Sins of the father

You know James Franco as the Green Goblin's son in the Spider-Man movies, but in SP3, he steps up to wreak some serious havoc his damn self. Chillin' like a villain? Undoubtedly.

STORY BY NATE DENVER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANTHONY MANDLER

Hollywood marches out the next batch of chiseled golden boys, most of whom peak artistically playing vapid studs in teen flicks until they spontaneously combust from irrelevance. Despite his chiseled jaw, James Franco never was one of those cornballs. He’s a serious actor, you see. The 29-year-old native of Palo Alto, California, first emerged in 1999 playing complicated cool guy Daniel Desario on the short-lived TV cult favorite Freaks and Geeks1. His nuanced portrayal of tortured-rebel icon James Dean in a 2001 TV biopic not only won him a 2002 Golden Globe Award, it also caught the eye of film legend Robert De Niro, who brought Franco on to play his junkie son in that year’s City by the Sea. Now best known for playing Peter Parker’s friend-turned-nemesis Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man franchise, Franco is building a body of work that could place him in the same league as Leo DiCaprio, Edward Norton, and even De Niro in years to come. You might have heard rumors about Franco rocking starlets like Sienna Miller2 and Lindsay Lohan to sleep (and in LL’s case, to rehab3)—and who knows, maybe he has ruffled their linens, but you won’t find him between the sheets of your favorite gossip rag. Franco isn’t on the scene like some of those other lames, waiting for paparazzi to validate him. He’s got more important things to do, like study and talk to Complex about McDonald’s, higher education, and pretending to be homeless.

Palo Alto is a nice town, but East Palo Alto is rough. Did you ever get caught in EPA after dark?
James Franco: I never did, just ’cause I didn’t have a fake ID, but a lot of people in my class would go over there. There was a liquor shop that was right near the freeway, and they’d go over there to buy. I wasn’t there, but there was this big incident where a bunch of the locals stopped ’em and started throwing rocks at the car. But it’s gotten a lot better since then.

How did you end up working at McDonald’s?
James Franco: [When I left UCLA after a year and a half] to pursue acting exclusively, my parents wouldn’t support me anymore. I didn’t have a car. I had to get a job within walking distance of my apartment. I don’t think I was very presentable, so none of the restaurants would take me—there’s a lot of competition for those waiter jobs. McDonald’s hired me, so I worked there for a few months. But I got an agent early on. Not great work, but I was working.

Do you read comic books?
James Franco: I didn’t read a ton when I was younger. I was into Dungeons & Dragons. A little bit of Spider-Man, but I wasn’t a collector. I remember when the Todd McFarlane series came out, but I didn’t really start studying them until I got the movie. Then I started reading the compilations of all the old stuff. I’m a big fan of graphic novels. I love Frank Miller. I don’t have enough time to read as many as I’d like. I’ve actually gone back to UCLA. I’m taking six classes, so it’s hard to find time for recreational reading.