The incident...
. It was given a limited release starting on November 5, 2010. 127 Hours centered on Ralston trying to free his hand after it became trapped under a boulder in a ravine while canyoneering alone in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and resorting to desperate measures in order to survive, eventually amputating his arm. During the five-week, 12-hours-per-day shoot, Franco would only leave the gully set to use the lavatory and would read books such as academic textbooks to keep busy. Franco later called making 127 Hours a once in a life time experience. To date, 127 Hours is one of his most well-reviewed movies and was also a commercial success, commissioning $57.5 million against an $18 million budget. His performance earned him universal acclaim from critics. Subsequently, he was nominated for most of the high-profile awards, notably an Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG as well as winning an Independent Spirit Award.
2011–present
On February 23, Franco made a cameo appearance on NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Minute to Win It
Minute to Win It
Minute to Win It is an American prime time game show on NBC hosted by Guy Fieri. Contestants take part in a series of 60-second challenges that use objects that are commonly available around the house....
where the real-life Ralston was participating as a contestant playing for charity. After having an uncredited cameo in the opening scene of The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet (2011 film)
The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero action-comedy film based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books, and other media...
(2011), he starred opposite Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
and Danny McBride in the Medieval fantasy comedy Your Highness
Your Highness
Your Highness is a 2011 fantasy comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Danny McBride and Ben Best, and starring McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. Filming began in the summer of 2009 in Northern Ireland and concluded in October 2009...
on April 8. In it he plays Fabious, a prince who teams up with his brother (McBride) to rescue Fabious' soon to be bride (played by Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
). In May 2010, he was cast to star in Rupert Wyatt
Rupert Wyatt
Rupert Wyatt is a British writer and film director. His debut film was The Escapist, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008...
's $90 million budgeted Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (franchise)
Planet of the Apes is a United States media franchise with seven films , two television series, and comic books. The series began with the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes, which was based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle.-Background:The original series of...
series which was released on August 5. Franco has also announced that in the fall of 2011, he will appear on Broadway with Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
in the upcoming revival of Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, which will be directed by David Cromer
David Cromer
David Cromer is an American theatre director and stage actor. He has received recognition for his work Off-Broadway and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town...
. Franco will star alongside Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...
in a film entitled The Stare, which is to be directed by Jay Anania. Production is expected to begin in New York on May 6, 2011. He was cast as a drug-addicted lawyer in Cherry, which will start shooting the following month in California and also star Heather Graham
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham is an American actress. She has appeared in such films as Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Lost in Space, Bowfinger, From Hell, Anger Management, and The Hangover...
. He dropped out of the indie While We're Young
to star in Oz: The Great and Powerful
Oz: The Great and Powerful
Oz: the Great and Powerful is an upcoming 2013 fantasy film directed by Sam Raimi for release in 2013. The film, adapted from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is intended as a prequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
, a Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
prequel to L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
(1900), as the Wizard, superseding Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
. Filming began in July.
At the end of September 2010, the actor acquired the rights to Stephen Elliott
Stephen Elliott (author)
Stephen Elliott is an American author and activist living in San Francisco who has written and published seven books. He is also the founder of the political action committee LitPAC, which holds readings by authors to raise money for progressive candidates.-Background and education:Elliott grew...
's The Adderall Diaries, with the intentions to adapt, direct and star in it. It was announced in January 2011 that the actor has planned to not only star in but direct himself in The Night Stalker, a film version of author Philip Carlo
Philip Carlo
Philip Carlo was a journalist and best selling biographer of Thomas Pitera, Richard Kuklinski, Anthony Casso, and Richard Ramirez.-Life:...
's book about the 1980s serial killer, Richard Ramirez
Richard Ramirez
Ricardo "Richard" Muñoz Ramírez is a convicted serial killer awaiting execution on California's death row at San Quentin State Prison...
