James Franco?

[operalover21]

I spent the week with my best friend and his boyfriend and it was the 24/7 kinda time when you are drinking and just hanging out inside from sun up until sun down. Well, we got to talking about ex-boyfriends and it turned out that my best friends boyfriend's ex was James Franco. They dated for about 3 months in 2007. He said he was very got but not a great personality and it wasn't going to work. He then met my best friend and that was that.

 

For some reason, I hadn't known this before (but why should I have?) and I hadn't ever heard that Franco was gay. Certainly he isn't out.

 

Funny I thought. Anyone else have any stories like this? And for the record, it wasn't a kiss and tell sort of thing, just sharing stuff when you have real intimate time with good friends. He also said he thinks his current bf -- my best friend -- is WAY hotter than Franco ... .and while I love my best friend I just can't agree with that one!

 

Hope the rest of you on the East Coast are not too badly snowed in like us!

[+ ArVaGuy]

There have been a few rumors on various web sites. One of the big ones was that Franco raped an ex-boyfriend. This was conjecture based on a blind item in Page Six. Here's the link: http://www.hollywoodbackwash.com/james-franco-gay-or-straight/

 

Now...have you heard the one about Zachary Quinto's latest boyfriend is a well-known LA escort?

 

Hope the rest of you on the East Coast are not too badly snowed in like us!

 

I'm currently "sheltering in place" riding out Snowpocalypse 2010, or Snowmageddon if you prefer, rather nicely. Watching the original Spartacus on DVD...now if only Romann were here to keep me warm. LOL

[AdamSmith]

Watching the original Spartacus on DVD...now if only Romann were here to keep me warm. LOL

 

...The film was re-released in 1967 (in a version 23 minutes shorter than the original release), and again in 1991 with the same 23 minutes restored by Robert A. Harris, plus an additional 14 minutes that had been cut from the film before its original release. This addition includes several violent battle sequences as well as a bath scene in which the Roman patrician and general Crassus (Olivier) attempts to seduce his slave Antoninus (Curtis) using the analogy of "eating oysters" and "eating snails" to express his opinion that sexual preference is a matter of taste rather than morality...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus_(1960_film)

[mansniffing]

Well, we got to talking about ex-boyfriends and it turned out that my best friends boyfriend's ex was James Franco.

 

If James Franco is gay it gives him an insight into his playing Allen Ginsberg in the film "Howl."

 

From Wikipedia:

The film consists of three interwoven aspects: the early life of Ginsberg (Franco) in NYC and his evolution as a writer and poet; an animated re-imagining of the poem "Howl"; and the obscenity trial San Francisco poet and City Lights Bookstore co-founder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti (Andrew Rogers), faced after publishing the titular poem, in which Ginsberg made references to drug use and homosexuality (the latter of which in the '50s was still considered taboo).

[JT Brooklyn]

I'm thinking there has to be alot of "imagination" used to believe that Ginsburg looked like Franco at the Young point in his Life!

 

Ginsburg was not known because of his Looks!

[+ purplekow]

While Ginsberg was not a great looking man, he did hang with a few who were certainly handsome and stylish for the times. About 15 years ago, I was hired by one of Ginsberg's better known lovers for professional, no not escort, services. I received a check from Mr. Ginsberg. I though about not cashing the check to keep the autograph. Ultimately, I cashed it, figuring for $200 I could buy Mr Ginsberg autograph if I really wanted it. Anyone here would have not cashed the $200 check?

[mansniffing]

I'm thinking there has to be alot of "imagination" used to believe that Ginsburg looked like Franco at the Young point in his Life!

 

Ginsburg was not known because of his Looks!

 

True. But here's a picture of the young Ginsberg that Franco may be able to emulate. I'm not a fan of stereotypical portrayals or "channeling" as it's called in the business but "Howl" so far appears to be focused on the obscenity trial based on the publication of the book during the 1950s when Witch Hunts in both the U.S. government and the military were rampant.

 

http://digilander.libero.it/istitutoargentia/didattica/english/immagini/ginsberg.jpg

[Doe Be Doe]

I used to hear that people thought James Franco was good looking and just could not understand. Now, he has been growing on me and I find him rather cute, but in an odd way.

