EXCLUSIVE: The Real Story (and the Mastermind) Behind James Franco's Soap Opera Career Move

What do you think of what's been shot so far? Have you gotten to be on set for it?

I think it's really mind-blowing. I've seen some of the stuff that's shot, and it's really unbelievable. Yeah, I have been on the set doing some stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Does his character's storyline on General Hospital intertwine at all with your film?

General Hospital -- or a soap opera in general -- is part of the film we're working on, but it's not a giant part of the narrative. It's not going to affect the way the film turns out to be.

Now, how did you meet Franco?

He was an admirer of my visual work, my paintings. So we met that way, through my work.

And when you asked him to collaborate with you on Erased James Franco, you found him to be game for the idea?

Oh yeah, from the very beginning. It was very bizarre because I was asking someone to do something very strange, this thing I had described in this film. Once we got over that, it was very easy because he was very open to it and totally got it. I don't know if a lot of people would. I don't know if they would be that trusting and let someone, you know, fuck with them. [Laughs]

Is there something about him that makes him the ideal muse for this ongoing project?

The simple answer is that we're friends. We get what we're doing, and that's half the battle. In a bigger sense -- James Franco in quotes -- I don't know how that's important. Our working relationship and our friendship is what really gets us to do what we're doing. It's a very intimate thing to work on a film with someone, especially when it's something so personal.

When you shot Erased James Franco, it was right before Pineapple Express and Milk came out. How does the fact that he's become more of a celebrity since then -- and that his public image has gotten more defined -- affect your work?

It doesn't affect the way that I approach him, but it might affect the way other people see what we're doing. It's a very good question and it's impossible to answer because an image is a constantly shifting thing -- not just in a relationship, but in a career. So I don't know. [Laughs] We'll see what happens.

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