James Franco

Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, author, and teacher

• Born: April 19, 1978
• Place of Birth: Place of birth: Palo Alto, California

Education: University of California, Los Angeles; Columbia University; New York University; Brooklyn College; Warren Wilson College; Yale University

Significance: James Franco is an American actor who has starred in movies such as Milk (2008), with Sean Penn, and 127 Hours (2010), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for best actor. In 2011, Franco co-hosted the Oscars with actress Anne Hathaway. Franco has also published poetry and short stories and has earned advanced degrees from several universities. He has taught film and English at the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles, the California Institute of the Arts, and New York University.

Background

James Franco was born in Palo Alto, California, on April 19, 1978. He is the eldest of three sons born to Doug Franco, who owned a Silicon Valley business, and Betsy Levin, a children’s book author who dabbled in acting.

Franco attended Palo Alto High School, where he was known as a troublemaker. However, his offenses were mainly rebellious and minor and included graffiti, selling stolen designer fragrances to classmates, and underage drinking. After graduating from high school in 1996, Franco attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he majored in English. Here he began acting as a way to overcome his shyness but quickly became hooked. Against his parents’ wishes, he dropped out of college in his freshman year to pursue a career in acting. He studied for fifteen months with drama coach Robert Carnegie at Playhouse West. Franco worked the night shift at McDonald’s to make ends meet.

Life's Work

James Franco landed his first significant role in 1999 as high school slacker/heartthrob Daniel Desario on the television series Freaks and Geeks , which also starred Seth Rogan and Busy Philipps. Freaks and Geeks was critically acclaimed—but it was Franco’s performance as James Dean in the television miniseries of the same name that captured critics’ attention. Franco took up smoking for the role, working his way up to two packs a day. Franco won a Golden Globe Award for best actor for his performance in this miniseries.

Franco was next cast to play Harry Osborn in Spider-Man (2001)—he lost the lead role to Tobey Maguire. He played Osborn again in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He starred in other films during this time, including the crime drama City by the Sea (2002) with Robert DeNiro and Frances McDormand. Franco played DeNiro’s son Joey, a strung-out addict accused of murder. DeNiro personally chose him for the role after being impressed with his performance in James Dean .

Beginning in 2006, Franco returned to college with a passion, enrolling in accelerated courses and programs. He first re-enrolled at UCLA to complete a degree in creative writing. He then pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Columbia University—while simultaneously working toward a degree in filmmaking at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He graduated from these schools and many others. He next enrolled as a PhD candidate at Yale University.

Franco has played a variety of characters, which has earned him praise from both critics and fans. He played a soldier who was formerly a prostitute in Nicholas Cage’s Sonny (2002) and a World War II fighter pilot in Flyboys (2006). In the comedy Pineapple Express (2008), Franco played a marijuana dealer. During the same year, Franco played gay rights activist Harvey Miller’s lover in Milk with Sean Penn. Franco played a gangester in Spring Breakers (2013) and convicted drug dealer Christian Longo in True Story (2015).

The actor also starred in the controversial flick The Interview (2014) with Seth Rogan. He played a talk-show host planning to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The film was pulled shortly after its release when Sony’s computer systems were hacked by individuals making terroristic threats. The Interview was later released in independent theaters and shown on cable television.

After dabbling in directing in several small projects, Franco became more ambitious as a filmmaker. He directed and also acted in two independent productions of based on works by author William Faulkner: As I Lay Dying (2013) and The Sound and the Fury (2014). Another literary adaptation, of John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle, followed in 2016. Each of these projects received mixed to negative reviews, however. Franco achieved more success with The Disaster Artist (2017), which he produced, directed, and starred in. The film is based on a book of the same name, which is itself a nonfiction account of the making of the Tommy Wiseau film The Room (2003)—a film that earned a cult following for being one of the worst movies ever made. The Disaster Artist received wide critical acclaim, and Franco won the Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy for his turn as Wiseau.

However, Franco also attracted controversy following his Golden Globes exposure in 2018, as multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct despite his shows of support for sexual harassment awareness campaigns. He denied the claims against him, while reiterating his support for the right of women to speak out against abuse and misconduct.

In 2019, Franco was sued by several female students at his Studio 4 acting school, claiming that the star used his position of power at the school to sexually coerce students. Franco and his attorneys denied the allegations, but the suit was later settled out of court. In 2021, Franco came forward and admitted that he had slept with students at his school, but he believed the sex was consensual. Although he did admit that his behavior was wrong, his apology still drew criticism from his accusers.

The allegations against Franco derailed his acting career for several years. After a voice role in the 2019 animated film Arctic Dogs, Franco’s next role did not come until 2024, when he appeared in the French-made TV series Karantina and the French film The Price of Money: A Largo Winch Adventure.  

Impact

At one time, Franco was one of Hollywood’s leading men and inspired other actors with his commitment to the field, energy, and ambition. With his high profile as an actor and director, he reached celebrity status, and also became known as a sex symbol. However, the allegations against him effectively stalled his career, leaving Franco struggling to get it back on track.

Personal Life

Franco has revealed very little about his personal life—other than he drinks a great deal of coffee—and has insisted that he is too busy to be in a serious relationship. He dates actresses Ahna O’Reilly and Marla Sokoloff, but each relationship ended. Franco has had to deal with rumors about his sexuality since high school. These rumors have led him to joke that he is "a little gay"—gay in his work and straight in his life. He is known to sleep very little and considers sleep a waste of time.

Bibliography

Begley, Sarah. "James Franco Says He’s ‘A Little Gay’." Time, April 2016, time.com/4300920/james-franco-says-hes-a-little-gay/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.

Franco, James. A California Childhood. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions, 2014. Print.

Franco, James. Actors Anonymous. Little A/New Harvest (Amazon Press), 2013. Print.

Franco, James. Directing Herbert White: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, 2014. Print.

Franco, James. Palo Alto: Stories. New York: Scribner, 2014. Print.

Franco, James. Straight James/Gay James. Milltown, NJ: Hansen Publishing Group, 2016. Print.

Itzkoff, Dave. "Women's Accusations Follow James Franco After Golden Globes." The New York Times, 11 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/movies/james-franco-allegations.html. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.

"James Franco." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0290556/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.

"James Franco Offers Pros and Cons of Going to Graduate School." New York Daily News, 19 May 2014, www.nydailynews.com/2014/05/19/james-franco-offers-pros-and-cons-of-going-to-graduate-school/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.

Lampen, Claire. "All the Allegations Against James Franco." The Cut, 13 July 2022, www.thecut.com/2022/07/all-the-sexual-misconduct-allegations-against-james-franco.html. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.