. Co-screenwriter to the screenplay, Nicholas Constantine, was initially unconvinced that Franco would be right for the movie, until he learned of Franco's desire to be a director and later watched three of his short films, one of which featured a serial killer, ultimately confirming to the writer that the actor had a darker side. One of his other upcoming projects, The Iceman, will reunite Franco with Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
, after the two worked together on the short film Herbert White. The movie is based upon real-life contract murderer Richard Kuklinski
Richard Kuklinski
Richard Leonard "The Iceman" Kuklinski was an American contract killer. The 6'5" , 300 pound Kuklinski worked for Newark's DeCavalcante crime family and New York City's Five Families. He claimed to have murdered over 250 men between 1948 and 1986...
, who notoriously froze his victims. The actor also has plans to direct a film version of William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's As I Lay Dying.
Other projects
Franco produced and directed a documentary titled Saturday Night documenting a week in the production of an episode of SNL. The film began as a short for an NYU class but grew due to his two episodes as host, while short stories he wrote for other classes appeared in EsquireEsquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
and McSweeney's
McSweeney's
McSweeney's is an American publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers.Apart from its book list, McSweeney's is responsible for four regular publications: the quarterly literary journal,...
. In summer 2010, the fictional Franco from General Hospital held an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
in Los Angeles, while the real Franco held an exhibit at the museum based on his experiences on the soap opera.
One of his short movies, The Clerk's Tale, was screened in competition at the Hamptons Film Festival at the end of 2010. The short was also shown at the Cannes Festival. During an interview with Screen Comment’s Ali Naderzad, Franco had this to say about his Cannes experience: "Cannes is a huge honor. As a film student, having my short play on the closing night of Critic’s Week is the best thing I could ask for. The festival has honored so many of my favorite films and so many of my heroes, it is still hard to believe I will be involved with such an amazing festival. It is so nice to be recognized as a director."
On October 19, 2010 Scribner
Charles Scribner's Sons
Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
published a collection of short stories called Palo Alto: Stories by Franco. The book is named after the California city where Franco grew up and is dedicated to many of the writers he worked with at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
. Inspired by some of Franco's own teenage memories, Palo Alto consists of life in Palo Alto as experienced by a series of teenagers who spend most of their time indulging in driving drunk, using drugs and taking part in unplanned acts of violence. Each passage is told by a young narrator. The book has received mixed reviews; Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called it "the work of an ambitious young man who clearly loves to read, who has a good eye for detail, but who has spent way too much time on style and virtually none on substance." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said that Franco's "foray into the literary world may be met with cynicism in some quarters, but this is a promising debut from a most unlikely source." Writing in the New York Times, reviewer and fellow author Joshua Mohr
Joshua Mohr
Joshua Mohr is an American author. His first novel, Some Things That Meant the World to Me was published by Two Dollar Radio in June, 2009. His second novel, Termite Parade, was published by Two Dollar Radio in 2010. His third novel, Damascus, will be published by Two Dollar Radio in 2011...
praised Franco for how, in the story "American History", he juxtaposed historical parts with a present-day social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...
that "makes the we wonder how much we’ve actually evolved in post-bellum America."
Publishers Weekly reviewed the collection, stating "The author fails to find anything remotely insightful to say in these 11 amazingly underwhelming stories."
In January, the actor screened his multimedia project entitled Three's Company The Drama, in which he merges video and art to update the former sitcom, at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival
2011 Sundance Film Festival
The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah....
. Franco reunited with Milk director Van Sant to make Unfinished, a project that features two movies: Endless Idaho and My Own Private River. Endless Idaho showcases edited outtakes, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage from the 1991 movie My Own Private Idaho
My Own Private Idaho
My Own Private Idaho is a 1991 independent drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V, and starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves...
, while My Own Private River focuses on the late actor River Phoenix
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
. The idea for the exhibition was conceived after Van Sant introduced unused footage from the 1991 film to Franco, inspiring him to turn it into something more. Unfinished opened from February 26 to April 9 at the Gagosian Gallery
Gagosian Gallery
Gagosian Gallery is a contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. There are currently eleven gallery spaces: three in New York; two in London; one in each of Beverly Hills, Rome, Athens, Paris, Geneva, Hong Kong and Moscow.-1980s:...
in Beverly Hills.
