James Franco: The Movieline Interview

Howl sort of morphed from a documentary into this narrative film during its development. Had Rob and Jeffrey already made the switch before you met them?

The present form was already in place before I met them. I still don't know how they came to the idea of [casting] me -- maybe you can tell me!

Well, Rob had directed The Times of Harvey Milk, and you asked him for some rare footage of Scott Smith, your character in Milk, right?

Right. Everybody who was on Milk of course watched The Times of Harvey Milk many, many times. Scott Smith was in that, but he's only in it for, like, five seconds. It's Scott and Harvey at, I think, the first gay pride parade in San Francisco, and it says, "Harvey had a relationship with his boyfriend Scott Smith and moved out to San Francisco," and they kiss. And that's it! It was like, I can't build a character on that. I mean, 99% of the public is not going to know what Scott Smith sounded like or moved like, but...

It was important to you to know that, instead of just going on what was in the script?

It was important to me, I guess because I was working so closely with other people like Cleve Jones and Danny Nicoletta who knew Scott. I felt a responsibility to them so I could get it right for them. Also, as an actor, it's inspiring to study a different kind of behavior, right? I always kind of do that whether it's based on a real person or a fictional character. I look for a source of inspiration. So I couldn't find anything, and then we had this big dinner with everyone who knew Harvey, and Rob was there. I had heard that he was meticulous when he made The Times of Harvey Milk -- not only did he do interviews for the documentary, but he also did pre-interviews and pre-cut the film! He would structure it that way and then he'd know what he really needed to go in and get.

Anyway, he had this interview with Scott Smith that hadn't made it into the movie that he had done as a pre-interview. I didn't know that, but I went to him and asked him if he had anything, and he said, "Yeah, I did an interview with Scott. It's probably in some vault." He keeps everything, I guess! The film was of Scott Smith in 1980 or something, two years after Harvey had been murdered. It was, like, perfect. So that was before we started filming Milk. I guess they've been working on this for eight years, and they were well beyond the documentary stage at that point.

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You're playing a famous poet in Howl, and you've written poetry yourself, right?

Yeah, I'm also getting a masters in poetry through this residency program, one of the best poetry programs in the country. It's at this place called Warren Wilson College near Asheville, North Carolina.

When you write or study poetry, it's one thing to get at the meaning of it that way -- but when you have to recite Howl as many times as you must have had to during the making of this movie, do you discover something that's new?

Certainly, when you memorize a poem or read it as many times as I do -- Howl's so long that it's hard to memorize -- it gets in your head. One thing that's interesting is that you notice which words you don't get right, or what you want to change, and why that is. With Howl, he's using the long line, right? These sentences just go on and on, and one thing that does is that it gives the poem a certain kind of pace. It just comes and comes and comes, so it actually becomes a howl in a certain way. Because a lot of the imagery is so striking and the events are so raw, and it's delivered in this fairly fast-paced way where the way it's written makes you want to read it that way, it becomes sort of a howl.

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Comments

  • TimboUK says:

    And yet, somehow the elephant in the room remained unremarked upon....... Mr Franco should maybe consider when portraying gay men and not in any way identifying as one can be seen as exploitation. Come out, come out who ever you are........

  • stolidog says:

    what, no "feast of stephen"?

  • Victor Ward says:

    Great interview, but what we really wanted to know is DOES HE LOVE ME, I mean, um, would he ever guest star on Glee?

  • Whatever says:

    Sooo...I will have to remember that exploitation thing the next time a gay actor plays a straight and doesn't come out as to his true sexuality. Because that has never happened. EVER.
    And yet I always wonder, what in the world does his sexuality have to do with anything? Who cares?!

  • Marin says:

    Glad the Franco interview finally arrived (long time coming). Well done!

  • Timbouk says:

    When you play a number of high profile gay roles, moonlight in 'camp' soap operas and take gay cinema courses at college and yet choose to remain sexually ambigous, isn't it unrealistic to expect noone having any interest in your sexuality? Role models for the gay community are still important in this climate. If in the unlikely event that Franco was gay and did come out it would not be a surprise nor, I think would it seriously damage his career. It would however prove a positive image for gay men and women thinking of entering the profession and give hope to those already working in the notoriously homophobic industry.

  • Claire says:

    Timbouk: James Franco is not gay. He's been with Ahna O'Reilly for like four years. It doesn't seem like he'd be someone who would work that hard to repress his sexuality. If he was "secretly" gay, do you think he would be playing these gay roles all the time? It seems to me that if he was gay he would be someone who would be open and proud of it. He's very supportive of the gay community.

  • alicia says:

    Why does everyone think he is gay? is it just because he actively explores various aspects of the human condition? it seems only those who are secure within themselves can so intensely pursue their natural interests. great article! i love him.
    /

  • Ponzi says:

    James and Ahna are no longer "together"--not that her presence in his life was ever unimpeachable proof of his heterosexuality. Currently there are more reasons to think he's gay/bi than straight, if you're paying any attention to his career and press. How many gay poems does he have to make into short films before your wheels start turning?
    As for him being open and proud, here's his take on why most closeted actors don't come out:
    "Well, it's uuuuuuuuh, I mean, it's a big issue. I don't know, I mean..(wipes head with palm and lets out a huge sigh) You know, I guess if you're talking about you know, like, coming out about one's sexuality, you know, back in the day, in Harvey Milk's day the gay liberation movement was all about coming out, coming out, coming out. I don't know if that's so necessary today. You know, a lot of people believe it isn't.
    "If you want to come out, you know, if someone would want to come out I, I believe that he or she should be able to. We see more gay roles in mainstream films, but the reverse isn't true. It's like, okay now for straight actors to play gay roles, but, it's not quite, I don't think it's quite the same for gay actors to play straight roles. And so that's, maybe, what inhibits a lot of people who are in the closet from coming out. If we're talking about, you know being gay. If you're talking about body pillows? Come out! I don't think anybody will care. (laughter)"
    http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/23/james-franco's-take-on-actors-coming-out-of-the-closet/

  • It sounds like you're creating problems yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why their is a problem in the first place.

  • Me says:

    And you know this how, Ponzi?
    Why was she with him at Sundance if they aren't together?
    Why was she with him at the SNL wrap party...?
    There is no reason to believe they aren't still a couple. And if you've seen credible evidence to counter this, by all means, do share.

  • Dianna Trent says:

    Those of you who want to insist that Franco's gay, are you NOT READING this article?!? He's playing with his image! He obviously does NOT care what people think because he wants to explore different types of cinema. Personally, I HATE that he chooses such roles. (And I don't care what anyone thinks about that. I hate that lifestyle! Not the people, just the lifestyle! I believe it is learned behaviour & a true downfall to ANY community.) Anyway, James has come out & said he is NOT gay. Somehow, I believe him. And I believe he loves Ahna but I wish he'd marry her already!

  • Me too says:

    Oy. So only communities with ev.ol gays in them fall apart.
    Good to know.