From imdb.com
19 April
1978,
Palo Alto, California, USA
Birth Name
James Edward Franco
Nickname
Ted, Teddy
Height
5' 11" (1.80 m)
Best known for his breakthrough starring role on
"Freaks and
Geeks" (1999), James Franco was born in Palo
Alto, California on April 19, 1978. Growing up with his two younger brothers,
James graduated from Palo Alto high school in 1996 and went on to attend UCLA,
majoring in English. To overcome his shyness, he got into acting while studying
there, which, much to his parents' dismay, he left after only one year. After
fifteen months of intensive study at Robert Carnegie's Playhouse West, James
began actively pursuing his dream of finding work as an actor in Hollywood. In
that short time, he landed himself a starring role on
"Freaks and
Geeks" (1999). The show, however, was not a hit
to its viewers at the time, and was canceled after its first year. Now, it has
become a cult-hit. Prior to joining
"Freaks and
Geeks" (1999), Franco starred in the TV
miniseries _"To Serve and Protect" (1999) (mini). After that he had a starring
role in
Whatever It Takes (2000),
which is where he met his future girlfriend,
Marla
Sokoloff.
Although he'd been working steadily, it wasn't until the TNT made-for-television
movie,
James Dean (2001) (TV)
that James rose to fan-magazine fame and got to show off his talent. Since then
he has been working non-stop. After losing the lead role to
Tobey
Maguire, James settled for the part of Harry
Osborne, Spider-Man's best friend in the summer 2002 major hit
Spider-Man
(2002).
Next was
Deuces Wild (2002) and
City
by the Sea (2002), in which
Robert De
Niro personally had him cast, after viewing his
performance in
James Dean (2001) (TV).
Definitely growing out of his shyness James Franco is turning into a legend of
his own.
IMDb Mini Biography By:
Breighton Lee; [email protected]
Auditioned for the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man (2002), but was given the part of Harry Osbourne.
James appeared in two movies that premiered on the same day, Deuces Wild (2002) and Spider-Man (2002), both opening on May 3rd. The success of the two films was highly varied as Spider-Man film has to date amassed a box office gross some 67 times greater than that of Deuces.
He has two brothers, Tom and Dave Franco.
His parents are Betsy & Doug Franco
In his spare time he likes to paint
Was named one of People Magazine's 50 Hottest Bachelors [2004]
Has his own production company - Rabbit Bandini Productions.
Went by the name of Ted in high school and was voted "Best Smile" at Palo Alto High School
Shares a birthday with Hayden Christensen.
Was named one of Salon.com's "10 men who might just inspire the rebirth of Jewish male cool."
Although he always hated it, he started smoking for his lead role in "James Dean".
Is of Portuguese and Swedish heritage on his father's side, and of Russian Jewish heritage on his mother's side.
Worked with stunt coordinator Nick Powell in 2 movies both premiering in 2006: Tristan & Isolde and Annapolis.
Portuguese/Russian American.
Close friends with Tobey Maguire. He also used to "babysit" Tobey's daughter on the set of Spiderman 3.
His first overseas trip was to Australia to film The Great Raid.