James Franco is one of the most iconic movie stars working today, but despite his fame, there is a lot about this enigmatic A-lister that remains a mystery. We were lucky enough to sit down with James to ask the television and film star a few illuminating questions about his life and career.
1. Do you prefer doing television or film?
I like doing TV more because there’s always a chance you could end up in Seinfeld. On a TV set, there’s always a chance that Kramer or George or Jerry or Elaine will come barging in with some crazy one-liner or something. One time while filming Freaks And Geeks, we were shooting a scene in the high school, and George Costanza ran into the classroom, grabbed one of the students, and ran out. It wasn’t in the script, but it took the episode somewhere wonderful, so we kept it! I love when the Seinfeld gang shows up without warning, and you just don’t get that doing film.
2. You took time away from acting to get a degree in English from NYU. What was that experience like?
English has always been my seventh love, right after rescuing crickets from pool traps, making siblings out of sand, wolf creation, general antics, peer-pressuring kids to smoke, and experiencing car trouble. So it made sense that I set aside a few years to study English after setting aside a few years to do each of those other things. It took me four years of intensive study, but I was finally able to write the following poem: “Blue. Red. / Those are some colors. / Hot. Cold. / Those are some temperatures. / Sad. Happy. / Those are some feelings. / Wind. No wind. / Those are the 2 types of wind.” I could not have written that poem without the lessons I learned at NYU.
3. What would you consider your most rewarding academic experience while pursuing your degree?
The best class I took at NYU was “Egg 101.” Over the course of five months, my professor taught me what an egg is, where it comes from, and what it does. What I learned was invaluable.
4. How do you manage to juggle so many projects?
When I’m in line at the hardware store, I ask people if I can cut because I have to go make a movie. Before I started doing this, I was spending the bulk of my time waiting in line at the hardware store to buy paint and was unable to do multiple projects. Now I’m able to.
5. You’ve often given ambiguous answers to the press regarding your sexuality. Why?
Look, taping your penis to another man’s penis whenever you eat doesn’t automatically make you gay, but it doesn’t automatically make you straight, either. It really depends on the details: Does your penis get harder or softer when you tape it to the other penis? Are you more concentrating on the eating or more on whether or not the tape you’ve used to fasten your penis to the other man’s penis is secure? In between every bite, do you shout the word “food” or do you shout the word “penis”? Until I answer those questions for myself, I can’t give a clear answer.
