When James Franco’s movie ‘I Am Michael‘ was released back in 2015 it was the ‘actor’s’ 10th movie in which he played ‘gay for pay’. In most instances, he plays it very safe indeed but in ‘The Broken Tower’ he actually gives a very explicit blow job sucking a rather substantial penis which he claims was merely a dildo, and in ‘Interior Leather Bar’ he is just four feet away from two naked guys having very real anal sex. With rumors always flying around about his real sexuality he finally addressed the matter in the March issue of Four Two Nine Magazine when he ‘argues’ with himself about what he really is .
Here then are Queerguru's Top Ten Picks of James Franco being 'versatile' .10). I Am Michael is in last place as this is the rather irritating story of obnoxious Michael Glatze, a gay activist who denounces homosexuality and becomes a right-wing Christian pastor and turns on everyone in his past. Poorly written and lamely directed by newbie filmmaker Justin Kelly, the movie is often promoted on the promise of a titillating hot sexy threesome including Franco (playing Glatze) which is actually a brief scene shot from a distance with all the men wearing underwear.
8) If Tomorrow Comes (2000) is one of those cheap low budget movies that looks like someone’s cousin shot on their home video camera, and is one that even Franco must wish could be erased. He plays a guy named Devin who is apparently gay but also not, and has to shoot a guy he doesn’t want to kill. Confused? Then don’t watch this hilariously bad trailer as it will only make matters worse.
5) Wild Horses (2015). In this drama which Robert Duvall wrote, directed and also starred in, Franco plays Ben the son of a rancher who is thrown out of the family home as a young man when his father discovered he was gay. At the same time that Ben scurried off to the city for a new life, Jimmy his boyfriend completely disappeared and now years later, his mother persuades the Rangers to investigate what really happened. Franco puts in a good performance but the movie was quickly dismissed by critics as being a muddled mess.
2). Milk (2008) In Gus Van Sant’s movie on the life of the slain gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk that picked up an Oscar for both actor Sean Penn in the title role and Dustin Lance Black for the screenplay, Franco got to play Milk’s first and main boyfriend Scott Smith. Going ‘gay’ in this mainstream movie earned Franco an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor.
1) James Dean (2001) In first place we have chosen a made-for-TV biopic of the iconic troubled talented actor even though director Mark Rydell deliberately opted not to include a single reference to Dean being gay. It is there however in the subtext and in a role that the sexually ambiguous Franco seemed born to play, and for which he deservedly won a coveted Golden Globe Award for his pitch-perfect and faultless performance.
Footnote : In the last year, a now 44-year-old James Franco has begun slowly resurfacing in movies after a period in the wilderness following serious allegations against him which surfaced in 2014 By late 2019, lawsuits were filed against him in relation to some allegations, and by 2021, The Huffington Post reported that Franco had tentatively settled them. Amid the massive uproar surrounding these incidents and the 2014 allegation, Franco seemed to have disappeared from the acting world for a period.
He later admitted to having sex with many of his former students and has publicly stated that he is a sex addict and has sought treatment for his addiction. After some time away from acting, last year, Franco returned to movies as he had been cast to play the controversial former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, in an upcoming film about him. Franco has another three movies in post production including The Long Home which he directed Ashton Kutcher and Giancarlo Esposito in.
Labels: 2023, gay for pay, James Franco, movies, Top Ten List
