James Franco

Acting

James Franco

Born 1978-04-19 · Palo Alto, California, USA

James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in 127 Hours (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for appearing in films such as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Milk (2008), Eat, Pray, Love (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He frequently collaborates with fellow actor Seth Rogen, including in Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013), Sausage Party (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Franco's first prominent acting role was on television. He starred as Daniel Desario on the short-lived ensemble comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), which developed a cult following. He portrayed the title character in the television biographical film James Dean (2001), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and received nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and Primetime Emmy Award. Franco also had a recurring role on the daytime soap opera General Hospital (2009–2012) and starred in the limited series 11.22.63 (2016). He starred in the David Simon-created HBO drama The Deuce (2017–2019).

Acting credits

Spider-Man poster
7.4

After being bitten by a genetically altered spider at Oscorp, nerdy but endearing high school student Peter Parker is endowed with amazing powers to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.

Spider-Man

2002

Spider-Man 3 poster
6.5

The seemingly invincible Spider-Man goes up against an all-new crop of villains—including the shape-shifting Sandman. While Spider-Man’s superpowers are altered by an alien organism, his alter ego, Peter Parker, deals with nemesis Eddie Brock and also gets caught up in a love triangle.

Spider-Man 3

2007

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes poster
7.3

A group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

2014

Spider-Man 2 poster
7.3

Peter Parker is going through a major identity crisis. Burned out from being Spider-Man, he decides to shelve his superhero alter ego, which leaves the city suffering in the wake of carnage left by the evil Doc Ock. In the meantime, Parker still can't act on his feelings for Mary Jane Watson, a girl he's loved since childhood. A certain anger begins to brew in his best friend Harry Osborn as well...

Spider-Man 2

2004

Alien: Covenant poster
6.2

The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise but is actually a dark, dangerous world.

Alien: Covenant

2017

Rise of the Planet of the Apes poster
7.4

A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those who have harmed him.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011

Homefront poster
6.9

Phil Broker, a retired DEA agent, leads a quiet life with his daughter Maddy, until a school bullying incident draws them into a conflict with Morgan “Gator” Bodine, a local crime boss.

Homefront

2013

Knocked Up poster
6.3

A slacker and a career-driven woman accidentally conceive a child after a one-night stand. As they try to make the relationship work, they must navigate the challenges of parenthood and their differences in lifestyle and maturity.

Knocked Up

2007

127 Hours poster
7.1

The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.

127 Hours

2010

The Holiday poster
7.1

Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.

The Holiday

2006

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs poster
7.1

Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

2018

Eat Pray Love poster
6.2

A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".

Eat Pray Love

2010

This Is the End poster
6.2

While attending a party at James Franco's house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse.

This Is the End

2013

Sausage Party poster
5.8

Hot dog Frank leads a group of supermarket products on a quest to discover the truth about their existence and what really happens when they're chosen to leave the grocery store.

Sausage Party

2016

Oz the Great and Powerful poster
5.9

Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus illusionist and con-artist, is whisked from Kansas to the Land of Oz where the inhabitants assume he's the great wizard of prophecy, there to save Oz from the clutches of evil.

Oz the Great and Powerful

2013

The Little Prince poster
7.6

Based on the best-seller book 'The Little Prince', the movie tells the story of a little girl that lives with resignation in a world where efficiency and work are the only dogmas. Everything will change when accidentally she discovers her neighbor that will tell her about the story of the Little Prince that he once met.

The Little Prince

2015

The Interview poster
6.2

Dave Skylark and his producer Aaron Rapaport run the celebrity tabloid show "Skylark Tonight". When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, they are recruited by the CIA to turn their trip to Pyongyang into an assassination mission.

The Interview

2014

Pineapple Express poster
6.6

A stoner and his dealer are forced to go on the run from the police after the pothead witnesses a cop commit a murder.

Pineapple Express

2008

Why Him? poster
6.4

A dad forms a bitter rivalry with his daughter's young rich boyfriend.

Why Him?

2016

The Disaster Artist poster
7.1

An aspiring actor in Hollywood meets an enigmatic stranger by the name of Tommy Wiseau, the meeting leads the actor down a path nobody could have predicted; creating the worst movie ever made.

The Disaster Artist

2017

Spring Breakers poster
5.3

After four college girls rob a restaurant to fund their spring break in Florida, they get entangled with a weird dude with his own criminal agenda.

Spring Breakers

2013

The Green Hornet poster
5.6

Britt Reid, the heir to the largest newspaper fortune in Los Angeles, is a spoiled playboy who has been, thus far, happy to lead an aimless life. After his father dies, Britt meets Kato, a resourceful company employee. Realizing that they have the talent and resources to make something of their lives, Britt and Kato join forces as costumed crime-fighters to bring down the city's most-powerful criminal, Chudnofsky.

The Green Hornet

2011

Date Night poster
6.1

Phil and Claire Foster fear that their mild-mannered relationship may be falling into a stale rut. During their weekly date night, their dinner reservation leads to their being mistaken for a couple of thieves—and now a number of unsavoury characters want Phil and Claire killed.

