James Franco discusses his journey and new films on Verissimo

James Francoa highly acclaimed actor and director, will be on Verissimo with Silvia Toffanin today to share his story. He became known for iconic roles such as Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man trilogy and Aron Ralston in 127 Hours, a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination. Now he talks about his new film “Hey Joe.”

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James Franco’s story

His story begins with the tale of his diverse family background.

“My parents met at university, my mother was a poet. Also, my family has origins from all over the world: for example, the surname Franco is Portuguese, and my grandmother was Swedish.”

Then he talks about his turbulent youth.

“I was a bit shy in high school because I didn’t know what I wanted. I got arrested a couple of times then at 17 I started acting, I found a passion and I didn’t get arrested anymore. Acting saved me in a way I had to change my behavior, I had already done some bad things.”

Then came success at a young age.

“I took acting seriously,” he explains, “when I left school, my dad said I was crazy, I wanted to prove him wrong. But at some point I got too absorbed in the work, between 20 and 30 years. So I went back to acting school and found the strength to open a new chapter and become a screenwriter and director, but at that time I was doing too much again.”

So he took a break during the pandemic period.

“I needed a break when I was young, acting saved me, but over the years it’s still the only thing that describes me. I had to separate myself from my career and create roots.” The most important value for him today is “what can I add to others.”

The new film and fatherhood

The latest role is Dean in Hey Joe, a film from this year written and directed by Claudio Giovannesi, for him “it was a great adventure.”

In the story, American Dean Barry, a World War II veteran, returns to Italy after twenty-five years to meet the son born during the conflict from his relationship with a Neapolitan girl. But Enzo is now an adult, already a father himself, under the protection of a crime boss and showing no interest in getting close to his biological father.

“I’m a little late, but I want to be a father one day. Love? Yes, I’m in love, I’ve been in a relationship for a while. In the future I would like to continue working in Italy, I really like the cinema here.”