James Edward Franco born April 19, 1978 is an American actor,
director, producer, teacher, author. His first prominent acting
role was a lead part.
Howdy ladies and gentleman For this week’s spotlight piece,
I wanted to go ahead and take a look at a rather unique A-lister
. Someone who vacillates between humongous Hollywood
blockbusters and odd little independent films, always doing his
own thing. The A-lister in question? None other than James Franco.
He’s many things to many people, but he’s
unquestionably a star. He’s given a few incredibly good performances,
but he’s never a boring actor to watch. He’s easily one of Tinseltown’s
most interesting actors to follow. Almost constantly engaging in some
form of art, Franco is at his core, just that…an artist. He may be a bit
of a weirdo to some, but he’s an A-lister regardless and deserves this
tribute. Franco wasn’t always considered a “weird” star.
He got his start basically as a heartthrob. He first came on to
people’s radars when he was cast in the cult Judd Apatow
television show Freaks and Geeks, though he became someone
to really watch when he played James Dean in the TV movie
of the same name. From there, he shot to the A-list by playing
Harry Osborne in the Spider-Man trilogy from Sam Raimi. In
Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3 he built up
his star power, but at the same time he was trying to become
a leading man in things like Annapolis, City by the Sea,
Flyboys, The Great Raid, and Tristan + Isolde. Between
those movies and the Spidey trilogy, he was someone you
expected to be a serious actor. That made his comedic turn
a Golden Globe nominated one, at that in The Pineapple
Express all the more interesting. From there, he began to
branch out even more, playing Alan Ginsberg in Howl,
taking an acclaimed supporting role in Milk, and of course
his Oscar nominated tour de force in 127 Hours. He has
since made a name for himself by trying just about anything
once. After he made his debut guest starring on television
programs in the late 90′s, Franco has gone on to amass
nearly 100 roles to his credit.