Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that James Franco graced us with his presence on Friday, April 1st for the premiere of “Your Highness.” In a fierce competition, UCSB won the opportunity for James Franco’s newest film to premiere on our campus. Best known for his breakthrough starring role on “Freaks and Geeks” (1999), James Franco was born in Palo Alto, California on April 19, 1978. James Franco graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996 and subsequently attended UCLA, majoring in English. As an immensely bashful teenager in need of overcoming his fears, Franco decided to take up acting at UCLA. Franco ended up leaving after only one year to study at Robert Carnegie’s Playhouse West. En route of pursuing his dream of becoming a famous Hollywood actor, Franco began looking for work. Before he knew it, Franco got himself a starring role on “Freaks and Geeks” (1999). However, it wasn’t until his role in James Dean (2001) that James rose to fame and proved his talent as a serious actor. Since then, Franco has been in countless movies such as Spider-Man (2002) and its subsequent sequels, Deuces Wild (2002), and City By the Sea (2002)–in which Robert De Niro personally casted Franco. Franco can be seen in newer movies such as Milk (2008), for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Pineapple Express (2008), for which he got countless laughs. Franco was also starred in Eat Pray Love (2010), 127 Hours (2010), and The Green Hornet (2011). Not only is James Franco an extremely talented and versatile actor, but he is also a professor. Yes, James Franco recently took a teaching position at NYU where he will be enlightening the lucky students of NYU on directing. After seeing his unwavering dedication to his fans, his newest film, and his unbelievable good looks, I think it is safe to say that we all fell even more in love with James Franco this week.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSB chapter.