On February 27, 2011, he and Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
hosted the 83rd Academy Awards
83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...
. The two were selected to help the awards show achieve its goal of attracting a younger audience. Franco had previously said that he accepted the job for the experience and because it was like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Numerous media viewers criticized Franco for his discontent and lack of energy on stage and the show was widely panned, with some reviewers dubbing it the worst telecast in its history. The actor later spoke about his hosting in an interview on The Late Show with David Letterman. He explained that when accepting the job he never had high hopes, adding “It was never on my list of things to do. It doesn’t mean I didn’t care and it doesn’t mean I didn’t try, right?” Regarding allegations that he was under the influence of marijuana while hosting, Franco commented "I think the Tasmanian Devil
Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae, now found in the wild only on the Australian island state of Tasmania. The size of a small dog, it became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936...
would look stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway. She has a lot of energy!" He concluded that he tried his best and could have had "low energy" during the telecast.
In May, Franco made his dance-theater directorial debut at New York's Stella Adler studios, where he narrated all the performances. Entitled "Collage" and described as a "mixed-media piece", the show featured live dance, theater, music, and poetry. Tickets were free but were distributed on a first come, first serve basis. The actor will also direct two short films for songs ("Blue" and "That Someone Is You") by R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
from their album Collapse Into Now
Collapse into Now
Collapse into Now is the fifteenth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 7, 2011 on Warner Bros...
(2011). Franco continued his career as a filmmaker with The Broken Tower
The Broken Tower (film)
The Broken Tower is a 2011 American black-and-white docudrama directed by James Franco. The film is about American poet Hart Crane, who committed suicide in April 1932 at the age of 32 by jumping off the steamship SS Orizaba. Franco appears in the starring role and edited, co-produced, and wrote...
, a 90-minute docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
shot in black and white about poet Hart Crane
Hart Crane
-Career:Throughout the early 1920s, small but well-respected literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, among the avant-garde, a respect that White Buildings , his first volume, ratified and strengthened...
, who committed suicide by jumping off the steamship SS Orizaba. It originally started out as his masters thesis. After being screened at 2011's Los Angeles Film Festival
Los Angeles Film Festival
The Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times is an event held annually in June in downtown Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Film Festival began as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1995. The first LAIFF took place over the course of five days in a single...
among more than 200 feature films, short projects, and music videos from more than 30 countries to be selectedit is slated for a 2012 theatrical release.
In the media
He has been described as having "an unusually high metabolism for productivity...a superhuman ability to focus". Viewed as a sex symbolSex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
, Franco was named the Sexiest Man Living in 2009 by Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
.
There has often been frequent media coverage of Franco, particularly regarding his interest in going to colleges. In addition to that, Franco has also claimed to have been strongly misquoted by reports in the media and news outlets reporting erroneous information about him. This led to the actor being parodied in an episode of SNLs Weekend Update segment, which an Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer deemed "clever". In a 2011 interview, he stated:
"I’ve been perceived as this guy yelling, 'Hey, look at me. I want attention.' I’m not going to school to get articles written about me. I’m just going to school. But the fact that I’m going to school or that someone takes a picture of me sleeping is like, 'We’re gonna jump on that and criticize him for his antics.' What antics? I write. I make movies. I’m going to school. I hosted the Oscars. I take these projects seriously."
In response to questions regarding his sexuality now that he has portrayed three gay characters during his acting career, he insists he finds plenty more dimensions to the characters than their bedroom proclivities. "Or, you know what," he quipped, "maybe I’m just gay." Those rumors led to a Gawker article linking him to a New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
Page Six blind item
Blind item
A blind item is a news story, usually gossip, in which the details of the matter are reported while the identities of the people involved are not revealed. The invention of the blind item is credited to William d'Alton Mann , publisher of Town Topics, who often used it for blackmail....
about a closeted gay actor, nicknamed "the Gay Rapist". Despite the victim of the alleged attack denying that it was Franco, two magazines then contacted Franco's lawyer to alert them that they might run stories suggesting his involvement, but were unable to as at least part of their stories were fabricated. However, Gawker refused to take their article down as they were simply reporting what another outlet published and instead offered him a chance to make a comment about the speculation on its website. He declined, hoping it would die down. The actor later called the episode very offensive because he has friends who have been raped.
