James Franco

Background

James Edward Franco is one of the most celebrated faces of Hollywood. He has played a wide range of roles in all his films; from a man trapped in stone, to a supervillain — he has portrayed them all impeccably. Born on April 19, 1978, in Palo Alto, California, his zodiac sign is Aries and his ethnicity is half Portuguese-Swedish and half Jewish. Franco is the son of Betsy Lou, a children’s book author, and Douglas Franco, a Silicon Valley businessman. He has two brothers, actors Tom and Dave Franco. He was a student at the University of California in Los Angeles, and was an English major, but dropped out to pursue acting.

Franco took acting lessons for 15 months before appearing for auditions in Los Angeles. He got his first paid acting job in an advertisement for Pizza Hut. He played small roles in many T.V. shows. He finally got the main role in 1999 in “Freaks and Geeks.” Though the show was canceled after 18 episodes, it proved to be a major hit and was Franco’s big break. He made his film debut with “Never Been Kissed” (1999), a romantic comedy, and was later cast in the titular role in a biographical T.V. film — “James Dean” (2001). Franco gained a lot of fame and attention in 2002 after his role as Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s “Spiderman.” It was followed by “City by the Sea,” (2002) and “The Company” (2003) before Franco reprised the role of Harry Osborn in “Spiderman 2” (2004). The film’s immense success led to his role in the dark comedy “The Ape” (2005), and “The Great Raid” (2005).

In “Spiderman 3,” Franco reprised his role as Osborn for the final time (2007). In 2008, he had two hit films— the comedy “Pineapple Express” and the biographical film “Milk.” The actor got his first Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the former, while in the latter, he played a gay character for the first time. One of Franco’s most nuanced roles was as Aron Ralston in “127 Hours.” The role got him nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. He went on to star in the fantasy comedy “Your Highness” (2011) and in “Rise of the Planet of Apes” (2011). His last major movie role was “The Disaster Artist” (2016). In 2017, he revealed that he was going to slow down to focus on himself.

Franco is currently single. He dated actress Marla Sokoloff in 1999 for five years. He was later in a relationship with Ahna O’Reilly until 2011. His portrayal of gay characters in many of his films, as well his support for them raised many questions about his sexuality in the media. Later in an interview, the actor said, “I like to think I am gay in my art and straight in my life.” In 2006, Franco went back to U.C.L.A. to earn his English major degree. In 2009, he published the first of his many novels, titled “Palo Alto.”