James Franco Quotes & Sayings

Read Frank's poem, "Advice to the Players." It talks about all of this, about the human need to create. — James Franco

For some reason, when I was in junior high school, my friends and I had, like, a cologne-stealing ring. — James Franco

I acted professionally for about eight years, and I was writing all that time but never showed anybody any of it. There just came a point after those eight years when I thought, 'There's a lot I can do with acting - there are a lot of things I can express and do creatively, but there are also limitations.' — James Franco

I don't even like to sleep - I feel as if there's too much to do. — James Franco

There's a large chunk of me in all the parts. As an actor, I got involved largely because I want to let things out. The best acting is that that is most real and the only way to do that, is to genuinely feel it. — James Franco

I still work really hard, but I like to think I'm a little smarter about at least the type of movie I'm getting into. — James Franco

You say I sucked at the Oscars. I was a genius at the Oscars. That was experimental tuxedo sleep art. — James Franco

But I don't want to die! I have so much to do! — James Franco

I don't like sleeping in a bed. — James Franco

When I was a child, I wanted to be an actor, but I had really bad buckteeth. I didn't want to get braces, but my mom said I couldn't be an actor if I didn't get the braces. So, I got the braces. — James Franco

Barry had done it with her, the girl I loved, and it had meant nothing to him; Tanya would die and no one would care; and there were billions of bodies alive on earth and they would all be buried and ground into dirt; and Picasso was a master at age sixteen and I was a perfect shit. — James Franco

Fight scenes are really more like dances than they are fights, because you're depending on your partner to do the right move at the right time. Yes, a tough person or somebody who knows what they're doing will look better in a fight scene, but it also has a lot to do with the other person. — James Franco

I used to read a lot about myself and the projects I was doing. When I was only acting, I wouldn't read any reviews because I didn't find them to be very helpful. — James Franco

I don't consider weed to be any worse than having a beer. — James Franco

There's so much pressure put on relationships to deliver the satisfaction of life. And to me, that is just not the answer. I feel like it should be something in addition to what you love or be a part of that. — James Franco

There's a tacit belief that actors shouldn't write books, they're sort of allowed to direct movies but there will be a lot of skepticism, and they shouldn't do artwork or music. There are these invisible roadblocks to gain entree to these areas for actors, and you kind of have to crash through those invisible barriers. — James Franco

One of the things I've learned as a filmmaker is to have some aspect of the movie be something that I admire greatly, whether that's an actor I'm working with, the subject matter, or a book. — James Franco

I don't need a vacation in the traditional sense, like I would if I had a job I hated. — James Franco

I think all great comedies - or at least the comedies I like - it has some of the funniest moments, but it never breaks the spell for the audience. It never pushes the audience away by spoofing itself too much or undermining the characters or making them cardboard or flimsy. Everybody is really trying to do what their characters believe in - and so nobody breaks the spell of the world, even though in other ways it's a comedy and very funny. — James Franco

If this is the only life, then why I'm not just doing everything I want to do. — James Franco

I still don't like going to bed alone. — James Franco

You just don't really rehearse kissing scenes, whether it's male or female. — James Franco

As an actor in the classroom, you're revealing so much, and teachers are, you know, they're just critiquing like a painting or a piece of work; it's like, it's you, and it's your emotions that they're working with. — James Franco

Most of the books that I've adapted I'm doing because I love the book and I feel like it's a great work of art in itself, and when it's a great book I feel as a director or a writer that I have a responsibility to rise to the level of the original. It makes me try to reach higher. — James Franco

There's no relationship that I find that's closer than a creative relationship. — James Franco

In the movie of your entire life, do you want drama and conflict or a straight shot to the top, unencumbered? — James Franco

In the end, I do have a group of friends and teachers whose opinions I respect, and so I guess I just have to be content with their feedback. — James Franco

I needed an outlet in high school and came across painting. I've actually been painting longer than I've been acting. A movie is a collaborative effort, and with painting you just have yourself. — James Franco

All is good. Don't worry, the pain will help you. You'll get into some trouble, but it will work out in the end. — James Franco

Acting is an art form and you want to take roles that are challenged and it's more of a challenge I think to play dark characters. Not that I want to always play those, but it is a challenge and challenges are rewarding and fun. — James Franco

We tell specific stories about ourselves to ourselves and we're all the heroes of our own lives. But you live through certain experiences with other people, and sometimes they have very different takes on what happened. — James Franco

Quite Franc-ly, I think I am an asset to this world we live in. I know that if I didn't exist, there would be some truly upset people just waiting for me. A life without Franco is like a kitten without fur. That's what my reflection told me. — James Franco