Personal life
In 2008, he was named as the new face of GucciGucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
's men's fragrance line. Regarding his secular upbringing, Franco told The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that he feels as if he has "missed out on the Jewish experience", but has been told not to worry about that by his Jewish friends. He said in the same interview that he likes "the idea of religion as a source of community." When asked if he was a "believer", he responded "In God? I don't know. Yes. To a certain extent. It's a complicated question." After meeting on the set of Whatever It Takes, Franco dated co-star Marla Sokoloff
Marla Sokoloff
Marla Lynne Sokoloff is an American actress and musician, known for playing the part of Lucy Hatcher on the TV show The Practice, and Gia Mahan on the ABC sitcom, Full House.- Personal life :...
for five years. He was in a relationship with actress Ahna O'Reilly for several years since around 2006. He confirmed their separation in an interview for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine's August 2011 issue, saying that his interest in education got between them.
Education
Dissatisfied with his career's direction, Franco reenrolled at UCLA in the fall of 2006 as an EnglishEnglish studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
major with a creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
concentration. He received permission to take as many as 62 course credits per quarter
Academic quarter (year division)
An academic quarter refers to the division of an academic year into four parts, found in a minority of universities in the United States and in some European and Asian countries.-Background and trends:...
compared to the normal limit of 19, while still continuing to act. He received his undergraduate degree in June 2008 with a GPA over 3.5/4.0. For his degree, Franco prepared his departmental honors thesis as a novel under the supervision of Mona Simpson. While at the university, the actor studied French, the Holocaust, philosophy of science, and American literature among other things. To continue acting, he would study on film sets.
He was selected as the commencement speaker at his alma mater, UCLA
UCLA College of Letters and Science
The College of Letters and Science is the arts and sciences college of the University of California, Los Angeles . It encompasses the Life and Physical Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, Honors Program and other programs for both undergraduate and graduate students.The bulk of UCLA's student...
, and was to speak at the ceremony on June 12, 2009. On June 3, however, a press release announced Franco's cancellation due to a scheduling conflict, making it the second cancellation in a row, after commencement speaker Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
had canceled the appearance. On January 26, 2011, Franco and the Harvard Lampoon released a satirical video on prominent comedy website Funny or Die
Funny or Die
Funny or Die is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions with original and user-generated content. Funny or Die contains exclusive material from a number of famous contributors and also has its own Funny or Die Team, which creates...
mocking his last-minute cancellation.
He moved to New York to simultaneously attend graduate school at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's MFA writing program, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
for filmmaking, and Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
for fiction writing, while occasionally commuting to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
's Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College is a private four-year work college in the Swannanoa Valley, North Carolina, United States near Asheville. It is known for its curriculum of work, academics, and service, called "the Triad," which requires every student to work an on-campus job, perform at least one hundred...
for poetry. He received his MFA from Columbia in 2010. Franco is a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
student in English at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and will also attend the
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
. The actor opted against watching the 2011 Academy Award nominees be announced (where he was a top contender) in favor of attending class. "I’m not gonna miss class to go and presume that I’m going to be nominated, but if you want to bring out a camera crew to Yale and wait and see if I get nominated, I’d be happy to step out of class and say I’m very grateful", he commented.
He has been accepted to the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
for the doctoral program—one of 20 people to be selected out of 400 applicants—in literature and creative writing
University of Houston Creative Writing Program
The University of Houston Creative Writing program is a graduate fiction and poetry program located in Houston, Texas. It was rated second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its first annual ranking of writing programs in 1997. It rated 26th in the nation in Poets & Writers and its PhD...
and plans to enroll in fall 2012. Having previously shown a desire to teach, in March 2011, it was announced that Franco will teach a fall semester course on modifying poetry into short films to ten to twelve third-year graduate film students at NYU. The course will focus mainly on production, meaning that the students will be in charge of creating their own film based on poetry. At the time of the announcement the actor had yet to put together a syllabus, but has until the summertime to do so.
