INT: James Franco

I never had the
chance to see “Freaks and Geeks” when it was first shown
on TV. So as for James Franco,
I first saw him in “James Dean”.
I was surprised and very impressed with his performance.
Since then, he has had a very long list of films, but none
quite as popular as his work as Harry Osborn in the SPIDER-MAN
franchise.

So when I first
arrived on the set of THE
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, I didn’t even recognize him with the wig
and his “drug dealer” wardrobe which you will soon read about HERE.
And when we finally had the chance to sit down with the man
at around one in the morning on a Saturday night I was really
impressed. Keep in mind he had
just been repeatedly stabbed by co-star Amber Heard and this was the
last night of the shoot for PINEAPPLE.
He was just a really likeable guy.
There was no brooding egomaniac here, just a nice guy who was
exhausted, yet still willing to hang with us and talk about drugs,
SPIDER-MAN and what it’s like to reunite with “Freaks and
Geeks”.

James
Franco

You must be exhausted. You just did a crazy press tour for
“Spider-Man 3” and now you’re finishing up on this film.

We were around
the world in about 8 days, maybe a little more. We spent about a day
in each country and did about eight premieres. It was exhausting
just because it feels like what I imagine a rock tour is like, but
without the adrenaline of the show. But, about half way through I
realized that not every movie is going to have this much excitement,
and people are going to have this kind of response so I’m going to
try and enjoy it as much as I can.

Congrats on all of the success.

Thank you.

How excited were you after opening weekend?

It was fun. I
was actually here on opening night. We were working on this. I was
going to go around to the theatres with everybody but I got out
around 10 PM and we went over to Morton’s and got some of the
early numbers and it was exciting.

So some of the cast members went to theatres to check out
opening night?

I think Tobey
was the only cast member. The producers and Sam all went around. I
think they went to the Arclight and The Grove and introduced the
movie.

I bet audiences were so surprised and stoked they did that.

Yeah. He [Sam
Raimi] was behind a curtain. It might have been at the Arclight.
People kind of recognized the voice and then he came out and then
they cheered.

So tell us about “The
Pineapple Express”.

Pineapple
Express is a comedy.

Don’t give us the version you tell everyone else.

[Laughing] Okay.

What’s going on with the hair?

I guess I
haven’t really done much comedy since “Freaks and Geeks” and
this role is very different than anything I’ve done. I think the
hair is really a way to push me even farther out of just what people
know me for. I don’t really know what people know me for.

I think a lot of people see you as a serious intense actor,
but you’re so funny in this movie. Do you think people are
going to be surprised or taken back a little because of the roles
they’re used to seeing
you in?

Maybe. They’re
like, ‘Wow he’s funny.’

Is that what you want the response to be like?

Yeah. I just
hope people find it funny. Every movie has a different kind of tone
and requirement and you’re supposed to laugh so I hope they do.

What was it like working with Seth again after all of this
time?

It’s great. As
far as I know, “Freaks and Geeks” was his first professional
job. He was funny on that, but you look back to episodes and they
really didn’t give him a ton to do. Off camera he was always
cracking us up, but on the show I don’t think he had enough to do.
Since then he’s had so many opportunities to show what he can do.
Especially this summer everyone will see. I think four scripts he
wrote got produced this year.

It’s pretty
incredible to see him grow up and expand professionally. I think
we’re a great team. Other people have said, ‘Oh this movie kind
of reminds me of the action buddy movies that I watched when I was
younger like “Midnight Run.” But, I see it more like an Abbot
and Costello kind of thing. I keep telling him that we should take
these characters and do other movies like Saul and Dale meet like
the equivalent of Frankenstein or maybe like the “Saw” guy;
whatever the equivalent of that is.

You’re really great at improv. Do you enjoy being able to
be that free?

This movie has a
lot of improvisation. It was a very very funny script, but the way
that I’ve seen the Apatow Productions develop since “Freaks and
Geeks” they provide a lot of room for improvisation and they shoot
in a way that it can be used. David [Gordon Green] comes from a
style where he improvises a lot. He’s only done dramas up until
this point, but in his other movies, he uses a lot of non-actors.
The way he tells the story is, it’s really about the characters
and he’ll get people to talk about their own lives some times and
a lot of it is unscripted. So he kind of fits into that Apatow
style.