I don't have many hobbies. If I think of hobbies, maybe ping pong. But I don't have a desire to get a ping pong medal. — James Franco

I worked at a McDonald's drive-through. I could always tell when girls were interested: They'd drive around again and say, 'I forgot something.' — James Franco

When I read the book [The Adderall Diaries] I loved it, and I maybe had an inkling that there was a lot of good material in there. I didn't quite know at the time how to adapt it into a film, but I hoped I would figure it out one day. — James Franco

I'm a huge Cormac McCarthy fan and have read every book of his. — James Franco

You also need love. Your characters need to love something, otherwise they will be unlovable. — James Franco

I've been acting for many years now, and I find there's nothing I enjoy more than making films with my friends and people I like, who also are the funniest people around. — James Franco

I guess what I enjoy most is directing, because it incorporates all aspects of filmmaking. Directing is in the same line as acting - both are popularity contests, and in both you're trying to tell a story through the film as a medium. — James Franco

I'm an actor, I do movies, and I need to find somebody who enjoys that kind of stuff. It's not like, "Oh, I have my work time, and we go on a date, and it better be darn fun and exciting!" I think it should all coalesce a bit more. — James Franco

I think as far as straight actors playing gay roles, "Brokeback Mountain" was a big breakthrough. I'm pretty sure when they were casting that movie that - I think the story is, like you know, 10 to 15 other actors turned it down. — James Franco

My style is casual-chic? Casual-messy? — James Franco

I actually don't smoke weed, but I've played a lot of stoners - especially with Seth Rogen. — James Franco

I get like six or so hours of sleep a night. — James Franco

It feels really sad, to me, to go to a dark bedroom. It's like surrendering to the night or something. — James Franco

When I was younger, I didn't know that I should just listen to my own voice, my own artistic sense of things when I was choosing projects, because one of the biggest creative decisions that an actor can make in the film business is what you will work on. — James Franco

I might have to stumble a little bit more in public than others, but that's fine, I don't mind, I've developed a thick skin. — James Franco

If liking Katy Perry and drinking margaritas is gay, then who wants to be straight?! — James Franco

Sometimes I think to myself, what should James Franco say next? And then it comes to me. Boobs. — James Franco

We fell in love last night. He's the coolest guy. — James Franco

Because acting was my only professional outlet, I put a ton of pressure on the roles that I did. I overstepped my bounds, I tried to control things that were out of my purview as an actor and in some cases even tried to direct my scenes because I felt I knew how they should run rather than trust the director. — James Franco

My job is what I love. I don't need an escape from it. — James Franco

Almost all the movies I've directed are adaptations. And I think what I found when I went to film school, where they try to push you to find your voice or your thing, is that I got a lot of things out of adaptations. — James Franco

My name is James Edward Franco. Ted is a nickname for Edward. That's what my parents called me. I also got 'Teddy Ruxpin' a lot. It just got to a point where I got sick of it, so when a teacher called out 'James Franco' my junior year of high school, I didn't correct her. — James Franco

I've come to a point where I just want to do movies that I just believe in. I have come to an understanding of filmmaking, a new understanding where I believe it's a director's medium. That means working with people that I believe in. — James Franco

They say living well is the best revenge but sometimes writing well is even better. — James Franco

When we were doing 'Freaks and Geeks', I didn't quite understand how movies and TV worked, and I would improvise even if the camera wasn't on me. I thought I was helping the other actors by keeping them on their toes, but nobody appreciated it when I would trip them up. So I was improvising a little bit back then, but not in a productive way. — James Franco

I love to bring humour into my work. Because comedy is not a huge part of the art world. And big-business film takes itself very seriously. — James Franco

All I know is that when I needed McDonald's , McDonald's was there for me. — James Franco

I'm a big cardigan sweater guy. — James Franco

I loved the book [The Adderall Diaries] I optioned it, I think some years ago. But there's a lot of different threads in the book. It starts off as one thing, where he's trying to cover this murder trial, and then his own life starts to impinge on that, so it becomes something else. I found that fascinating. — James Franco

Everyone pretends to be normal and be your best friend, but underneath, everyone is living some other life you don't know about, and if only we had a camera on us at all times, we could go and watch each other's tapes and find out what each of us was really like. — James Franco

There was a moon and it was on the water. A miniature moon rocking on the little waves. I always see nice images like that but I don't know what to do with them. I guess you share them with someone. Or you write them down in a poem. I had so many of those little images, but I never shared them or wrote any of them down. — James Franco

It can be so boring being you sometimes, and if you were the most special thing like that, it could be really great, but maybe some people say the same thing about you, and you want to tell those people: 'No, you're stupid, it's no fun being me. — James Franco