When asked about his education, Franco said that he loves school and that it keeps him focused as well as grounded. "I go to school because I love being around people who are interested in what I’m interested in and I’m having a great experience… I’m studying things that I love so it’s not like it’s a chore", he told the Washington Post, according to a New York Magazine article. Franco has also credited his education for helping him "take acting seriously" when his parents did not see it as a successful post-college career. Franco developed an aptitude for art—painting in particular—during his high school years while attending the California State Summer School for the Arts
California State Summer School for the Arts
The , commonly known as CSSSA [See-Suh] or InnerSpark, is a four-week, pre-professional art training program for high school student that is held each summer at the California Institute of the Arts . The goal of CSSSA is to provide a supportive environment in which students acquired useful skills...
(CSSSA). Franco has said painting was the "outlet" he needed in high school, and he "has actually been painting longer than he has been acting." His paintings were displayed publicly for the first time at the Glü Gallery
Glü Gallery
The Glü Gallery is an art gallery located in Los Angeles, California in the United States.Glü Gallery revolves around presenting work in mixed media and painting from emerging young artists. Artists that have been associated with this gallery are traditionally from the U.S., but have come from as...
in Los Angeles, from January 7, through February 11, 2006. He launched his first European art exhibition in 2011 at Peres Projects in Berlin.
He enjoys reading on the set of his films. Pineapple Express producer Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is well known for his work in comedy films, especially for films he has been involved with throughout the latter half of the 2000s. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the...
has said of him: "He's a very education-minded person. We used to laugh because in between takes he'd be reading The Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
on set. We still haven't read The Iliad. It was a very difficult book. With him, it was always James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
or something."
Charitable work
Franco has said aiding others is "the key to life, the key to happiness" and, "as an actor, you can get wrapped up in yourself and your career...A little secret is one of the greatest ways to break that is to stop thinking about yourself for a second." When Franco was at a point in his life where he wanted to give back but was unsure how, he asked his Spider-Man co-star Kirsten DunstKirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
for advice. At the suggestion of Dunst, he started volunteering at the charity Art of Elysium, where she also volunteers, which helps children with serious medical conditions. He said the experience helped save his life. In January 2011, at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles, Franco was honored for his work at the hospital, receiving the Spirit of Elysium accolade.
On March 31, 2011, the actor took part in "An Evening with James Franco", a Washington DC dinner benefit for 826DC, a non-profit foundation created to help neighborhood students reach their goals, as well as provide after-school literature programs and workshops which encourage them to improve their writing skills. Franco became involved with Dave Eggers' 826 National
826 National
826 National is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6–18, with expository and creative writing at eight locations across the USA...
after Eggers asked him to do a conceptual idea for the program, and he directed a documentary for them and has since been a supporter of them. At the event, Franco spoke about how he thought schools needed to be more original with their literature programs. "Writing can do things that video cannot", he added.
In April, Franco autographed a T-shirt that will be auctioned-off through the Yoshiki Foundation, with the proceeds being donated for the Japanese tsunami relief
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
occurring in 2011. On June 14, he was honored by amfAR
AmfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy.-History:...
