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