Best Known As: Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man movies
James Franco is best known as Harry Osborn -- Green Goblin, Jr. -- in the Sam RaimiSpider-Man movies (2002-07). He grew up in California and, after one year of college, began his acting career with small roles in TV productions in 1997. Fans remember Franco from the short-lived but critically acclaimed Judd Apatow series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000, starring Linda Cardellini), but his career breakthrough came with his Emmy-nominated portrayal of James Dean in the 2001 TV movie James Dean. Although he lost the role of Spider-man to Tobey Maguire, he landed the role of Osborn, the son of the villainous Green Goblin (played by Willem Dafoe). In addition to that movie's sequels, Franco has appeared in a number of dramas and comedies, including City by the Sea (2002, starring Robert DeNiro), In the Valley of Elah (2007, starring Tommy Lee Jones), Pineapple Express (2008, starring Seth Rogen) and Milk (2008, starring Sean Penn).
Career Highlights: Spider-Man 2, Freaks and Geeks, Milk
First Major Screen Credit: Freaks and Geeks (1999)
Biography
Well known for his works as teen heartthrob on the NBC series Freaks and Geeks and films like Never Been Kissed (1999) starring Drew Barrymore, James Franco has the dark, refined looks of a classic movie star. Indeed, he was cast in the TNT film James Dean playing the screen legend himself, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for his performance in 2002.
Born on April 19, 1978, Franco has lived in California throughout his life. After high school, he studied acting intensely under Robert Carnegie, Jeff Goldblum, and Tony Savant. He also spent time training at the Playhouse West in North Hollywood.
Soon after landing the role as dark and pessimistic Daniel on Freaks and Geeks, where the teenage crowd found his performance accessible and realistic, Franco would earn a series of roles in teen-oriented motion pictures. Along with Never Been Kissed, he appeared in Whatever It Takes, on the set of which he met girlfriend Marla Sokoloff, a fellow actor. In a film about a group of "bad" students called Mean People Suck (2000), Franco appeared in the role of Casey, and then starred in Blind Spot in 2001.
After retaining heartthrob status with his award-winning performance as James Dean, he would appear in Deuces Wild (2002), a '50s-style gang drama. That same year, he played the part of Harry Osborn in the live-action rendition of Stan Lee's superhero comic Spider Man, also starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Defoe, and Kirsten Dunst. The following year would find an emerging Franco in his most dramatically challenging role to date, as a murder suspect who happens to be the son of an NYPD police detective (Robert DeNiro) in City by the Sea. Impressed by Franco's turn as flm legend James Dean, DeNiro personally lobbied to have Franco cast in the film. Franco would continue to work with talented collaborators, landing a role in Robert Altman's ballet movie The Company in 2003. He returned to the role of Harry Osbourn in Spider-Man 2 a year after that. 2005 was a busy year for the young actor who directed an adaptation of his own play, The Ape, and starred in a couple of historical dramas. Neither The Great Raid nor Tristan & Isolde made much of an impression with audiences, but the films showed an actor willing to try new things. He was back in theaters early in 2006 with the Naval Academy/boxing movie Annapolis. That fall he again appeared in theaters in the World War 1 drama Flyboys, directed by Tony Bill. He also agreed to reprise the role of Harry Osborn one more time in Spider-Man 3. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide
Franco was born April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California, the son of Betsy (née Verne), a poet, author and editor, and Doug Franco.[1] His maternal grandmother, Mitzi Levine Verne, runs the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, Ohio.[2] Franco's father is of Portuguese and Swedish descent[3] and Franco's mother is Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia.[4] Franco grew up in California with his two younger brothers, Tom and Dave,[5] and graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996, where he was elected by his senior class as the student with the "best smile".[1] He then enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an English major.[6] He dropped out after his freshman year and chose to pursue a professional career as an actor, taking acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at Playhouse West.[1]
Career
Early work
After fifteen months of training, he began auditioning in Los Angeles, California, and got his first break in 1999, after he was cast in a leading role on the short-lived but well-reviewed television series Freaks and Geeks.[7] Franco has since described the series as "one of the most fun" work experiences that he has had.[8] In another interview, Franco said: "When we were doing Freaks and Geeks, I didn’t quite understand how movies and TV worked, and I would improvise even if the camera wasn’t on me ... So I was improvising a little bit back then, but not in a productive way."[9]
