Panel Nerds: James Franco Is the Consummate New Yorker

Who: James Franco interviewed by Lauren Collins
What: The New Yorker Festival’s “James Franco talks with Lauren Collins”
Where: Cedar Lake Theatre
When: October 17, 2009
Thumbs: Up

A Jack of all trades, James Franco somehow finds the time to fit in (nearly) everything he wants to do. So we weren’t surprised to see Franco appearing as a surprise guest on “Saturday Night Live” an hour after he left the festival.

Interviewer Lauren Collins introduced and addressed Franco as an actor, director, poet, writer, art collector, and “exhausted grad student.” What makes Franco even more impressive, though, is the great length he goes to read about and research a role, project or hobby before he dives in. For his part on “Freaks and Geeks,” for instance, he visited the Detroit high school that served as the inspiration for the show. Franco said that when the show got canceled, he was excited to be able to pursue other shows and movies, without being tied down to one role.

It was on that show that Franco began to emerge as a stoner icon. During his own teenage years, he played the part of mischievous “Ted” Franco. Now, well after he has outgrown his adolescence, Franco stated that people assume — based on his demeanor and speech, no doubt — that he’s still one of them. He said he doesn’t mind this presumption because it means they assume he’s a fun, likable person.

That persona can work to his detriment with some directors. On the set, he likes to improvise and go into spontaneous performances even after the cameras stop rolling. For “Pineapple Express,” Judd Apatow welcomed Franco’s contributions. However, earlier in his career, Franco says that people found his impulsiveness to be annoying and unbefitting. But over time, he’s accepted that actors don’t collaborate on the creative process from the start.

That’s what propelled him to decide to start directing films. For his NYU film classes, he’s adapted some poems into short films. Franco read one of his favorites on the stage, during which he was noticeably more engaged in the material than he was when they aired some of his movie scenes on the projector.

What They Said
“I went on to make some good movies and then I made some bad movies.”
– After leaving television, James Franco acknowledges he’s had an uneven film career

“There’s something about [Allen] Ginsburg that’s still hip”
– James Franco says it was easy to prepare for Howl because he read a good deal of the Beats in high school

“It’s kind of like acting. When I had a different mask or mouthpiece, stuff came out easier.”
– James Franco connects his poetic and theatrical sides

“Having a great teacher is like having a great director.”
– James Franco compares having Michael Cunningham as a fiction-writing teacher to working under Martin Scorsese

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I started watching about a week ago.”
– James Franco was immediately asked about his latest announced role on “General Hospital,”a show Judd Apatow phoned to say he once obsessively watched

What We Thought

• Collins began the event by announcing the Twitter hashtag that that audience members should use to join in on the festival’s discussion. We liked how the festival tried to connect all of its attendees and allowed them to catch what was happening elsewhere around town.
• Franco kept some props from his movies and reused others, revealing that he wore the same wig in both “Milk” and “Pineapple Express.” He also recycled the prosthetic penis he wore in “Milk” for use as a nose inside a mask in another film. Seriously.

PANEL RULES!
Some audience behavior seems to repeat itself panel after panel. We’ll be updating a running list of “PANEL RULES!” that will help ensure that you are not the dweeb of the Panel Nerds.

Panel Nerds don’t like…One-Night-Standers
A celebrity agrees to appear at a popular festival. He’s honest and forthcoming throughout. So when you arise to ask a question, make sure it’s one that will yield captivating results. Asking him what his motivation was for being there that night doesn’t qualify. It’s not only short-sighted, it carries with it an obvious answer: because I was invited. Franco turned it into a chance for modesty, mentioning how hard it is to talk about oneself for an entire hour.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.