James Franco

Franco grew up in Palo Alto, California, with his younger brothers, actors Dave Franco and Tom Franco. His mother, Betsy Lou Franco, is a writer, artist, and actress, while his father, Douglas Eugene Franco, ran a Silicon Valley business.

Franco dated actress Marla Sokoloff for five years after meeting her on the set of Whatever It Takes. He later dated actress Ahna O'Reilly until 2011. He has been dating Izabel Pakzad since 2017 and has no children.

Franco began pursuing acting after leaving UCLA during his first year and studying with Robert Carnegie at Playhouse West. He worked at McDonald's while auditioning in Los Angeles, and his first paid role was a Pizza Hut commercial featuring a dancing Elvis Presley.

His breakthrough came with the NBC series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000), in which he played Daniel Desario. Although the show was canceled after one season, it later developed a cult following. In 2001, Franco portrayed James Dean in the television biopic James Dean. He won a Golden Globe for the performance and received nominations for an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Franco became widely known for playing Harry Osborn, the best friend of Peter Parker, in Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He was initially considered for the role of Peter Parker before Tobey Maguire was cast. He also appeared in City by the Sea, Tristan & Isolde, and Flyboys during the same period.

His roles in Pineapple Express (2008) and Milk (2008) demonstrated his range, with the latter earning him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. He received an Academy Award nomination for playing climber Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours (2010), as well as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

Franco later played the title character in Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), Alien in Spring Breakers (2013), and a fictionalized version of himself in This Is the End (2013). He also starred with Seth Rogen in Pineapple Express and The Interview, and played twin brothers in HBO's The Deuce (2017-2019).

Franco made his first feature film as a director with The Ape (2005), which he also co-wrote and appeared in. His later directing projects included The Broken Tower, As I Lay Dying, Child of God, The Sound and the Fury, In Dubious Battle, The Pretenders, and Zeroville.

He directed and starred in The Disaster Artist (2017), portraying Tommy Wiseau in the film about the making of The Room. His performance won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. His brother Dave Franco played Greg Sestero, whose book inspired the film.

Franco has also written fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. His books include Palo Alto: Stories (2010), Actors Anonymous (2013), A California Childhood (2013), and Directing Herbert White: Poems (2014). He studied writing and filmmaking at several universities, taught film and screenwriting, exhibited paintings and multimedia art, and appeared as an artist on General Hospital from 2009 to 2012.

In 2014, a 17-year-old girl posted messages showing that Franco had tried to arrange a hotel-room meeting with her after she told him her age. Franco acknowledged writing the messages and later said he was embarrassed and had learned a lesson.

In 2018, five women accused Franco of inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior during the period when he was acting as a teacher or mentor. Former students later filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and fraud connected to his Studio 4 acting school. Franco denied the claims through his attorney.

The lawsuit was settled in 2021. The parties' joint statement said that the defendants continued to deny the allegations while acknowledging that the plaintiffs had raised important issues concerning the mistreatment of women in Hollywood. In a 2021 interview, Franco acknowledged having had sex with students and said he had undergone treatment for sexual addiction since 2016.