, the foundation for AIDS research, at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. Franco received the Piaget Award of Inspiration for his humanitarian work and contributions to men’s style.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1973 | Greg | TV film |
| 1999 | To Serve and Protect | Matt Carr | TV film |
| 1999 | Never Been Kissed Never Been Kissed Never Been Kissed is a 1999 comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, John C. Reilly, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, James Franco , Giuseppe Andrews, Jeremy Jordan and Garry Marshall... |
Jason Way | |
| 2000 | At Any Cost | Mike | |
| 2000 | If Tomorrow Comes | Devin | |
| 2000 | Whatever It Takes Whatever It Takes (film) Whatever It Takes is a teen comedy starring Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and James Franco. It was first released in America on 31 March 2000... |
Chris Campbell | |
| 2001 | Mean People Suck | Casey | |
| 2001 | Some Body | Apartment Guy #3 | Uncredited |
| 2001 | James Dean James Dean (film) James Dean is a 2001 biographical television film based on the life of the American actor of the same name. James Franco plays James Dean under the direction of Mark Rydell, who chronicles Dean's rise from a struggling actor to an A-list movie star in 1950s Hollywood... |
James Dean James Dean James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark... |
TV film Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor in Television Film Broadcast Film Critics Association The Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada , representing approximately 250 television, radio and online critics.... Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
| 2002 | Blind Spot | Danny | |
| 2002 | Mother Ghost | Skateboarder guy | |
| 2002 | Sonny Sonny (film) Sonny is a 2002 film starring James Franco, Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari and Josie Davis. Director Nicolas Cage has a small cameo role. Sonny was co-produced by Cage's production company Saturn Films.-Plot:... |
Sonny Phillips | limited release |
| 2002 | City by the Sea City by the Sea City by the Sea is a 2002 film starring Robert De Niro, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, Frances McDormand and William Forsythe. It deals with a family problems of wayward youth and set against a man trying to break free of his past. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones... |
Joey | Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and... |
| 2002 | Spider-Man Spider-Man (film) Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp... |
Harry Osborn Harry Osborn Harry Osborn is a fictional character, a supporting character of Spider-Man in the . In addition to being Peter Parker's best friend, Harry was the second Green Goblin and is the son of Norman Osborn... |
|
| 2002 | Deuces Wild Deuces Wild Deuces Wild is a 2002 American action-crime film directed by Scott Kalvert and written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, who also created the story. It stars Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, James Franco, Matt Dillon, and Fairuza Balk amongst others. The film is set in 1958 Brooklyn, New York City... |
Tino | |
| 2003 | Josh | ||
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 Spider-Man 2 Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon. It is the second film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man... |
Harry Osborn | |
| 2005 | Harry Walker | Direct-to-video | |
| 2005 | Captain Prince | ||
| 2005 | Fool's Gold | Brent | Also writer and director |
| 2006 | Grasshopper | Travis | Short film |
| 2006 | Tristan & Isolde Tristan & Isolde (film) Tristan & Isolde is a 2006 romantic drama film based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Isolde. It was produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, directed by Kevin Reynolds and stars James Franco and Sophia Myles, with an original music score composed by Anne Dudley... |
Tristan Tristan Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain... |
|
| 2006 | Annapolis Annapolis (film) Annapolis is a 2006 drama film directed by Justin Lin and starring James Franco, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Donnie Wahlberg, Roger Fan, and Chi McBride. The film revolves around Jake Huard, a young man who dreams of one day attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland... |
Jake Huard | |
| 2006 | Bar Guy No.1 | ||
| 2006 | Flyboys | Blaine Rawlings | |
| 2006 | Derek | ||
| 2006 | Himself | Uncredited | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man... |
Harry Osborn / New Goblin | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight MTV Movie Award for Best Fight The MTV Movie Award for Best Fight is an award presented to actors and characters for quality fight scenes in films at the MTV Movie Awards, a ceremony established in 1992. Honors in several categories are awarded by MTV at the annual ceremonies, and are chosen by public vote... (with Tobey Maguire Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:... ) |
| 2007 | Knocked Up Knocked Up Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted... |
Himself | Uncredited |
| 2007 | In the Valley of Elah In the Valley of Elah In the Valley of Elah is a 2007 film written and directed by Paul Haggis, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon. The film’s title refers to the Biblical valley where the battle between David and Goliath is said to have taken place.... |
Sergeant Dan Carnelli | |
