In his next screen adventure what will James Franco play? He's already covered the intense solo saga with his cutting off your own arm scene in 127 Hours, his supporting role in Milk as Sean Penn's gay lover highlighted his sensitivity and openness, and he's played a superhero villain in Spider-Man. That's a good few bases covered for a young actor you might think, but there's thankfully room for more which means the Franco years will keep on rolling.
However, even with Franco's diverse taste in roles (albeit he does manage to speak slower than your average Californian stoner in all of them), it's unlikely you saw this next one coming. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's upcoming This is The End will star Franco playing Franco. Yes, you heard right, the man is playing himself.Written by Rogen and directed by Godlberg, the film stars many a familiar face such as Franco, Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Emma Watson, all playing versions of themselves. It is fundamentally a good piss-take on fame and their media personas, with what is sure to be a good script.
With Rogen and Franco having worked together at different points in their careers, the bond they share will be one of the key jokes. Speaking to Flicks and Bits, Franco stated 'I think like all [Seth and Evan's] movies, even going back to Superbad, they put in this level of heart or connection between the characters that grounds the comedy,so I figured out, "Alright, maybe my character is like really obsessed with Seth Rogen"'. That puppy dog face of his is going to come to the forefront for this role, no doubt. Released on June 28 in the UK, and this week in the US, This Is The End could give Franco his seminal role playing a version of himself. Now, is that acting or pretending to act? Oh life's confusions...
