James Franco
James Franco
James Edward Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. His first prominent acting role was the lead character Daniel Desario on the short-lived cult hit television program Freaks and Geeks. He later played the title character in the TV biographical film James Dean, for which he won a Golden Globe Award. For his role in 127 Hours, Franco was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He is also known for his roles in Spider-Man, Pineapple Express, Rise of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth19 April 1978
CityPalo Alto, CA
CountryUnited States of America
There's a tacit belief that actors shouldn't write books, they're sort of allowed to direct movies but there will be a lot of skepticism, and they shouldn't do artwork or music. There are these invisible roadblocks to gain entree to these areas for actors, and you kind of have to crash through those invisible barriers.
A lot of things can be read into it, but essentially it's about the desire to be an artist and what a struggle that is. It's about everything. You've got issues of being a man, finding meaning and the struggle to express oneself. The sad thing is that sometimes someone doesn't really have the talent or the voice to do that.
The first piece of art that I ever bought-when I could afford it-was a Warhol sketch from the period when he was just getting out of doing commercial work and more into art. It's a sketch of a young guy's face. I guess the gallery that I bought it from thought I would like it because the young guy kind of looked like James Dean.
Acting is an art form and you want to take roles that are challenged and it's more of a challenge I think to play dark characters. Not that I want to always play those, but it is a challenge and challenges are rewarding and fun.
I love to bring humour into my work. Because comedy is not a huge part of the art world. And big-business film takes itself very seriously.
I put out a lot of different kinds of material, and maybe people read that as egotistical. Or maybe, since a lot of it does involve some aspect of me, they find it self-aggrandizing. But there’s a long tradition of artists using themselves. Look, I know I’m not perfect. And, who knows, maybe a part of it has to do with self-obsession. But it’s also about using this weird thing that is a public persona as raw material for creative projects.
You say I sucked at the Oscars. I was a genius at the Oscars. That was experimental tuxedo sleep art.
Most of the books that I've adapted I'm doing because I love the book and I feel like it's a great work of art in itself, and when it's a great book I feel as a director or a writer that I have a responsibility to rise to the level of the original. It makes me try to reach higher.
When I was a young actor, I just didn't understand how to function in this business as an artist. It is a business, it's called the film business for a reason, there's money involved. But on the flip side, nowadays I do not let the business side of it rule either. It's a balance.
Always have one artistic thing that is pure, at least one thing, where you don’t compromise. You can do other things to make money, but have one pure area.
For April Fools Day, someone played a really cruel joke on me. They stole ALL my mirrors and I had to go hours without seeing myself. I mean, I couldn’t even do my daily affirmations. What kind of world is this? I tell you, it’s artists like myself that really suffer.
I think I would feel pretty foolish hanging around acting like James Dean with my friends. So I couldn't do that. I had to be away from them. I wanted to get comfortable with that, and the only way I could do that is just constantly do it.
Tristan is full of rage at the Irish for taking his family.
I guess it is kind of a hard sell. But we didn't put the house on it.