| 2007 | Finishing the Game Finishing the game Finishing The Game, an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival, is a 2007 mockumentary which focuses on Bruce Lee's final movie Game of Death. Lee died prior to finishing the movie, having shot only a few of the final fight scenes. However, the rest of the film was finished using a Bruce... |
Dean Silo/"Rob Force" | |
| 2007 | Andy | ||
| 2007 | Interview Interview (2007 film) Interview is a remake of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh's 2003 movie of the same title. The American version, which premiered in 2007, stars Steve Buscemi as Pierre Peders , a fading political journalist interviewing a soap opera star, Katya, played by Sienna Miller... |
Boyfriend on phone | |
| 2007 | Camille Camille (2007 film) -Plot:The plot follows the two characters who have recently married and are going to Niagara Falls on their honeymoon. Silas Parker is a thief who marries Camille Foster , his parole officer's niece, in hopes it will be his chance to escape to Canada... |
Silas Parker | |
| 2007 | Good Time Max | Max Verbinski | Also writer and director |
| 2008 | Pineapple Express Pineapple Express (film) Pineapple Express is a 2008 American stoner action comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story,... |
Saul Silver | Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Detroit Film Critics Society The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Detroit, Michigan, United States.-2007 Awards:The nominees for the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2007 were announced on 15 December and the winners were announced on 21 December 2007.-Best Actor:**George Clooney - Michael... Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Comedic Performance.-References:... Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight MTV Movie Award for Best Fight The MTV Movie Award for Best Fight is an award presented to actors and characters for quality fight scenes in films at the MTV Movie Awards, a ceremony established in 1992. Honors in several categories are awarded by MTV at the annual ceremonies, and are chosen by public vote... |
| 2008 | Nights in Rodanthe Nights in Rodanthe Nights in Rodanthe is a 2008 American/Australian film adaptation of the novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their third screen collaboration after Unfaithful and The Cotton Club . The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some sensuality" and... |
Dr. Mark Flanner | Uncredited |
| 2008 | Milk Milk (film) Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors... |
Scott Smith Scott Smith (activist) Joseph Scott Smith was a gay rights activist best known for his romantic relationship with Harvey Milk.-Biography:Smith was widely considered the muscle behind many of Milk's endeavors... |
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss This is a following list for the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Kiss.This is a following list for the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Kiss.... Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 2010 | Shadows & Lies | William Vincent | |
| 2010 | Date Night Date Night Date Night is a 2010 action comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. It was released in the United States on April 9, 2010... |
Thomas Tripplehorn/ Felton | |
| 2010 | Eat Pray Love | David | |
| 2010 | Howl Howl (film) First Howl is an upcoming horror film directed by David Flores and written by Clint Morris and stars Parisse Boothe, Eric Stoltz and Kristina Anapau... |
Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression... |
|
| 2010 | 127 Hours 127 Hours 127 Hours is a 2010 biographical adventure drama film co-written, produced and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah in April 2003.... |
Aron Ralston Aron Ralston Aron Lee Ralston is an American mountain climber and inspirational public speaker. He is widely known for having survived a 2003 canyoneering accident in Utah in which he was forced to amputate his own right arm with a dull pocketknife in order to free himself from a dislodged boulder.The incident... |
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association to honor the best achievements in filmmaking.-1990s:*1993: Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day*1994:... Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Indiana Film Journalists Association Award for Best Actor Indiana Film Critics Association The Indiana Film Journalists Association, also known as IFJA, is a film critic organization located in the state of Indiana in The United States. It was founded in early 2009 with six members, and has since doubled in size.... Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society to honor the best actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Actor New York Film Critics Online The New York Film Critics Online is an organization composed of Internet film critics based in New York City. The group meets once a year, in December, for voting on its annual NYFCO Awards.-Awards:*New York Film Critics Online Awards 2003... Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Utah Film Critics Association Awards 2010 The 6th Utah Film Critics Association Awards honoring the best filmmaking of 2010, were announced on December 23, 2010.-Best Actor:*Jeff Bridges - True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network*Colin Firth - The King's Speech... Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.-List of winners and nominees:*1995: Kevin Bacon - Murder in the First as Henri Young... Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Detroit Film Critics Society The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Detroit, Michigan, United States.