Date Night

2010

The Wicker Man poster
4.3

A sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers there's a larger mystery to solve among the island's secretive, neo-pagan community.

The Wicker Man

2006

Behind the camera

The Disaster Artist poster
7.1

An aspiring actor in Hollywood meets an enigmatic stranger by the name of Tommy Wiseau, the meeting leads the actor down a path nobody could have predicted; creating the worst movie ever made.

The Disaster Artist

2017

The Disaster Artist poster
7.1

An aspiring actor in Hollywood meets an enigmatic stranger by the name of Tommy Wiseau, the meeting leads the actor down a path nobody could have predicted; creating the worst movie ever made.

The Disaster Artist

2017

In Dubious Battle poster
5.8

In the California apple country, 900 migratory workers rise 'in dubious battle' against the landowners. The group takes on a life of its own—stronger than its individual members, and more frightening. Led by the doomed Jim Nolan, the strike is founded on his tragic idealism—'courage, never submit, or yield'.

In Dubious Battle

2016

In Dubious Battle poster
5.8

In the California apple country, 900 migratory workers rise 'in dubious battle' against the landowners. The group takes on a life of its own—stronger than its individual members, and more frightening. Led by the doomed Jim Nolan, the strike is founded on his tragic idealism—'courage, never submit, or yield'.

In Dubious Battle

2016

King Cobra poster
5.8

It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.

King Cobra

2016

Future World poster
4.3

A young boy searches a future world wasteland for a rumored cure for his dying mother.

Future World

2018

Future World poster
4.3

A young boy searches a future world wasteland for a rumored cure for his dying mother.

Future World

2018

The Adderall Diaries poster
5.3

Writer and Adderall enthusiast Stephen Elliott reaches a low point when his estranged father resurfaces, claiming that Stephen has fabricated much of the dark childhood that that fuels his writing. Adrift in the precarious gray area of memory, Stephen is led by three sources of inspiration: a new romance, the best friend who shares his history, and a murder trial that reminds him more than a little of his own story. Based on the memoir of the same name.

The Adderall Diaries

2016

Venice 70: Future Reloaded poster
5.0

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

2013

Zeroville poster
5.0

A young actor arrives in Hollywood in 1969 during a transitional time in the Industry.

Zeroville

2019

Child of God poster
4.8

A dispossessed, violent man's life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and homes and with few other ties, he descends to the level of a cave dweller and falls deeper into crime and degradation.

Child of God

2014

Child of God poster
4.8

A dispossessed, violent man's life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and homes and with few other ties, he descends to the level of a cave dweller and falls deeper into crime and degradation.

Child of God

2014

The Institute poster
4.3

In 19th century Baltimore, Isabel Porter, a girl stricken with grief from her parents' untimely death, voluntarily checks herself into the Rosewood Institute. Subjected to bizarre and increasingly violent pseudo-scientific experiments in personality modification, brainwashing and mind control, she must escape the clutches of the Rosewood and exact her revenge, or else be forever lost.

The Institute

2017

As I Lay Dying poster
5.2

Strife and disaster befall a poor Mississippi family during a two-day trip by horse and wagon to bury their deceased matriarch.

As I Lay Dying

2013

As I Lay Dying poster
5.2

Strife and disaster befall a poor Mississippi family during a two-day trip by horse and wagon to bury their deceased matriarch.

As I Lay Dying

2013

No artwork available
NR

A young contractor is hired to build a honky-tonk in Tennessee by the man who killed his father.

The Long Home

Black Dog, Red Dog poster
7.5

Follows the life of Stephen Dobyns as he deals with life, women, and his move from journalism to poetry.

Black Dog, Red Dog

2015

Black Dog, Red Dog poster
7.5

Follows the life of Stephen Dobyns as he deals with life, women, and his move from journalism to poetry.

Black Dog, Red Dog

2015

Good Time Max poster
5.4

Two genius brothers grow up and grow apart as one becomes a successful surgeon and the other pursues a drug-fueled high life.

Good Time Max

2008

Good Time Max poster
5.4

Two genius brothers grow up and grow apart as one becomes a successful surgeon and the other pursues a drug-fueled high life.

Good Time Max

2008

Goat poster
5.4

Reeling from a terrifying assault, a nineteen year old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of 'brotherhood,' tests him and his loyalty in brutal ways.

Goat

2016

Actors Anonymous poster
4.3

The film adaption of James Franco's popular novel Actors Anonymous, exploring the lives of young actors in Hollywood, from the highs to the lows, to the lies and the heartbreak.

Actors Anonymous

2017

The Sound and the Fury poster
5.0

A look at the trials and tribulations of The Compson siblings, living in the deep south during the early part of the 20th century.

The Sound and the Fury

2015

Kink poster
5.2

Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet's largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com's directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, Kink.com upholds an ironclad set of values to foster an environment that is safe, sane, and consensual.

Kink

2013