James Franco we love you, but you’re bringing us down. How can we defend you from the Gawkers of the world when you sign on to do a TV show like General Hospital? It’s no big deal, you say. You’re just “experimenting.” You’ll appear off and on for about two months, and then you’ll move on. Well, we’re not sure we can James.
Not to get all UCLA Class of 2009 on your ass, but this is a total desecration of the time you spent on Freaks and Geeks. Aren’t film projects like Howl and Your Highness enough to pay the bills at Columbia and NYU? Why not just starting selling your autograph to other grad students? And while we’re talking about your writing, what will a gig like this mean for your short story collection? Don’t put your dreams on hold just to play some daytime mob thug’s worst nightmare. It’s not worth it.
We suppose there’s one consolation: This has to be a historic move in Hollywood. An actor breaks into the Hollywood film world thanks to a prime time TV series and then decides to do a soap. It’s almost as unlikely as an actor making an art house movie that has him “re-enact” every television and film performance from his entire career. Oh wait.
Update: Franco says it’s “performance art.”
Comments (16)
Well if you are doing it just for a hoot, what the heck go enjoy youself – the things I do just to prove I'm alive and breathing aren't necessarily the smartest – who jumps out of a plane with a parachute after just 4 hours of practice on the ground. Yep seriously brain damaged. Now all I can say is if you do guest star on a daytime drama make sure you are not the bad guy with the town slut (there is always a town slut on those shows) make sure you are the guy with morals and the hero it's the only way to go.
Rumor has it he's doing it as research for another role. Regardless, more power to him. I wish more pheeelm actors would stop taking themselves so seriously and goof around on a *daytime* soap.
Get your nose out of the air, Ms. Stanley. Seriously.
Get a grip. Daytime Soap Actors work harder than every other type of actor out there. Can your average "movie star" do 50 pages of dialogue one day and 65 the next nonstop all year long. Understand the medium before you bash it.
I say good for him, good for 'General Hospital'. I take it the person writing this article, whom I've never heard of, has never watched General Hospital nor has anything positive to say about James Franco. I say if you're unhappy with your job, write a book about your life instead and see if you can sell it on anyone else. OH wait…
World is bad enough without you bashing the small things that make others happy.
Other "movie stars" have done soaps before.
What is wrong with a soap anyway? The actors are good.Why do people assume they aren't? They work harder than most, as it is a five day a week project. The storylines are often extreme, but that occurs in movies and primetime as well, including some of the ones Mr. Franco himself has been in. I don't see the big deal.
Oh…and don't forget…HE approached THEM.
You know what? I have to say…soap actors work their asses off. I think it's great for PR for daytime. Maybe snobs will watch more now.
Pardon me while I call all the film stars who are on popular cable shows, winning Emmys, and tell them they're frauds and disgraces to the profession. Blah blah blah, we've been here before, different format. Perhaps it's the current soap stars who should be afraid of being pushed out.
Jeez…a guy wants to do something "outside the box" and he's called an idiot? Good for him. Life is about doing what you want and he's achieved a level of success where he can have fun and enjoy everything. BTW "a show like General Hospital" has a lot of fans and has been on the air long before your pretentious ass breathed air.
I actually like Franco a lot — particularly his work in Freaks and Geeks. I thought he was the only good thing about The Pineapple Express. I just found this an odd career move.
You're right, I've never watched GH. I am however a big fan of primetime soaps like Melrose Place and The O.C., so I'm the last person who would trash that genre. Sorry that it came off that way.
But after they're famous? I just think it's an odd sequence of events.
Franco’s known for doing ‘odd’ pieces of work. Look at the array of his films. The guy is stunningly handsome, has $$ now, is in a long-term relationship with his pretty girlfriend and enjoys what he’s doing – all while winking at the rest of us. I may not like his politics of some of his choices for roles but HEY! It’s his life!
Wow, this article is so pretentious. I love General Hospital. It’s better than most anything on tv right now. It’s actors are talented and have provided me with over 30 years of great entertainment.
I just stumbled upon this and CANNOT believe this blasphemous journalism. You obviously know NOTHING about Daytime or soaps in general because if you did, you would know soap actors work a hell of a lot harder than actors on any other show or film. Other actors don’t memorize 90 pages of dialogue in a day, among other things. Franco has even said himself that soap actors are extremely hard working and he loved his time at GH. Just because you are UNFAMILIAR with one medium doesn’t mean you should bash it. Sounds to me like you’re just trying to sound all cool by making fun of a soap, and in turn, you’re just making yourself look like a fool. I won’t be on this lame website ever again.
and by the way, Franco being on General Hospital has opened up a whole new fan base to Franco AND the show itself. So looks like you’re the only one who isn’t coming out on top for writing this lame commentary.
If your going to be snobby and pretentious about an actor taking a role that isn’t “arty,” enough for you, first you might want to learn a tiny bit about contemporary art and said actor.
Franco doesn’t just “say,” it’s performance art. It is performance art. Kalup Linzy, who is pretty well known right now, has been doing soap opera inspired work for many years and has aspired to one day be on a soap opera himself as part of his work. Franco & Linzy have been collaborating for a while now, and Franco’s stint on GH was a successful and brilliant move that allowed Kalup to also get onto the show, which may have been much harder for Kalup to do had he, a fine artist, approach the show alone. By having his collaborator, a bona fide Hollywood actor do it first, Linzy was able to do exactly what he wanted. They even had input on the characters and storyline.
Pretty ironic to show your complete lack of knowledge of contemporary art while sticking your nose in the air about it. Just saying, maybe do a little research next time.
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