WTF Happened to JAMES FRANCO?

the producers of Freaks and Geeks had just finished up their casting process hiring very talented young actors who would go on to do amazing things in the business and one of those actors was cast because the producers like Jud AO thought he had a funny looking goofy face but then soon realized that his uh female co-workers did not think the same thing Jud APO soon realized that he had a heartthrob on his hands Jud APO had no idea that this was considered attractive but that's how it went thus is the Enigma that is James Franco he allegedly has classic leading man good looks but on the other hand he's also a Strang looking character actor and James Franco has been able to be both of those things until relatively recently for most performers building up a resume of over50 projects is something that takes an entire lifetime to achieve but for James Franco that is a feat that he has accomplished at just 45 years old this freaky geek was catapulted to Fame after appearing in one of the biggest comic book franchises of all time before settling into his role as a performer who can take on any genre and any film no matter how big or small like the guy would go back and forth between Hollywood franchise to freaky Art House Indie that nobody saw one for them one for him one for them one for him and it's a beautiful thing but with a tremendous rise it's such a young age sometimes you don't make the best decisions and for James Franco those bad decisions would come to light on the very night of his greatest professional achievement and begin a downfall that is sadly all too common in today's world but now Franco has taken a back seat as allegations against him begin to pile up so it's time we examine his career and find out just what the happened to James Franco but to truly understand what the happened to James Franco we must begin at the beginning of the beginning of began when he was born on his birthday 1978 California when most people get into acting they go in head first and start auditioning immediately but James Franco knew that he wanted to study the craft before making a serious run at it and so he spent a year and a half training and taking class before he began auditioning and maybe because of this his first gig came rather quickly when he was cast in a Pizza Hut Commercial before landing guest spots on shows like Pacific Blue and profiler but it would be in 1999 when James Franco and several other prominent stars of today had his true breakout role in a series that was cancelled after airing just 12 episodes so yeah after having a supporting role in Never Been Kissed James Franco would be cast as the bad boy in a shortlived yet cult classic TV series called Freaks and Geeks the show premiered on September 25th 1999 and received strong critical Acclaim yet only garnered around 7 million views which in today's world would be actually a genuine hit but in 1999 it was not very good despite the show's cancellation James Franco along with his castmates would be nominated for best performance in a TV series young Ensemble at the Young artist Awards but even with a failed TV series on his resume James Franco was on the verge of something big we don't often associate TNT made TV movies to be career makers but James Franco playing another actor named James would be the big break he was looking for when he was cast as James Dean in James Dean and yeah he really looks like James Dean I remember sitting there watching Spider-Man in the theaters and thinking to myself wow at certain angles this guy looks like James Dean and yeah I guess TNT thought the same when cast as James Dean James Franco took the job serious he had never smoked before but he became a two pack a day kind of guy as James Dean was while also learning to ride a motorcycle and play several instruments he even isolated himself from his family and friends saying that James Dean had this per vasive loneliness to him that he wanted to feel that work would actually pay off when James Franco would be nominated for a screen actor's guild award and an Emy while also winning best actor in a motion picture made for TV at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards and the Critics Choice Awards too then came the year 2000 and James Franco would graduate to the world of Blockbuster films when he went into audition for the role of Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man in a new film directed by Sam Ry although he did not land to the job as Peter Sam Ry thought James Franco was perfect to portray Peter Parker's best friend who ultimately becomes his mortal enemy Harry Osborne although there had been comic book films prior to this Spider-Man can directly be attributed to the genre becoming what it has become today I guess not only was it the first film to ever open above 100 million at the domestic box office ultimately taking in 825 million worldwide but that wasn't the only film you could see James Franco in in 2002 the guy works hard as he had roles in Deuces Wild City by the sea and a lead role in Nicholas Cage's directorial debut Sunny after appearing in the 2003 film the company James Franco would return to the world of Blockbusters for the followup Spider-Man 2 in 2004 a rare sequel that is widely regarded as superior to the original with the mainstream success of the Spider-Man films James Franco would land leading roles in films such as the Great Raid Tristan and his old Anapolis and fly boys the problem was that none of these films really hit it at the box office James Franco would then pop up in a series of small roles and cameos in such films as wicker man the dead girl the holiday An American Crime and knocked up however Franco's biggest success or achievement although the numbers and reviews may not support that claim was when he decided to step behind the camera and make his directorial debut with the 2005 film the ape which has nothing to do with Rise of the Planet of the Apes but I like to pretend it does some critics did call this film self-indulgent and it never received a theatrical release but it did start James Franco down a path of directing which some say he has certainly gotten better as time went on back on the