In the 2002 superhero film Spider-Man, the most successful film of his career to date, Franco played Harry Osborn, the son of the villainous Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and best friend of the title character (Tobey Maguire).[18] Originally, Franco was considered for the lead role of Spider-Man/Peter Parker in the film,[19] though the lead went to Tobey Maguire. Todd McCarthy of Variety noted that there are "good moments" between Maguire and Franco in the film.[20]Spider-Man was a commercial and critical success.[21] The movie grossed $114 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $822 million worldwide.[22] In this same year, Franco was cast in the drama City by the Sea (2002).[1][23] The following year he co-starred alongside Neve Campbell in Robert Altman's The Company (2003).[24]
The success of the first Spider-Man film led Franco to reprise the role in the 2004 sequel, Spider-Man 2.[25] The movie was well received by critics,[26] and it proved to be a big financial success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America.[27] With revenue of $783 million worldwide, it became the second highest grossing film in 2004.[22] The following year he appeared in the 2005 war filmThe Great Raid, in which he portrayed Robert Prince, a captain in the United States Army's elite Sixth Ranger Battalion.[28][29]
In 2007 he again played Harry Osborn in Spider-Man 3.[35] In contrast to the previous two films' positive reviews,[21][26]Spider-Man 3 was met with a mixed reception by critics.[36] Nonetheless, with a total worldwide gross of $891 million, it stands as the most successful film in the series, and Franco's highest grossing film to the end of 2008.[22] In this same year, Franco made a cameo appearance in the comedy Knocked Up.[37]
He starred in the film Pineapple Express (2008), a comedy co-starring and co-written by Seth Rogen and produced by Judd Apatow, both of whom worked with Franco on Freaks and Geeks.[8][38] In the New York Times review of the film, critic Manohla Dargis wrote: "He’s delightful as Saul, loosey-goosey and goofy yet irrepressibly sexy, despite that greasy curtain of hair and a crash pad with a zero WAF (Woman Acceptance Factor). It’s an unshowy, generous performance and it greatly humanizes a movie that, as it shifts genre gears and cranks up the noise, becomes disappointingly sober and self-serious."[39] Franco's performance in the film earned him a Golden Globe nomination in the category for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy[15] and also a MTV Movie Award nomination in the category for Best Comedic Performance. In 2008 he also appeared in two films by American artist Carter exhibited at the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris.[40] On September 20, 2008 & December 19, 2009 James hosted Saturday Night Live.[41]
In October 2009, it was confirmed that Franco will be joining the cast of the daytime soap opera, General Hospital. He will play Franco[45] who comes to Port Charles with some unfinished business with mob enforcer Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).[46]
Franco will also make an appearance on the situation comedy show 30 Rock. He will play himself and will carry on a fake romance with Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski), a scheme concocted by their respective agents.[47]
Personal life
In 2008, Franco received his undergraduate degree in English from UCLA.[48] For his degree, Franco prepared his departmental honors thesis under the supervision of novelist Mona Simpson.[49] Subsequently, Franco moved to New York to attend graduate school at Columbia University's MFA Writing Program and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he studied filmmaking.[50][51][52][53]
Franco in February 2009
Art—painting in particular—is a talent Franco developed during his high school years while attending the rigorous California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA).[1] Franco has said that painting was the "outlet" he needed in high school, and that he "has actually been painting longer than he has been acting."[54] His paintings were displayed publicly for the first time at the Glü Gallery in Los Angeles, California from January 7, 2006 through February 11, 2006.[1][55] Franco can also be seen painting in a scene in Spider-Man 3.[56]
Since April 2006, Franco has been in a relationship with actress Ahna O'Reilly.[57][58] In 2008, Franco was named as the new face of Gucci's men's fragrance line.[50][59] Viewed as a sex symbol, Franco was named the Sexiest Man Living in 2009 by Salon.com.[60]
He was selected as the commencement speaker, the youngest, at his alma mater UCLA, on Friday, June 12, 2009. On June 3, 2009, a press release announced Franco's cancellation as UCLA's commencement speaker due to a scheduling conflict, making it the second year in a row that the commencement speaker had canceled the appearance. Bill Clinton canceled the year before.[61] On July 8, 2009, Franco released a satirical video on prominent comedy website Funny or Die mocking his last-minute cancellation.[62]
