James Franco has made every red-blooded American woman swoon with his adorable dimples and bad boy persona. He has a sense of humor that is captivating enough to make you want to be around him, even it is for just a short period of time. In the wake of his controversy, we just don't want to believe that he could possibly be guilty of such a thing. Though we can't discredit the women who have come forward with their claims, he is just one of those celebrities where we just don't want to believe that it is true.
After his movie, the award-winning The Disaster Artist premiered, rumors started spreading like wildfire. What many people don't know about James Franco is that his impeccable talent is often thwarted by many questionable decisions that he has made on his end. Fame and fortune have a tendency to go to some people's heads. We still need to look at both sides of the story and draw our own conclusions. Even if we do, our opinions are pretty futile to someone that we have never met.
In any case, James Franco is a character and specimen of a human being. Here are the 17 disappointing facts that we didn't know about him.
17 He Unfortunately Has Been Accused Of Misconduct
Yes, you heard that right. In the wake of the Golden Globes awards season, five women came forward and accused James Franco of misconduct. According to NBC News, he was accused by actresses Violet Paley, Sarah Tither, Hilary Dusome, Natalie Chmiel and Katie Ryan who were all actresses at Franco's acting school in Los Angeles. They claim that he took advantage of them and pressured them into doing inappropriate things.
Rumors first began swirling about Franco's alleged misconduct after actress Ally Sheedy blasted his Golden Globes win in since-deleted tweets.
His response to these allegations in an interview with Stephen Colbert was: "Look, in my life, I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done. I have to do that to maintain my well being. The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate. But I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So I don’t want to shut them down in any way."
16 He Is Perpetually Single
Is it just us, or does James Franco never seem to have a steady girlfriend? With the exception of the five-year relationship he had with actress Ahna O'Reilly from 2006-2011, he just hasn't really dated anyone since then. James Franco has that endearing quality that lets him get away with some bad boy type of behavior, so it is safe to assume that he is the "love them and leave them" type. His hilarious sense of humor and dreamy looks make for a perfect combination of him having as many options as possible. Maybe less so now than before since he has been accused of pulling a Harvey Weinstein. As much as we would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, many women would shy away from James Franco now.
15 He Made A Pass At A Scottish Fan
Scottish teenager, Lucy Clode was about to embark on a trip to New York City with her mom for some sight-seeing. Little did she know that she was about to encounter none other than James Franco. The two started communicating via Instagram where he saw that they were both in New York at the same time. There were leaked flirty message between the two, where Franco asked about her age, whether or not she had a boyfriend and how long she was in town for.
The clever school girl didn't even believe it was him at first and asked him to send a selfie.
He happily obliged and even held up a piece of paper with her name on it for proof. There was much buzz as to whether or not this was just a publicity stunt to promote his new film, or maybe he just wanted to get with a cute girl. Who knows...
14 He Wrote About An Intimate Evening With Lindsay Lohan
So this story isn't exactly what you would think. James Franco wrote a short story about a character named "Lindsay" for Vice News. He did directly state that yes, it was about Lindsay Lohan herself. It was actually a sad story about him being in a hotel room and her knocking on his door. He referred to her as a "damaged Hollywood girl" who was destroyed by the whole culture. His pity for her was expressed in the words: "You see, she is famous. She was famous because she was a talented child actress, and now she's famous because she gets into trouble. She is damaged. For a while, after her high hellion days, she couldn't get work because she couldn't get insured." He ran his fingers through her hair and tried to comfort her as she cried. And no, nothing beyond that happened. The End.
13 He Never Dated Lana Del Rey
There is no doubt that hands down these two would make a perfect couple. They are both creative geniuses and would never stop inspiring each other. They have supported each other promoting each other's albums and movies and he even got into it with a photographer at one of her concerts.
When asked about his relationship with Lana Del Rey, James Franco replied: "No, she's a friend of mine...We're friends. No. On my life," he told The Howard Stern Show.
"I'll tell you why, maybe it's a boring answer. There's a weird thing with creative types. Sometimes I love a person's work and, like, I'm just so enamored with that and their persona in their work. But outside of that, it's like, our dynamic is we're just kind of friends, we get along so well."
