Ask Away: The Best of 2010's Movieline Interviews

James Franco (Oct. 29)

On his treatment in the media: "Things like a picture of me sleeping in class? What am I going to do? It actually wasn't class; William Kentridge was giving a talk that I didn't need to be at. It's kind of OK with me because I think it's very hard for people. People don't want the guy from Pineapple Express to be going to Yale and getting a Ph. D. They don't like it. I think people just want to... If they can't get pictures of me drunk coming out of a club, the worst they can get of me is sleeping in a 10 p.m. lecture. OK. If they want to paint the picture of the stoner going to school, it's kind of OK with me because it actually takes a lot of pressure off. If that's the way they want to depict me, it's fine. Because my schoolwork isn't a performance. I'm going there because I'm getting so much out of it and I'm getting to work with all of my favorite writers or professors. So if that's how they want to depict it, it's not taking away from why I'm there. And it takes pressure off. So you kind of have to roll with it."

Tom Bergeron (Nov. 15)

On Dancing With the Stars conspiracy theories: "I have no patience with my friends who believe there is a conspiracy keeping Bristol on the show. They'll say, and they're friends of a similar political persuasion though I have friends across the spectrum, 'Oh, well! She's still on the show! She's obviously not the best dancer! She gets the lowest scores!' My response to that is similar to my response to the midterm elections. I'll say, 'OK, right. So who did you vote for instead of Bristol?' 'Uh, well, I don't vote!' 'Well, then, f*ck you.'"

Amber Tamblyn (Nov. 22)

On the overblown 127 Hours fainting controversy: "Recently, we had the premiere here in L.A. and Huffington Post posted this huge article saying that somebody had a seizure at the screening, which is very true, but they clumped that story in with other reports of people fainting and having seizures during the [amputation] scene. The truth of the matter is that the person had a seizure within the first 15 or 20 minutes of the film. She had a seizure because of diabetic shock, which was completely unrelated to the film. [...] I think there is a thing going on here. It is like a symptom poll where people hear about this 'terrifying, scary, shocking, disgusting scene' and so when they go to see the movie, they hear that people are passing out and there is an inclination to traumatize their feelings about it. Honestly, that part of the film is three minutes. Seriously, three minutes. It's nothing. It's seriously nothing. I just shake my head. I feel bad for people who aren't going to see the movie just because they hear that and think that it's going to be horrible. It's such an incredible film about one man's survival and the triumphs of the human spirit."

Jesse Eisenberg (Dec. 6)

On winning awards: "The first movie I was in was called Roger Dodger. And the main actor in that [Campbell Scott], he won this award, the National Board of Review award. [...] I remember that day where I was because I had never heard of that award nor did I pay attention to any awards. And then I was kind of exposed, very briefly, because the movie was a $1 million movie. After he won that award, the movie people and the distribution company got a little bit confident about what that could be, at least for him. And I was immediately kind of turned off to the seemingly very kind of complicated process. And lengthy process. I just loved working with those people that I was working with, so I was happy to get to see them at these dinners and stuff. And luckily I didn't have to deal with any of the pressure because the pressure was not on me personally. This is a bit more intense because the movie is big, the expectations are higher. And so it's a lot of pressure, and it's something you can't do anything about. Like I can't go and react if you don't get acknowledged for something. And the other part of it, which is possibly more frustrating, is that I just did a play reading all day. And I felt like I was so much more effective in this reading that I just did all day -- there were 10 people in the audience -- than I was in The Social Network or other films. So it's a bit frustrating that you feel it's not really... The acknowledgments don't necessarily coincide with how you feel about things."

Nicole Kidman (Dec. 17)

On the evolving meaning of the Oscars: "They're just as exciting -- if not more so -- as you get older because there's a sense of what it means, actually. Particularly in a lifetime of work, the pursuit of excellence is something that's important. And I think once you've got things to compare it to in terms of work that hasn't reached where you want it to reach or hasn't been acknowledged, and, you know, have certainly had failures... That contrast puts everything into a much sweeter spot. And also, when I won the Oscar it was a very strange time for me. I was alone. I had the Oscar, but I didn't really have a life. So that was strange, and it was actually that which propelled me into going, 'My God, I actually have to find who I am and what I am and what I actually want for the next 50 or 60 years of my life, if I live that long.'"

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