I don't need a vacation in the traditional sense, like I would if I had a job I hated.
My name is James Edward Franco. Ted is a nickname for Edward. That's what my parents called me. I also got 'Teddy Ruxpin' a lot. It just got to a point where I got sick of it, so when a teacher called out 'James Franco' my junior year of high school, I didn't correct her.
If the work is good, what does it matter? I'm doing it because I love it. Why not do as many things I love as I can? As long as the work is good.
I still don't like going to bed alone.
Of course there are some actors that are better than others and performances that are better than others, but they're always embedded in the greater film. They are mediated through the work of so many other people: the director directs, the lighter sets the scene, the editors edit, the music gets put to it.
I don't cast somebody that I think is like my younger self.
Directing, editing, and everything about filmmaking has definitely changed me as an actor.
I view filmmaking as a director's medium.
I worked the drive-through at McDonald's and tried out different accents - Italian, Russian, Irish.
There's a tendency, when you're directing yourself, not to give the performance as much care, because you feel like there's too much focus on yourself, or that all these people are just standing around setting everything up, waiting for you.
I am not going to be the guy who's not pulling his weight.
Reviews about film acting are very... tricky, because movies are such a collaborative thing.
You work really hard to make it, and maybe you get some acclaim, but then you realize there are certain limitations as an actor.
When I sign on for a project, I'm there to give the director all the material he or she might need to tell their story, and that's the number one priority.
There's a tacit belief that actors shouldn't write books, they're sort of allowed to direct movies but there will be a lot of skepticism, and they shouldn't do artwork or music. There are these invisible roadblocks to gain entree to these areas for actors, and you kind of have to crash through those invisible barriers.
But I don't want to die! I have so much to do!
When I was a child, I wanted to be an actor, but I had really bad buckteeth. I didn't want to get braces, but my mom said I couldn't be an actor if I didn't get the braces. So, I got the braces.
The first piece of art that I ever bought-when I could afford it-was a Warhol sketch from the period when he was just getting out of doing commercial work and more into art. It's a sketch of a young guy's face. I guess the gallery that I bought it from thought I would like it because the young guy kind of looked like James Dean.
I might have to stumble a little bit more in public than others, but that's fine, I don't mind, I've developed a thick skin.
Acting is an art form and you want to take roles that are challenged and it's more of a challenge I think to play dark characters. Not that I want to always play those, but it is a challenge and challenges are rewarding and fun.