That's definitely a bummer.
12 He Lost The Role of Spiderman To Tobey McGuire
Okay, so this was probably just a minor setback for James Franco back in the day. Let's face it: The character of Peter Parker isn't supposed to be that good looking and nerdy. Tobey McGuire fits that bill much better than the handsome James Franco. This is not to say that Tobey McGuire isn't attractive in his own way, but he just fits the role better. Hey, at least he got to play Harry Osborn who is Spiderman's frenemy that gets caught up in a love triangle between him and Mary Jane Watson (played by Kristen Dunst). Although he didn’t get to play the eponymous hero of the film, his turn as Harry (and later, the second Green Goblin) ended up becoming his most well-known role to date. Either way, that was the big break that put him on the map.
11 Apparently, The Producer Of Freaks And Geeks Never Found Him Attractive
Judd Apatow, who was the writer, producer, and director for Freaks and Geeks didn't originally think that James Franco was attractive upon first meeting him.
Apatow said, "What I remember about meeting James was that he had this really big mouth, and he was very skinny and very greasy. And he really made me laugh. I thought he was funny and strange."
"We had no sense that he was attractive—we just thought he was this, you know, wannabe cool guy, but it wasn't quite working, a funny mess of a guy, the way he performed the scenes. After we hired him, we kept hearing from women in the office that he was so dreamy. We didn't know what the hell they were talking about."
Clearly, this dude doesn't know much about what women really want.
10 His Role In The Interview Was A Flop
There was so much controversy surrounding the premiere of The Interview with James Franco and Seth Rogen. It even went so far as to create more tension in international relations between the US and North Korea. The 2014 movie is about their characters undertaking a mission to assassinate the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Sony Pictures was then hacked and unable to release the film in theaters. There was much speculation that the North Korean government was behind it. Consequently, it was released on Netflix rather than premiering in actual movie theaters. Unfortunately, the movie was a disappointment and didn't get high ratings despite all the controversy it caused. This was not one of James Franco's best performing roles. Well, you win some and you lose some...that is just the way life works.
9 He Has A Weird Obsession With Ryan Gosling
Remember when those Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" memes were circulating on the Internet? Well, James Franco happily jumped on that bandwagon and decided to join the plethora of women who were gaga over Ryan Gosling. If he were gay (which we are guessing he is not), he would run some major game on Ryan Gosling if he could.
In fact, he even wrote a piece about him back in 2013 for the Huffington Post titled "Burning for Gosling" which is just borderline creepy.
It was both a review for Gosling's movie Place Beyond the Pines that reads: "We still haven’t seen his face but we know it’s the Gos: the hair, the head, the strut." He even peppered his Instagram account with bleached, straightened hair for imitation and made a meme of Ryan Gosling wishing him a Happy Birthday as a personal birthday present to himself.
We smell a bromance coming on!
8 At One Point, He Had His Assistant Take His Girlfriend To The Hospital
In an interview with Variety magazine, James Franco admitted that he wasn't always the best boyfriend in the world. While he was filming a movie, his girlfriend had to be sent to the hospital, and he got his personal assistant to take her so that he didn't have to do it himself. “There was one instance, this old girlfriend was visiting me in New York,” Franco says. “I had come out here for school. My cat had scratched her in the eye. I had so much work to get done for the next day, I didn’t take her to the hospital. I had my assistant take her. That moment haunted me so much. What kind of selfish, self-centered boyfriend are you?” Hey, at least he feels guilty about it and hopefully has grown up since then.
7 He Was A Shoplifter As A Teen
So James Franco was just the proverbial bad boy from the very beginning...even before he was famous. During high school, Franco and his friends started a cologne-stealing ring, stealing expensive cologne from department stores and selling them to their classmates.
He told People magazine: "In 8th grade, we started stealing cologne,” he says with a laugh. “We had like thirty bottles of cologne each in our lockers at school and then we could sell cologne at the dances.”
Ironically in 2008, Franco become the face of Gucci's cologne campaign. It is funny how the universe works in mysterious ways. We have to wonder how Gucci feels about this. Perhaps they take it as a joke. You gotta give it to this guy because he knows how to hustle.
