James Franco, along with Anne Hathaway, will host the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27. This is the first time the 32-year-old actor will host the awards show. Along with hosting, the Palo Alto native is also nominated for Best Actor for his role as Aron Ralston in 127 Hours. James Franco kickstarted his career in the late 1990s appearing on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks. From there he's played a number of roles in films such as Pineapple Express, Milk, Eat, Pray, Love, and Knocked Up. He's also appeared in a number of television series including General Hospital and 30 Rock. Here is a list of ten lesser known facts about James Franco's life and career.
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For his breakout role as James Dean in TNT's 2001 biopic, Franco began smoking. "If you look at pictures of [Dean], he's so expressive with his cigarettes," Franco said.Seems like it paid off. Franco won a Golden Globe for his performance. "I gave the statue to my mother," he said. He has since quit smoking. ReutersBorn on April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California, his family calls him Ted, short for his middle name, Edward. ReutersAt 19, James Franco dropped out of UCLA to become an actor. He worked the late night shift at McDonald's. He says he was a vegetarian up until then.ReutersAfter leaving UCLA, he re-enrolled and majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. He later moved to New York to simultaneously attend graduate school at Columbia University's MFA writing program, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for filmmaking and Brooklyn College for fiction writing. He is currently a Ph.D student in English at Yale University.ReutersJames Franco deletes Twitter accountReutersTo prepare for his role in “City by the Sea,” James Franco spent a few days living like a homeless person. "I got a sense of what it was like to be on the street, being separate from society,” he told Movies.ign.com. “You really become a shunned human being, and kind of withdraw into yourself. This is a part about isolation and not having anyone you can rely on."ReutersJames Franco wrote a book called "Palo Alto," which is a collection of short stories inspired by his teenage exploits. ReutersFranco enjoys reading on the set of his films. Judd Apatow, who produced "Pineapple Express" said, "He's a very education-minded person. We used to laugh because in between takes he'd be reading "The Iliad" on set. We still haven't read "The Iliad." It was a very difficult book. With him, it was always James Joyce or something."ReuterIn 2009, Salon.com named James Franco the Sexiest Man Alive. ReutersTo prepare for his role in "Fly Boys," James Franco took flying lessons. He loved it so much he went all the way. After three months of practicing everyday, Franco became a licensed pilot. Reuters