You maybe saw a
little of it today, but sometimes he’ll just roll until it rolls
out and do it again until it rolls out. It’s a different way of
working. On “Spider-Man” Sam Raimi is really collaborative, but
everything that we work out is usually done before we start shooting
and then we fine tune something then go to set and usually film what
we’ve come up with. On this, you find so much of it in front of
the camera and you know that 90% of it isn’t going to be used, so
you just try everything. Some of it is and good and some of it is
terrible.

Is a film like this a nice break for you?

Yeah, it’s
been fun. It’s really been the most fun I’d had on a film.
I’ve always wanted to do comedy. I’ve just found so many of the
comedies to be so stupid and sometimes I don’t see a point to
them, and I don’t find them very funny. I would make a fool out of
myself for no reason and I don’t think it would be funny. I think
that Judd and Seth and these guys are making some of the best
comedies around. They’re my friends and it really felt like a good
opportunity to try it.

They’re also going for more of a hard R rather than PG-13
which attracts a bigger audience.

Yeah,
definitely. It’s kind of like anything goes in a way. They have
great comic sensibilities and taste. Well not anything goes…
anything funny goes. It gives it an edge. I feel like in Judd’s
two movies, “Knocked Up” and “40 Year Old Virgin,” there’s
a great edge and there’s a real gross out factor to it. But, then
they also have this other side that is a lot of heart and I always
tell myself how much I’m surprised at how much I’m feeling in
the movies. There is this weird thing where there’s a lot of dumb
comedy, but it also feels really smart too. It’s a weird
dichotomy.

Can you talk about the scene you were just shooting?

Well it’s
pretty much like a chase movie and we’re on the run. This is his
girlfriend and he’s worried that the bad guys are going to find
out where she lives, so we made our way out here finally after a lot
of mishaps. We get in and he tells me to wait outside and then I see
them drive up. I run in and she freaks out and stabs me with a fork.
We have a few different rigs. There’s one that I think it’s
Styrofoam or something of that nature that’s strapped up to my
back. It’s apparent from the back, but when you film it from the
front she can stab me and then let go and it can stay in. Then
there’s another rig that’s bulky so from the back I look like
Quasimodo. There’s a rig that’s much thinner that she can’t
stab, but we use that for the post stab. So that’s how you can
attach a fork that looks like it’s in me.

Can you describe your shirt to our readers?

This is actually
a David Gordon Green design. There is a… I think it’s supposed
to be a Great White shark although it’s a bit shaded so it’s
black. There’s a kitten in it that looks serene. It’s almost
like it’s sleeping. I think the shark is not eating it, but
carrying it to safety. The kitten was left out in the ocean and this
shark decided to put it in its mouth and carry it to shore.

So is this your complete wardrobe for the film?

It’s very
comfortable if anything. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Guatemalan
pants. I have one wardrobe change in the whole movie so we tried a
variety of things. Some sweatpants. The idea was to have something
that I would wear lounging around the house and then he comes over
and I have to leave immediately so I don’t get the chance to
change. I don’t know anybody that would wear Guatemalan pants. I
hear Woody Harrelson wears them. I don’t love them. But, after the
test they were the most interesting. I wanted to wear hotel
slippers. You know how people take those from hotels? But, there’s
so much action in this that it would have been a hindrance because
they would have fallen off.

Seth was telling us you two switched roles. You were supposed
to be the buyer and he was the dealer. Why is that?

Yeah… He wrote
this script a long time ago. I think six years ago and then about a
year or so ago I kept in contact with Judd and Seth a little bit,
and people from “Freaks and Geeks,” but I saw Judd at the Austin
film festival and I had a movie there that I directed call “The
Ape” which is kind of a dark comedy. He came to see it and
afterwards he said, ‘I miss the funny Franco.’ I said, ‘Yeah,
me too. We should do something.’ So we decided to look for
something. I think there were a few scripts he was looking at, but
he finally decided on this one and he gave me the script.