6 He Is An Avid Fan Of The Twilight Series
James Franco has confessed to being a die-hard Twilight series and reading Stephanie Meyers' books. Now that wouldn't be a disappointing fact for Twilight fans, but to those who aren't such fans...this is very disappointing indeed. He even disclosed to Twilight fans that he is Team Edward. He told Esquire magazine: "It's crazy how much tension there is," he says. "It just builds and builds. I mean it never stops. It's sort of explosive by the end. Crazy. Like they'll blow up with it. And of course, they don't. Which is the point too, I guess." Perhaps this fact about him is good and bad. Good news for Twilight fans and bad news for those of us with less commercialized taste in vampires.
5 He's Been Known To Getting Rowdy On Social Media
James Franco is known to do silly things and take unflattering selfies by design. He has canceled and re-installed his Instagram account numerous times, which is probably just to keep his fans on their toes. He even pushes the limits and gets a little raunchy.
He is known to take shirtless selfies where he is not exactly looking his most refined.
He likes to take selfies when he has just rolled out of bed or isn't wearing much. It is safe to say that this guy is just a jokester and likes to get a rise of out people. He doesn't take his social media activity too seriously and isn't worried about what other people think...even when he should. Stay tuned for what James Franco is going to do next on Instagram (if he still even has Instagram).
4 He May Not Be The Best On-Screen Kisser
Ugh, this might be the most disappointing fact on this entire list (well maybe aside from the more serious ones). We often want to sit and fantasize about what it would be like to kiss James Franco, but some actresses would vouch to ruin that one for us. According to Zimbio, James Franco might not be a bad kisser, but he's definitely an undesirable kisser, at least in the eyes of his Spring Breakers co-star, Vanessa Hudgens. "I was just happy I had Ashley [Benson] because I was like, "Ugh, eww, I don't want to kiss James... I'd rather kiss a girl than a guy on camera," Hudgens said on her E! reality show. Alright, we can just pretend like we didn't read this part of the list.
3 He Doesn't Believe In Sleep
Having those dreamy bedroom eyes comes at a hefty price. For James Franco, that price is sleep. Brilliant and creative people often have restless minds and their most impeccable work comes from all hours of the night. According to James’s younger brother, actor Dave Franco, James’s terrible sleep habits are because the star always feels like he could and should be doing something more productive than sleeping.
He thinks that sleep is for the weak and doesn't understand people who love to sleep.
James Franco may not believe in sleep but gets a few hours of rest per night and then takes cat naps during the day. It is really no wonder that we see so many selfies of him in bed on his Instagram.
2 His Artistic Talent Is Horribly Underrated
What a lot of people don't know about James Franco is that he is a visual artist and a true Renaissance man of our time. Yes, that is hard to see under that goofy demeanor and silly personality. He studied art even further when he was well into his acting career but, he has been a painter since high school.
His first solo art show was exhibited in a five-room space of New York City’s Clocktower Gallery. The show was called, “The Dangerous Book of Four Boys,” and included artistic mediums such as photos, drawings, videos, and sculptures. As a part of the promotion of the movie This is the End, Franco decided to paint a mural depicting the core group of actors in the film. Ironically, all of the funny actors were depicted as sad, miserable, melting wax figures of themselves.
1 ...And So Is His Educational Background
During James Franco's sky-rocketing acting career, he was actually in and out of universities pursuing higher academic degrees. Before he got his big break as an actor, Franco dropped out of UCLA his freshman year, his parents refused to support him. He got a job at the drive-thru window at McDonald's, and while working there, he would practice different accents with customers.
Later, he re-enrolled at UCLA and graduated with a 3.5 GPA average. Next, he went on to simultaneously complete four different graduate school and academic programs: Columbia University for their MFA writing program, New York University’s Tisch School for Fine Arts for filmmaking, Brooklyn College for fiction writing, and the low-residency MFA Program for Writers at North Carolina’s Warren Wilson College for Poetry.
He is currently a Ph.D. student in English at Yale University and has attended the Rhode Island School of Design.
Needless to say, we are impressed.
Source: Fox News, Daily Mail, Vice News, Gawker, Complex, The Richest, People, Zimbio, NBCNews
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