I'm going to try to not let anyone put me in a box, and that certainly applies to the things I do outside of acting. — James Franco

I worked the drive-through at McDonald's and tried out different accents - Italian, Russian, Irish. — James Franco

Sometimes it is painful to be oneself; at other times it seems impossible to escape oneself. — James Franco

He was so. So dirty, and just moving in front of me, and cute. I was in love with him, especially because he was talking to me. — James Franco

For April Fools Day, someone played a really cruel joke on me. They stole ALL my mirrors and I had to go hours without seeing myself. I mean, I couldn't even do my daily affirmations. What kind of world is this? I tell you, it's artists like myself that really suffer. — James Franco

I get to work with incredibly talented young filmmakers and students, and their attitudes and relationship with film is still so pure. That re-inspires me and reminds me why I got into it and what I love about film, and allows me a little reprieve from the business side of it. And it rekindles my love of film. — James Franco

Teens today rule the world. The whole culture - movies, music - is pointed at young people. They have so 'much' power. — James Franco

When I sign on for a project, I'm there to give the director all the material he or she might need to tell their story, and that's the number one priority. — James Franco

I was supposed to go out with this girl, but the plans mixed up because I was working late. So I went to her apartment with a flower. She was asleep, but I really wanted to see her. I figured I'd be like Romeo, and climbed up to her balcony and gave her a rose. She was very shocked. After that, it was over. — James Franco

I don't go on vacation. I don't really need vacation. — James Franco

I loved the world of Oz. I guess as a young man, I was just drawn to fantasy worlds. I liked being transported to alternative realms where a lot of my early imagination was sparked. — James Franco

I don't cast somebody that I think is like my younger self. — James Franco

If you have a profession that depends on what you look like, you can't blame somebody for caring about that. It's part of their job. So it's vanity but it's also not in a lot of cases. It's being professional. — James Franco

A lot of the people in San Francisco think of themselves as healers - not just as people delivering this base service, but giving their clients spiritual help. It's almost like being an actor, playing a different part for each trick. — James Franco

Of course there are some actors that are better than others and performances that are better than others, but they're always embedded in the greater film. They are mediated through the work of so many other people: the director directs, the lighter sets the scene, the editors edit, the music gets put to it. — James Franco

I become kind of obsessive about research. — James Franco

If the work is good, what does it matter? I'm doing it because I love it. Why not do as many things I love as I can? As long as the work is good. — James Franco

I love that the idea of examining memory, and the way memory is edited was made more interesting because it was being filtered through a writer. — James Franco

Did you ever see Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke? That's what happens if you really smoke weed and make a movie. You get two guys and no plot and it's basically like, 'Yeah! Let's drive a van made of weed!' And that's pretty much the movie. — James Franco

When I went to film school about three years ago, the first two years you're required to make a series of short films. I started making films based on short poems. — James Franco

There's a long tradition of teen comedies where the kids are getting drunk on beer and whatever else, so smoking a joint to me is no worse than having a beer. So, if someone has a problem with it, I'll just tell them to relax. — James Franco

I feel there are so many things in this world that have been and are being created that I could spend the rest of my life thinking about, and I couldn't cover all the things I'm interested in. That to me is what makes life sweet-learning and exploring. — James Franco

A director on a film really sets the tone of how people go about things, so everybody is happy to be at work and everybody does their best. — James Franco

You don't really prepare for a kissing scene. — James Franco

Funny how new facts pop up and make you doubt that there's any goodness in life. Everyone pretends to be normal and be your friend, but underneath, everyone is living some other life you don't know about ... — James Franco

We all age. You shouldn't discount it as a subject for a film. Just because the characters are dealing with issues that you might not deal with for another 45 years doesn't mean you won't like it. — James Franco

I was kind of scared of failing at acting. — James Franco

I am not going to be the guy who's not pulling his weight. — James Franco

There's a tendency, when you're directing yourself, not to give the performance as much care, because you feel like there's too much focus on yourself, or that all these people are just standing around setting everything up, waiting for you. — James Franco

You want to be interesting? Be interested. — James Franco

Dreams and expectations also have the very dark flipside of disappointment, broken dreams. — James Franco

The selfie is the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, 'Hello, this is me.' — James Franco

The general view is that actors start on soaps and then maybe graduate to prime-time television or film; normally you don't see a film actor going to do a soap. — James Franco

I view filmmaking as a director's medium. — James Franco

I have high aspirations. I want to be an architect. — James Franco

I went to NYU graduate film school and met Pam [Romanowsky], and after doing a few things with her I thought she had the right sensibility and that she could figure it [The Adderall Diaries] out. — James Franco