-2007 Awards:The nominees for the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2007 were announced on 15 December and the winners were announced on 21 December 2007.-Best Actor:**George Clooney - Michael... Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2010 The 4th Houston Film Critics Society Awards were presented on December 18, 2010. These awards for "extraordinary accomplishment in film" are presented annually by the Houston Film Critics Society based in Houston, Texas. The organization, founded in 2007, includes 22 film critics for print, radio,... Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best WTF Moment. It was first awarded in 2009. In 2011, it was renamed Best Jaw Dropping Moment.-2009:*Peeing in the Sink – Amy Poehler ... Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best lead actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is an award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2010 -Best Actor:Colin Farrell – Ondine*Aaron Eckhart – Rabbit Hole*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network*Colin Firth – The King's Speech*James Franco – 127 Hours-Best Actress:... Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 2010 -Best Actor:*Javier Bardem – Biutiful*Jeff Bridges – True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network**Colin Firth – The King's Speech*James Franco – 127 Hours-Best Actress:... Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Toronto Film Critics Association.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association.-2000s:-2010s:... |
| 2011 | The Green Hornet The Green Hornet (2011 film) The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero action-comedy film based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books, and other media... |
Danny "Crystal" Clear | Cameo uncredited |
| 2011 | Your Highness Your Highness Your Highness is a 2011 fantasy comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Danny McBride and Ben Best, and starring McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. Filming began in the summer of 2009 in Northern Ireland and concluded in October 2009... |
Fabious | |
| 2011 | The Broken Tower | Hart Crane Hart Crane -Career:Throughout the early 1920s, small but well-respected literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, among the avant-garde, a respect that White Buildings , his first volume, ratified and strengthened... |
Also director, writer, editor and producer |
| 2011 | Sal | Milton Katselas | James also wrote and directed this film. |
| 2011 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Will Rodman | |
| 2011 | Maladies | James | post-production Franco is also producing |
| 2012 | The Stare The Stare The Stare is an upcoming American psychological thriller film written and directed by Jay Anania. It stars Academy Award-nominees Winona Ryder and James Franco. Franco is a student of Anania's, who runs a film program at NYU... |
Tyrone | post-production Franco is also producing |
| 2012 | Cherry Cherry (2012 film) Cherry is an upcoming drama film and the directorial debut of Stephen Elliot. It is based on a script penned by Elliot and porn industry veteran, Lorelei Lee. It stars Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Heather Graham and Dev Patel... |
filming | |
| 2012 | The Apocalypse | James Franco | pre-production |
| 2013 | Oz: The Great and Powerful Oz: The Great and Powerful Oz: the Great and Powerful is an upcoming 2013 fantasy film directed by Sam Raimi for release in 2013. The film, adapted from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is intended as a prequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz... |
Oz | filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Pacific Blue Pacific Blue (TV series) Pacific Blue is an American crime drama series about a team of police officers with the Santa Monica Police Department who patrolled its beaches on bicycles. The show ran for five seasons on the USA Network, from March 2, 1996 to April 9, 2000, with a total of one hundred and one episodes... |
Brian | |
| 1999 | Profiler Profiler (TV series) Profiler was an American crime drama that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series follows the exploits of a criminal profiler working with the fictional FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force based in Atlanta, Georgia.... |
Stevie | |
| 1999–2000 | Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series, created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season... |
Daniel Desario | |
| 2001 | The X-Files The X-Files The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s... |
Officer No.2 | |
| 2009–2011 | General Hospital General Hospital General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns.... |
Franco Franco (General Hospital) Robert "Franco" Frank is a fictional character on ABC's daytime drama General Hospital. He has been portrayed by James Franco since November 19, 2009 and was listed as special guest star before the opening credits. Franco left the role for a short time on January 11, 2010.James Franco returned to... |
|
| 2010 | 30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... |
Himself | Episode: "Klaus and Greta Klaus and Greta "Klaus and Greta" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by co-showrunner and executive producer Robert Carlock and directed by Gail Mancuso. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company network in the United... " |
Selected works
- Franco, James. "A Star, a Soap and the Meaning of Art." The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, December 4, 2009. - Franco, James. "Just Before the Black." EsquireEsquire (magazine)Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, March 24, 2010.