James Franco Talks About His Work Addiction, ‘Hitting A Wall’ Last Year

James Franco recently opened up about his work addiction and how it caught up with him last year.

While speaking with GQ Australia, the actor, who currently has a total of 17 projects lined up for the year, admitted that he hit a wall in November 2016. “It was a gradual thing. I hadn’t been in a relationship in a long time and was, like, realizing how much I was running from feelings and people. And how much of my identity was wrapped up in work,” he said.

The actor admitted that he reached a point in his life when he didn’t know himself outside of the movie set. “But as soon as I took a step back and stopped working, it was like, holy [expletive]. All the feelings flooded in and it was like this is what I was running from. This is what I was working to hide from. This is why I had to occupy myself every minute of the day, 24 hours a day. Because I was running, running from emotions and being vulnerable and being around people. Being myself,” he explained.

Franco added that he felt that the world was validating his work addiction since it’s not something that is frowned upon by others. Since hard work and success are typically rewarded, the actor became even more addicted to his job. But ironically, the more projects he accepts, the less likely does he find enjoyment in doing them.

“The curse of that it that I couldn’t enjoy my success. I was nominated for an Oscar, I was working with all my heroes. All the dreams I’d had as a young man had come true. And I still couldn’t enjoy it. It was never going to be enough,” he said.

As of late, Franco has already starred in “High School Lover” as Rick Winters, “The Vault” as Ed Mass, “The Institute” as Dr. Cairn and “Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon” as Roman Smalley. The actor is still set to appear in “The Long Home” as Dallas Hardin, “The Disaster Artist” as Tommy Wiseau and “The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards” as Conrad this year. He will also be directing “Metamorphosis: Junior Year.”