big screen James Franco would finally Go full villain with Spider-Man 3 when the Arc of his character was complete and become the new Green Goblin but for James Franco I just think he wasn't super comfortable in those big Blockbusters he's more of an indie kind of guy he would finish out 2007 starring opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the valley of Law and then he went and did something kind of strange but you know that's so James Franco so yeah by this time James Franco was a pretty big star so it was a bit of a shock when he decided to head back to TV but not just any TV daytime soap opera TV when he appeared in over 30 episodes of The Long running General Hospital playing a character named Franco in 2008 after appearing in the romantic comedy Camille Franco would ret team with Jud AO and Seth Rogan his Freaks and Geeks buddy for the film Pineapple Express where he played a marijuana smoking drug dealer of marijuana this R-rated film would be a much needed success for James Franco pulling in over $100 million off a $20 million budget with James Franco being awarded the high time Stoner of the Year award as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe then James Franco would appear in the critically acclaimed film milk where he played a much younger lover to the San Francisco politician Harvey Milk played by Sha pen in this movie you get to watch Shawn pen make out with James Franco and it's not awkward at all James Franco said that it was a dream come true to work with filmmaker Gus fan ant saying that he used to watch Drugstore Cowboy in my own private Idaho obsessively of course with James Franco you never really know what you're going to get and he would kick off 2010 by starring as Alan Ginsburg in the independent film how which would see James Franco nominated for several Awards he would follow that up with a comical turn in the film date night before starring in the little scene shadows and lies and he was even in eat prey love while directing a documentary called Saturday night about the production process of Saturday Night Live the dude is always working of course 2010 was also the year James Franco was seen in the true story 127 Hours as a guy who has to cut off his arm that's the whole movie a guy cutting off his arm but you know what it's actually freaking brilliant because of James Franco's performance and the direction of Danny Bole this would see him receive several nominations including an Academy Award for best lead actor and although he did not win the Oscar nominee James Franco would also step foot on the stage as the host of the Oscars that evening alongside Anne Hathaway but sadly that year a year in which James Franco gave his best performance ever in 127 Hours it wouldn't be the film that people were talking about the next day but the absolutely cringy horrible job he did hosting the show but I don't really think it was his fault he was doing his James Franco thing why would anyone hire him to do this he mixes up his output from independent character studies that go under the radar to films that grab the attention of the critics to Blockbuster films aimed at the popcorn eating crowd alongside Some solid comedies thrown in for good measure but it isn't even his name above the title that keeps him going he's happy to just show up in a cameo in his friends projects without receiving any credit as we've seen already since 2011 he has had no less than two films released each year with some years seeing up to 12 projects featuring the actor whether he has a small Cameo and his former best friend Seth Rogan's Green Hornet or if he's starring in the horribly misguided comedy your highness which should have been the next Pineapple Express but it wasn't cuz it's stupid and completely missed the point of everything and he did all this while also launching a very lucrative franchise reboot starring as a human in Rise of the Planet of the Apes then the next year he shows up in a film called the ican while playing an arms dealer who take some unsuspecting young ladies under his wing in harmony Kareem's Spring Breakers where he was definitely trying something then he would appear on the nickit night Tel Nolla Hollywood Nights while appearing alongside Winona riter in the letter to playing Hugh Hefner in love lace followed by reuniting with Sam Ry to play the man behind the curtain in Oz the Great and Powerful which I didn't like and I don't think uh a lot of other people liked it too so James Franco would then again step behind the camera for As I Lay Dying before starring in one of the funniest meta movies ever where actors play themselves I guess and they do it freaking perfectly in this one this one's called This is the end where James Franco plays James Franco and he's really really good at playing James Franco whoever James Franco may be and this film This is the End shows that despite Franco being in like very very intense dramas he's also an extremely talented comedic actor as well even though I think Seth Rogan said that sometimes James Franco needs like a lot of takes but then he finally Nails it and when he Nails it it's perfect he would finish out 2013 by directing three more films Paula Alto child of God and the documentary interior leather bar while also appearing in third person and home front and and of course he got the dubious honor of being roasted by his closest friends in the Comedy Central roast of James Franco he would also receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014 he would take a bit of a break by appearing in an episode of naked and afraid before playing himself on Veronica Mars the movie followed by starring in good people while directing and starring in the sound of Fury before almost bringing the United States to war with North Korea for the film the interview that's right a James Franco Seth Rogan film almost created an international conflict because you know movies have the power to change the world For Better or Worse 2005 would be his big year 12 movies featuring the actor were released granted most were independent and direct video releases but all showcased the range of Franco whether it was in the adaptation of Don kote to playing a man suspected