Franco Puts Bad Movies Behind Him

James Franco is an apologetic guy. He’s sorry for being mean to Annapolis co-star Tyrese (“If he had a bad experience working with me, I was probably a jerk”) and for talking too much (“I am just rambling”), Chris Heath observes in a GQ profile. But with hit Pineapple Express and Oscar-material biopic Milk under his belt, the “young-leading-man-in-bad-movies” finally won’t have much to apologize for.

In Milk, Franco plays the boyfriend of gay politician Harvey Milk, opposite Sean Penn. While filming a lengthy onscreen kiss, Franco sometimes had a hard time staying focused: “It was long enough that you couldn’t help thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m kissing Spicoli.’” Still, it was nothing for an actor who once observed a cocaine-fueled gay threesome just to research a role.
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