Quotes By James Franco

I become kind of obsessive about research.

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.

Not having any real direction, one writer would lead me to another.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

I'm a big cardigan sweater guy.

I don't like sleeping in a bed.

I still don't like going to bed alone.

The first piece of art that I ever bought-when I could afford it-was a Warhol sketch from the period when he was just getting out of doing commercial work and more into art. It's a sketch of a young guy's face. I guess the gallery that I bought it from thought I would like it because the young guy kind of looked like James Dean.

If I'm working on a film, I'll do sit-ups for before I shoot. Like, 100 in the morning or something.

It's hard when you're doing a film based on a true story to really figure out what all those relationships were.

I was kind of scared of failing at acting.

I was an English major at UCLA when I was 18, and then I left after a year to start acting. I was educating myself during that time.

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.

The new critique you're gonna start hearing about James Franco, is 'He's spreading himself too thin.'

When I research a role it does get a little crazy and maybe even a little stupid.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm starting to teach now: I teach in the graduate film program at NYU and next year I'm going to be teaching at Los Angeles at the film program and English program at UCLA.

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.