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
I'm a huge Cormac McCarthy fan and have read every book of his.
I used to read a lot about myself and the projects I was doing. When I was only acting, I wouldn't read any reviews because I didn't find them to be very helpful.
Of course there are some actors that are better than others and performances that are better than others, but they're always embedded in the greater film. They are mediated through the work of so many other people: the director directs, the lighter sets the scene, the editors edit, the music gets put to it.
There's a tendency, when you're directing yourself, not to give the performance as much care, because you feel like there's too much focus on yourself, or that all these people are just standing around setting everything up, waiting for you.
I guess what I enjoy most is directing, because it incorporates all aspects of filmmaking. Directing is in the same line as acting - both are popularity contests, and in both you're trying to tell a story through the film as a medium.
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.
I might have to stumble a little bit more in public than others, but that's fine, I don't mind, I've developed a thick skin.
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.
I guess it is kind of a hard sell. But we didn't put the house on it.
Tristan is full of rage at the Irish for taking his family.
I'm going to try to not let anyone put me in a box, and that certainly applies to the things I do outside of acting.
When I was starting out, doing guest spots on TV, and even commercials, I would go in with a whole crazy wardrobe and some terrible accent. Obviously, I was doing too much. If you bring too much flavor to it, it's absurd. There's something to just being spontaneous.
Um, ... Nobody has a script yet, so...
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.