Okay, let's get this part out of the way first: James Franco is hot. He's sexy as hell with his movie-star looks and amazing body. But he's also extremely talented, funny, smart, highly educated, and not afraid to take big risks. He exudes confidence yet remains humble and grounded. James Franco is one of the best things to emerge from one of the worst decades in American history. James Franco is so alluring, he's the crush of the decade.
The handsome and gifted actor seems a natural born movie star, yet he has hardly followed the typical path to fame; in fact, he seems aloof to stardom. He does the Hollywood thing his way, doing what he wants when he wants, whether it's filming another movie or taking a break from acting to attend graduate school at NYU or appearing in online videos poking fun at himself or other actors. Franco just seems like the type of guy you'd really enjoy hanging out with, wondering whether or not you might get lucky.
Franco got his big break in 1999 on the short-lived but Emmy Award-winning cult fav Freaks and Geeks. The show marked the humble beginning of what would later become the Judd Apatow era of offbeat but extremely popular improv-style comedies. It also introduced the world to Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel, all of whom would later star in Apatow's movies (Franco's turn was in 2007's Pineapple Expresss; he also appeared as himself in 2006's Knocked Up).
But Franco first caught the eye of America in the 2001 TV movie James Dean. Franco was perfect for the role, not only because he was a dead ringer for the ill-fated actor, but also because he was able to portray Dean's trademark style - the pretty bad boy barely covering his own inner fragility, always longing for something just out of reach. The movie earned Franco numerous award nominations, and he took home a Golden Globe for the role. Franco was so convincing, he was called "the new James Dean" at the time.
Franco then starred as reluctant villain Harry Osborn in the big-budget Spider-Man trilogy. In between those movies, he starred or played bit parts in several independent films, sometimes unrecognizable and/or uncredited (Franco continues this seemingly random career path, which he recently made fun of on Saturday Night Live, by currently starring on ABC's long-running daytime TV soap opera General Hospital).
The underrated Tristan and Isolde (2005) really had us swooning for Franco. As Tristan, the oft-shirtless or nude Franco was so beautiful, it was almost heartbreaking. The soft cinematography cast Franco in a perfect romantic light as Shakespeare's doomed inamorato. For gay men, Franco's portrayal of Harvey Milk's lover Scott Smith in the 2008 Academy Award-winning Milk sealed the deal. The actor has shown his support fpr LGBT rights and participated in an anti-Prop 8 rally in Los Angeles following the passage of the measure.
Salon.com named Franco its Sexiest Man Living 2009, saying he was supposed to be the next James Dean, but has turned out to be a total original. The site says Franco is "far more interesting than we ever expected" and a "straight up goof" (for his "WTF celebrity side project" on GH and upcoming appearance on NBC's 30 Rock). Franco has also popped up several times on Will Ferrell's website Funny or Die.com spoofing acting lessons, MTV's The Hills, and his last-minute cancellation as UCLA's commencement speaker earlier this year.
Franco is the current face of Gucci men's fragrance and has several films coming out in 2010. He'll play gay again as Beat Generation poet Alan Ginsberg in Howl, a role that is generating early Oscar buzz. He's also starring opposite Tina Fey and Steve Carell in the slapstick comedy Date Night, and will appear in the film adaptation of the best-selling book Eat Pray Love.
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