They had been
doing readings of this for years and I think Seth always read Saul.
Then they gave it to me and they didn’t tell me what role I was
playing. I assumed I was playing Dale. I thought it was really
funny, but I thought, ‘Oh man. I really like Saul. He’s got all
the funny lines.’ So we met after I read it and then it became
clear they wanted me to play Saul, I was surprised but I was like,
perfect. So that’s the best of both worlds. I think it worked out
great. I would say he’s the more feminine role in the
relationship.

But aren’t you the one who wants to be his really good
friend and he isn’t having it?

Exactly. It’s
kind of a love story.

You almost get that kind of homoerotic feeling.

There’s a
little bit of that. I’d say a lot of that is David Gordon
Green’s influence. It’s definitely about two people coming
together; a relationship between a dealer and his client. I don’t
know from experience. The last time I bought pot was in high school,
but I’ve been told that a lot of times dealers can be weird or
it’s kind of a weird relationship. So at the beginning, he
doesn’t want anything. He just wants my product and wants get out
of there. I’m kind of a lonely guy. I really like him. We get
thrown into this situation together and of course throughout the
movie, we become a lot closer.

Are they going to have a blooper reel of all the mishaps on
set?

I know they do
pretty good DVDs. They put out a lot of funny things so I would
assume they would have some of that stuff on there, yeah.

Who are some of the celebs coming in to be a part of the DVD
extras?

I haven’t
heard yet. I don’t know. I assume anyone who is enthusiastic about
the subject matter.

What’s coming up next for you?

I’m not sure
yet. I have a couple of things I’m working on. I have gone back to
school. I’m at UCLA right now. I’m just finishing up the
quarter. I’ve been doing the work while we’ve been shooting, but
I have friends tape a lot of the lectures. I’ll finish the quarter
up and then this summer I’m going to study through ULCA in London.
As far as movies, I have two movies I’m interested in, but I
don’t have them yet. And then I’ll probably direct a little bit
more. There’s a short that I really want to do based on a
[William] Faulkner short story. So I’ll probably do that this
year.

What are you majoring in?

English
Literature and specializing in creative writing; it’s a great
program. I’m working with Mona Simpson who wrote “Anywhere but
Here”. I’m actually
doing an honor thesis which is to write a novel under her
supervision.

Have you started it yet?

Yeah, I’m on
my first draft. I would be done this year, but because of that
I’ll go until next year. So I probably do a second draft. I’m
working on it now and will probably be finished by fall or winter.
Then I’ll have until May or June for a third draft.

Why literature and not film or theatre?

I was a
literature major when I went there before. It’s something that
I’ve always loved. I feel like it’s something that I’ve always
been interested in. I wouldn’t want to do anymore acting classes.
I’d be interested in film school although I’m just kind of
making movies right now. You learn a lot on set as an actor, but
I’ve directed two low budget features now and there’s so much
you learn just doing there. I feel like they’re kind of my student
films. So I’m getting to work with better and better people behind
the camera so I feel like I’m learning. Books are something I’ve
always been able to escape to.

So what are you reading now?

Now I’m taking
a Bible is Literature course which is actually focusing on the
Apocryphal so everything that didn’t make into the cannon. I’m
doing a course on Shakespeare’s contemporaries so we’re reading
Ben Johnson, Beaumont and Fletcher and Thomas Middleton and that
kind of stuff. That’s writing that I would never emulate. I’m
taking a writing workshop and then a course that helps prepare me
for the honor thesis.

You’re in the grad program then?

No, because I
never finished. About a year and a half ago I went back just because
I always regretted leaving. I’d love to start acting in roles in
very small independent films and at the time I was so focused on
acting that I didn’t put much energy into UCLA. Now that I can
support myself as an actor I don’t know. Acting is satisfying, but
I just wanted something more. It’s nice to have something other
than acting just because film making is so collaborative which is
good and bad. But, as an actor, the final product is out of your
hands so it’s nice to have something that I can control and have
it be my own.

So you’re just studying in all of your spare time?

Pretty much.
Other than that, I play ping-pong.

Let
me know what you think. Send
questions and comments to [email protected].