James Franco goes a kind of blue
Maverick actor/poet/teacher to star in new HBO series about twin movers and shakers of ‘adult content’
Can Heebro James Franco elevate smut? The actor, filmmaker, renaissance man is slated to star in a new HBO pilot about, oy lanu, the porn industry.
Franco, a bon vivant who has studied at several institutions of higher learning and dabbled in the literary arts, has agreed to appear in a drama by David Simon about adult or “blue content” entitled “The Duece.”
True to its name, viewers will be seeing Franco, 37, in double. And in polyester. He will portray a pair of identical twins who, in the 1970s and 80s, build a porn empire in New York City’s seedy Times Square.
Suffice it to say the man is overqualified for the role. The celebrated actor, filmmaker and university instructor is also a published poet, member of the band Daddy, which has produced two EPs, and a painter who has exhibited at the Glü Gallery in LA and at Peres Projects in Berlin.
He is also what they call in the Ivy League, a “real dummy.” Franco has taught at USC, UCLA, CalArts and NYU in the Film and English departments, attended the Rhode Island School of Design and earned four MFAs (master of fine arts degrees) from Columbia, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Brooklyn College and Warren Wilson College. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in English at Yale.
He recently announced he will be teaching an innovative master class at his acting school, Studio 4.
The class will produce two fully-funded feature films in a four-month semester. The school also casts students in projects of his co-owned film production company, Rabbit Bandini.
Alas, not every Franco franchise is a success. Although critics panned his co-hosting the Oscars with Anne Hathaway in 2011, the stars may align at the Hilarity for Charity 4th Annual Variety Show on October 17 when his pal, Seth Rogen and wife Lauren Miller Rogen, and other A-listers throw him the bar mitzvah he never had.
The event, at the Hollywood Paladium, is designed to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s among millenials after Rogen’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with early onset at 55. Tickets go on sale August 11.
‘We’ll also have a mohel and a live bris for James at the event’
“Ever since I’ve known James, he’s been talking about wanting a bar mitzvah,” Seth Rogen said in a statement. “We’re excited to see him finally become a man while also helping us raise awareness and funds for people living with Alzheimer’s and towards research that will lead to a cure. And in celebration we’ll also have a mohel and a live bris for James at the event.”
Miller Rogen said, “5 million Americans are currently living with the disease and it is the sixth leading cause of death in the US, yet it is the least funded and the only one with no treatment whatsoever. I hope we’re able to capture the attention of more young people, and get the disease the type of funding it deserves.”
Last year’s prom night raised more than $1 million. Past performances and appearances included Paul Rudd, Bruno Mars, Tenacious D, Patton Oswalt, Aziz Ansari, Judd Apatow, The Backstreet Boys, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Hart, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Silverman and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
The Times of Israel Community.