London Academy of Media Film TV

EARLY LIFE

James Franco

Born James Edward Franco on April 19th, 1978, in Palo Alto, California, James is the eldest of three sons to poet and children’s author Betsy and businessman Douglas Franco. James had a keen interest in the arts from a young age. He often painted and wrote in his free time, and excelled in his studies at Palo Alto High School, graduating in 1996 and enrolling at UCLA to study English in the same year. At UCLA, James’ passion for the arts led to his discovery of acting and he soon dropped out of college to undertake professional acting tutelage. He studied under Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West theatre for 15 months before auditioning for acting roles around Los Angeles.

ACTING DEBUT

James made his acting debut with a small role in the television series Pacific Blue in 1997. He made more television appearances in the years to follow with performances in television movies 1973 (1998) and To Serve And Protect (1999), before making his film debut in the Drew Barrymore comedy Never Been Kissed in 1999. That same year James landed his first leading role as a series regular on Judd Apatow’s acclaimed television comedy Freaks and Geeks. The show was a cult hit and won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, but due to poor ratings it was ultimately cancelled after its first season. James continued to land small roles in film and television, including an episode of The X-Files, but his breakthrough eluded him until 2001 when he portrayed James Dean in the biographical TV movie of the same name. His performance was highly acclaimed; earning the actor nominations for Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Hollywood’s top producers soon came calling and James quickly landed a supporting turn as Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s highly anticipated Spider-Man (2000).

BIG SCREEN CAREER

James’ career has gone from strength to strength since with the star balancing more personal independent projects with high-profile supporting turns. He appeared in Nicolas Cage’s directorial debut Sonny (2002), City By The Sea (2002) with Robert De Niro, Robert Altman’s The Company (2003), and military drama Annapolis (2006) between two Spider-Man sequels (2004 and 2007). James’ career has shown no signs of slowing down since his final Spider-Man appearance with the actor receiving high acclaim for his performances in In The Valley Of Elah (2007), and Milk (2008), before returning to his comedy roots and reuniting with producer Judd Apatow for Pineapple Express (2008). In 2009 James made an unusual choice for such a high profile actor by returning to television in a recurring role on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.

James Franco in 127 Hours

127 HOURS AND BEYOND

Despite his involvement in the Spider-Man series, James’ most high-profile role to date came in 2011 when he was cast as the American climber Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle’s acclaimed 127 Hours. Based on Ralston’s own experience of being trapped alone in a canyon for the titular amount of time – eventually resorting to amputating his own forearm with a blunt pen knife to survive, James won rave reviews for his performance and received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor at the 83rd Academy Awards, which he co-hosted with actress Anne Hathaway. He has since made appearances in the superhero thriller The Green Hornet (2011), the comedy Your Highness (2011) alongside Natalie Portman, and will next be seen in the Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).

PERSONAL INTERESTS AND PRIVATE LIFE

James’ long-standing interest in the arts has encouraged the actor to return to higher education; studying literature and film at NYU and Columbia University in 2008, before enrolling at Yale to pursue a Ph.D in English. He has also published a collection of short stories based in his hometown, simply titled Palo Alto, and has had his paintings exhibited at the Glu Gallery in Los Angeles and at Peres Projects in Berlin. His passion for film has also seen the actor appear behind the camera as well as in front of it; directing numerous shorts and the feature length productions Fool’s Gold (2005), The Ape (2005), and Good Time Max (2007). James frequently volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity to help children with serious medical conditions, and is often involved with campaigns to better educate youths in regards to literature. James has previously had relationships with actresses Marla Sokoloff and Ahna O’Reilly whom he had dated for 6 years. He is currently represented by United Talent Agency.

Acting is empowering – try acting today at London Academy

Share on Facebook