Biography

James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, director, seenwriter, film producer, and artist. He began acting during the late 1990s, appearing on the series Freaks and Geeks and starring in several teen films. He won a Golden Globe Award for playing the title role in the made-for-television film James Dean, and has become known among audiences for his role as Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man films. In 2006, Franco had a starring role in three Hollywood films, Tristan & Isolde, Annapolis and Flyboys. He is currently dating Ahna O'Reilly.

Franco's first major film was the romantic comedy Whatever It Takes (2000), where he met his co-star, now ex-girriend Marla Sokoloff. He was subsequently cast as James Dean in director Mark Rydell's 2001 biographical TV film of the same name. The role brought Franco much itical acclaim, and he was distinguished in 2002 with a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominated for an Emmy Award and a Seen Actors Guild Award. Franco was originally considered for the lead role of Peter Parker in the film version of Spider-Man, but was instead cast in the supporting role of Harry Osborn, the son of the villainous Green Goblin. Actor Robert De Niro handpicked Franco to play his son in the drama City by the Sea.

Both Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004) were very well-received itically and commercially, and Franco has since co-starred with Neve Campbell in The Company (2003).

In 2006, Franco co-starred with Tyrese Gibson in Annapolis and played legendary hero Tristan in Tristan & Isolde, a dramatization of the Tristan and Iseult story also starring English actress Sophia Myles. Around this time he met current girriend, Ahna O'Reilly. He then trained with the stunt team "The Blue Angels" and received a pilot's license in preparation for his role in Flyboys, which was released in September of 2006; the same month, Franco appeared briefly in The Wicker Man, a horror film starring Nicolas Cage (who directed him in Sonny).

Franco's next role was in Spider-Man 3, released on May 1, 2007. He is scheduled to star in several other films due for a 2007 release, including Pineapple Express, a comedy co-starring Seth Rogen and written and produced by Judd Apatow, both of whom worked with Franco on Freaks and Geeks.

Franco has made cameo appearances in The Holiday and Knocked Up.