James Franco Immerses Self in Dean

James Franco worked so hard at mastering James Dean's personality and mannerisms that he cut himself off from his friends and family while he practiced.

"I think I would feel pretty foolish hanging around acting like James Dean with my friends. So I couldn't do that. I had to be away from them," said the 23-year-old actor, who stars in the TNT biopic "James Dean."

"I wanted to get comfortable with that, and the only way I could do that is just constantly do it."

Franco knew he was under a lot of pressure to get the performance exactly right because Dean still has so many ardent fans, nearly 46 years after dying in a car crash at age 24.

"I just wanted to be ... truthful, and to have no distractions," he said. "I didn't want to have any fun. I just wanted to get rid of any remembrance of James Franco."

"James Dean" airs Sunday on TNT.