of killing his family in true story alongside titles such as yosimite I am Michael Queen of the Desert everything will be fine Wild Horses the Heyday of the insensitive bastards the Aderall Diaries Memoria while voicing The Fox and the Little Prince and having another hilarious Cameo as himself in the R-rated Christmas comedy the night before while also appearing in the Hulu series dead beat Franco is a performer that never seems to slow down between 2016 and 2015 he appeared in no less than 28 projects including sausage party why him The Show Ken the Cohen Brothers the ballot of Buster Scruggs where he became a meme with his first time joke and the TV series Angie Tribeca while also appearing in and directing episodes of the hit miniseries the 11 2263 which was a Stephen King JFK Thriller and the deuce while also directing the films in dubious battle The Institute future world The Pretenders and zeroville of course his biggest success at that time came when he directed a film about the making of a film that has been deemed the worst movie ever made the Disaster Artist this film would bring James Franco the respect he had longed for as a director it would be a film that would be praised not just for the direction but for his Pitch Perfect portra Trail of the room star Tommy wzo on January 7th 2018 James Franco would take the stage at the Beverly Hilton where the 75th annual Golden Globe awards were happening to accept his award for best actor in a comedy that night he was sporting a pin on his lapel in solidarity with the fight against sexual misconduct at the moment he took the stage James Franco was experiencing perhaps the biggest high of his entire career but what what he didn't know is that at that exact moment a former co-star of his Ali shidi whom James Franco directed and appeared in a an Off Broadway play in 2014 Ali sheii tweeted that James Franco just won please never ask me why I left the TV film business that mysterious tweet led to James Franco admitting to texting and trying to meet up with a 17-year-old girl Franco blamed the incident on the trickiness of social media while saying he exercised bad judgment Franco would appear on The Late Show with Steven colar just 3 days after where colar asked the actor about these allegations and him wearing the pin in the face of the allegations Franco said that he had no idea what he did to Ali shidi while also saying that other allegations made against him were not accurate of course though those allegations were just the beginning a month after winning the award the Los Angeles Times published a report where five women accused James Franco of exploiting his power to seduce these women into unwanted sexual encounters while he was a teacher at the playhouse West acting school and his own stage 4 school in Los Angeles where the women said that James Franco took advantage of their desire to be a part of the film industry other women alleged that James Franco would convince these young women to perform sexual acts in his films with the thought that it would help their careers in 2019 two of these women sued James Franco for sexualizing his power as a teacher and employer by dangling potential roles in his projects in their face although James Franco maintained his innocence he would reach a $2.2 million settlement in 2021 and admit that he did abuse his power by engaging in consensual sexual encounters with his students he said that he started the school with the intention of helping students fulfill their dreams of being in Show Business and not of some sort of sick plan to sleep with women but he figured that if these sexual relationships with his students were consensual then it was okay not exactly recognizing the power dynamic between the award-winning professional actor and those young women who were still trying to make their way in the industry and it would seem that these bad decisions made by James Franco have taken a toll on his career as you can tell Franco was the very definition of a working actor the dude was constantly working every year since his first project in 1997 James Franco had something on TV or in theaters all the freaking time this was a person who genuinely loves working in the entertainment industry and would give it 100 100% whether it was a big budget summer blockbuster roll or a soap opera and since winning that Golden Globe and the allegations against him he has appeared on several podcasts where he talks about his addiction issues to both alcohol and sex Franco actually does have a few films in the pipeline including a film where he plays Fidel Castro but the real question is will James Franco ever get back to where he once was it seems even James FR O's closest friends have not stuck by him during this time when Seth Rogan said that he has no plans to ever work with James Franco again but in a world where people like Louis CK can continue to sell out their live performances it seems like talented people can have resurrections in their career it seems like being cancelled isn't exactly uh final and fatal all the time so so yeah unlike the cancelling of Freaks and Geeks James Franco may very well come back and James Franco he seems to genuinely show remorse for his actions I guess or he's a really good actor but you know get that misou fire conundrum there but yeah the dude has proven to be an immense talent and it's not Unthinkable that we will see James Franco in the Limelight again just as long as he never hosts the Oscars please so yeah that's what the happened to James Franco uh he's not exactly doing fine but uh yeah [Music] [Music]

Channel: JoBlo Originals

Views: 248,637

Keywords: joblo videos, joblo, wtf happened to, wtf happened to this celebrity, wtf happened to this movie, wtf, the best movie you never saw, awfully good movies, joblo originals, movie review, review, james franco, james franco lawsuit, james franco oscars, james franco amber heard, james franco snl, james franco allegations, james franco movies, james franco anne hathaway oscars fail, james franco cancelled, james franco me too, james franco seth rogen, freaks and geeks

Id: 2nVO87oh2mo

Length: 21min 21sec (1281 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 29 2023