James Franco

```

 ### Name

 James Edward Franco

 ### Birthplace

 Palo Alto, California

 ### Birth date

 April 19, 1978  (Age 39)

 ### Job

 Actor

 ### Played

 Graysin Blackwell

 ### Status

 Starring

 ### Season

 *TWD*: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

*Vengeance*: 1

```

**James Edward Franco** (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. For his role in *127 Hours*(2010), Franco was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He is known for his roles in live-action films such as *Milk*(2008), *Pineapple Express* (2008), *Rise of the Planet of the Apes* (2011), *Spring Breakers* (2012), *Oz the Great and Powerful* (2013), *This Is the End* (2013), *The Disaster Artist* (2017), and Sam Raimi's *Spider-Man* trilogy (2002–2007). He also provided voices in the animated films *The Little Prince* (2015) and *Sausage Party* (2016). He is known for his collaborations with fellow actor Seth Rogen, appearing in eight films with him.

Franco is also known for his work on television; his first prominent acting role was the lead character Daniel Desario on the short-lived comedy-drama *Freaks and Geeks*, which developed a cult following. He also portrayed the title character in the TV biographical film *James Dean* (2001), for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He had recurring roles on the soap opera *General Hospital* and sitcom *Angie Tribeca* and starred in the 2016 limited series *11.22.63*. He currently stars in the David Simon-created HBO drama *The Deuce*.

Franco volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity, and has also taught film classes at New York University, the University of Southern California, UCLA, Studio 4, and Palo Alto High School.

## Early Life & Family

Franco was born in Palo Alto, California. His mother, Betsy Lou (née Verne), is a writer and occasional actress, and his father, Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco (d. 2011), ran a Silicon Valley business. The two met as students at Stanford University. Franco's father was of Portuguese (Madeiran) and Swedish descent. Franco's mother is Jewish, from a family of Russian-Jewish descent. His maternal grandfather, Daniel, had changed the family surname from "Verovitz" to "Verne" some time after 1940. Franco's paternal grandmother, Marjorie (Peterson) Franco, is a published author of young adult books. Franco's maternal grandmother, Mitzie (Levine) Verne, owned the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, and was an active member in the National Council of Jewish Women.
Franco's family upbringing was "academic, liberal, and largely secular." He grew up in California with his two brothers, Tom and Dave ("Davy," also an actor). A "math whiz," Franco interned at Lockheed Martin. He was often encouraged by his father to get good grades and did well on his SATs.He graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996, where he acted in plays. This led to him attending CSSSA in 1998 for theatre.  In his high school years, Franco was arrested for underage drinking, graffiti, and for being a part of a group that stole designer fragrances from department stores and sold them to classmates. These arrests led to his briefly becoming a ward of the state. Facing the possibility of juvenile hall, Franco was given a second chance by the judge. "It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades," he recalled of his troubles with the law.
Although the idea of becoming a marine zoologist interested him, Franco had always secretly wanted to become an actor but feared being rejected. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an English major, but dropped out after his first year against his parents' wishes to pursue a career as an actor, since he would have had to wait two years to audition for their acting program. Franco instead chose to take acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West.  Around this time, Franco took up a late-night job at McDonald's to support himself because his parents refused to do so. He was a vegetarian until working there. While working at the establishment, he would practice accents on customers, an experience he remembered nostalgically in a 2015 *Washington Post* editorial ("McDonald’s was there for me when no one else was").