James Franco Wikipedia. James Edward Franco born April 1. American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. For his role in 1. Hours 2. 01. 0, Franco was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He is known for his roles in live action films such as Milk 2. Pineapple Express 2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2. Spring Breakers 2. Oz the Great and Powerful 2. This Is the End 2. The Disaster Artist 2. Sam Raimis Spider Man trilogy 2. He also provided voices in the animated films The Little Prince 2. Sausage Party 2. He is known for his collaborations with fellow actor Seth Rogen, appearing in eight films with him. Watch The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Online Fandango' title='Watch The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Online Fandango' />Franco is also known for his work on television his first prominent acting role was the lead character Daniel Desario on the short lived comedy drama Freaks and Geeks, which developed a cult following. He also portrayed the title character in the TV biographical film James Dean 2. The National Broadcasting Company NBC is an American English language commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of NBCUniversal, a. Golden Globe Award. He had recurring roles on the soap opera. General Hospital and sitcom Angie Tribeca and starred in the 2. He currently stars in the David Simon created HBO drama The Deuce. Franco volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity, and has also taught film classes at New York University, the University of Southern California, UCLA, Studio 4, and Palo Alto High School. Early life and familyeditFranco was born in Palo Alto, California. His mother, Betsy Lou ne Verne, is a writer and occasional actress, and his father, Douglas Eugene Doug Franco d. Silicon Valley business. The two met as students at Stanford University. Francos father was of Portuguese Madeiran and Swedish descent. Francos mother is Jewish, from a family of Russian Jewish descent. His maternal grandfather, Daniel, had changed the family surname from Verovitz to Verne some time after 1. Francos paternal grandmother, Marjorie Peterson Franco, is a published author of young adult books. An unspeakable Eldritch horror from the depths of aeons and untouched by mortal creatures funneled her disapproval over Melania Trumps snakeskin stilettos. Watch The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Online Fandango' title='Watch The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Online Fandango' />Francos maternal grandmother, Mitzie Levine Verne, owned the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, and was an active member in the National Council of Jewish Women. Francos family upbringing was academic, liberal, and largely secular. He grew up in California with his two brothers, Tom and Dave Davy, also an actor. A math whiz, Franco interned at Lockheed Martin. He was often encouraged by his father to get good grades and did well on his SATs. He graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1. This led to him attending CSSSA in 1. In his high school years, Franco was arrested for underage drinking, graffiti, and for being a part of a group that stole designer fragrances from department stores and sold them to classmates. These arrests led to his briefly becoming a ward of the state. Facing the possibility of juvenile hall, Franco was given a second chance by the judge. It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades, he recalled of his troubles with the law. Although the idea of becoming a marine zoologist interested him, Franco had always secretly wanted to become an actor but feared being rejected. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA as an English major,2. Franco instead chose to take acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West. Around this time, Franco took up a late night job at Mc. Donalds to support himself because his parents refused to do so. He was a vegetarian until working there. While working at the establishment, he would practice accents on customers, an experience he remembered nostalgically in a 2. Washington Post editorial Mc. Donalds was there for me when no one else was. Acting careeredit1. After 1. 5 months of training, he began auditioning in Los Angeles. His first paid role was a television commercial for Pizza Hut, featuring a dancing Elvis Presley who died 2. He found guest roles on television shows but his first break came in 1. NBC television series Freaks and Geeks,2. Later, the show became a cult hit among audiences. He has since described the series as one of the most fun work experiences that he has had. In another interview, Franco said When we were doing Freaks and Geeks, I didnt quite understand how movies and TV worked, and I would improvise even if the camera wasnt on me . So I was improvising a little bit back then, but not in a productive way. After his film debut Never Been Kissed, he played a popular jock Chris in Whatever It Takes 2. Cyrano de Bergerac. He was subsequently cast as the title role in director Mark Rydells 2. TV biographical film James Dean. To immerse himself in the role, Franco went from being a non smoker to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, bleached his dark brown hair blond, and learned to ride a motorcycle as well as play guitar and the bongos. To have a greater understanding of Dean, Franco spent hours with two of Deans associates. Other research included reading books on Dean and studying his movies. While filming James Dean, the actor, to get into character, cut off communication with his family and friends, as well as his then girlfriend. It was a very lonely existence, he notes. If I wasnt on a set, I was watching James Dean. That was my whole thinking. James Dean. James Dean. Despite already being a fan of Dean, Franco feared he might be typecast if hed captured the actor too convincingly. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote Franco could have walked through the role and done a passable Dean, but instead gets under the skin of this insecure, rootless young man. He received a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award SAG. Franco achieved worldwide fame and attention in the 2. Spider Man, when he played Harry Osborn, the son of the villainous Green Goblin Willem Dafoe and best friend of Spider Man Tobey Maguire. Originally, Franco was considered for the lead role of Spider ManPeter Parker in the film,3. Maguire. Todd Mc. Carthy of Variety noted that there are good moments between Maguire and Franco in the film. Spider Man was a commercial and critical success. The movie grossed 1. North America and went on to earn 8. He next starred in Sonny, a 2. Nicolas Cage, whose involvement had attracted Franco to the film. Set in 1. 98. 0s New Orleans, Sonny follows the titular character Franco returning home after just being discharged from the Army. To prepare for his role, he met with sex workers or people who had previously been prostitutes. The movie was panned by critics, with the New York Posts Lou Lumenick calling it an instant candidate for worst movie of the year. Franco was cast as a homeless drug addict in the drama City by the Sea 2. Robert De Niro saw a snippet of his work in James Dean. He lived on the streets for several days to better understand the subject matter4. He also co starred with Neve Campbell in Robert Altmans ballet movie The Company 2. The success of the first Spider Man film led Franco to reprise the role in the 2. Spider Man 2. The movie was well received by critics,3. North America. 4. With revenue of 7. Watch Red Flag Hindi Full Movie. Watch Charmed Online Season 8 Episode 1. The following year he made and starred in the black comedy. The Ape1. 9 and the 2. The Great Raid, in which he portrayed Robert Prince, a captain in the United States Armys elite Sixth Ranger Battalion. In 2. 00. 6, Franco co starred with Tyrese Gibson in Annapolis and played legendary hero Tristan in Tristan Isolde, a period piece dramatization of the Tristan and Iseult story also starring British actress Sophia Myles. For the former, he did eight months of boxing training and for the latter, he practiced horseback riding and sword fighting. He then completed training for his Private Pilot Licence in preparation for his role in Flyboys,2. September 2. 00. 6 the same month, Franco appeared briefly in The Wicker Man, the remake of the seminal horror film.