HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — James Franco is setting the record straight when it comes to rumors that he's gay and enjoys smoking pot, two misconceptions that have developed from the characters he frequently portrays.
"Everyone thinks I'm a stoner, and some people think I'm gay because I've played these gay roles," the 32-year-old actor tells Advocate magazine. "That's what people think, but it's not true. I don't smoke pot. I'm not gay. But on another level, there's something in me that is able to play roles like that in a way that's convincing."
Franco will again tackle a gay role onscreen when he portrays Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Howl, opening Sept. 24.
"He blew us away," the film's co-director Rob Epstein says. "It was hard for us to imagine anyone being able to embody a young Allen, but James just threw himself into the role and knew what was going on emotionally and intellectually for Ginsberg in every line of the script. He so gets into Allen's skin. It never feels like impersonation. It feels like a deep, nuanced understanding."
So why is Franco attracted to gay roles?
"In this history of cinema, there are so many heterosexual love stories," he explains. "It's so hammered, so done. It's just not that interesting to me. It's more interesting to me to play roles and relationships that haven't been portrayed as often."
Franco has been dating actress Ahna O'Reilly for the past five years. When asked if her boyfriend might have a secret desire to be gay, she replies, "If he does, it's news to me!"
O'Reilly also defends Franco's passion for writing. He has spent countless years furthering his education in the area, but his work isn't always well received.
"Because of his fame, it's really hard for people to be completely objective about his writing, whether they're an actual reviewer or a fellow student in a writing class with him," she says. "Because he tries to do so much and is so out there with his work, some people are going to try to tear him down. So it's hard for him to get a true gauge of what people think and of the quality of the work. Whenever things get touchy, I remind him that the only thing he can do is try to write what he thinks is good."
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