 

As for the snow, I am one person in New York who is groaning because we didn't get any snow!

[operalover21]

I used to hear that people thought James Franco was good looking and just could not understand. Now, he has been growing on me and I find him rather cute, but in an odd way.

 

As for the snow, I am one person in New York who is groaning because we didn't get any snow!

 

I've always thought he was drop dead gorgeous. But everyone has their own tastes.

[Damascene]

There have been rumors for years. I assume all actors are gay unless proven otherwise.

 

I wanted snow in NYC also. I love NYC in a snow storm.

[josephga]

I saw some where he was dating Agyness Deyn I think is some model

[edjames]

James Franco joins the long list of Hollywood actors and actresses who prefer to remain in the closet. Sometimes it's by choice, sometimes it's their agents and managers who insist that they keep their sexual preference quiet. Many celebrities just don't want to face the consequences of coming out. There is the threat of a loss of income that directors will not consider them for hetero parts. Queen Latifah, Sean Hayes, all come quickly to mind.

 

ED

[jackcali]

We had a discussion on this subject recently when rumors about Anderson Cooper's new boyfriend circulated. I think it would be great if more actors and public figures (and athletes, a whole different discussion) came out publicly, both because the fear of negative publicity would diminish as more acknowledged that they were gay and because many young gay men and women would take great comfort in seeing these actors and public figures as role models.

 

Twenty-five years ago, when Rock Hudson revealed that he had AIDS, there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy for him, and from whom? The same women who loved him years before when he was the leading-man heartthrob of the time. For all the worry and the "shame" of it (he denied that he was gay, though his friends publicly acknowledged his sexuality after his death), I don't think there was very much of a negative reaction. I think that the backlash that agents and publicity types fear is way overstated, at least with respect to US and European audiences. (Sports is a different subculture, and maybe the fear of backlash is more reasonable.)

 

Now, I don't believe in outing closeted public figures -- even homophobic fundamentalist Christian preachers -- because everyone's private life deserves to be private unless he or she chooses otherwise. But it would be a great message to young people and to society if gay public figures would self-identify rather than hide their sexuality, which just confirms and supports the view that there is something shameful about it.

[Epigonos]

People let’s get real. The following, December 2, 2009 quote from an interview with British actor Rupert Evertt says it all: “Coming out as a gay actor ruined by career in Hollywood”. The Hollywood film industry revels in portraying itself as gay tolerant, neutral, blind or any number of other words. It is a ridiculous phony lie. In Hollywood OPENLY straight actors are freely employed in gay romantic leading roles. “Brokeback Mountain” is probably the best recent example but “The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert” works equally well. Now would somebody, who sincerely believes that gay actors should come out, please give me a list of films in which OPENLY gay actors were employed to play straight romantic leading roles. Any actor wishing to make a living in Hollywood playing straight romantic leads has NO choice he MUST remain in the closet. It’s SAD but it’s the TRUTH.

[+ deej]

You are EXACTLY correct, Epigonos.

 

Hollywood is all about making bank. If you can't do that, you don't work. Looks come second and talent comes third. If the moguls can't get richer from your work, you will not work as a lead actor in Hollywood.

 

You might be sucking cock in every WeHo parking lot, or keeping a boyfriend(s) on the side, but you had better be absolutely straight in the eyes of the movie-going ticket-buying public.

[playwrestler]

While I'm not arguing the pros and cons of bisexuality - ie: whether you truly believe it exists or not - an actor friend of mine (getting more and more famous) recently explained the joys of sex with a man and with a woman (he identifies as mostly straight) thusly; saying that it was more recreational with a man, thoroughly enjoyable, but that his heart/emotional responsiveness didn't get engaged. It was more like playing a sport - both competitive and fun. He also said that the very nature of being an actor and exploring emotional terrain that most of us don't indulge in leads to some wonderful interactive emotional states and that boundaries are frequently crossed in that profession. He is now married (quite happily) with children and seems very content... and is certainly open with friends and wife etc about his past indulgences and goes on to explain that his heart is now engaged and on that level his life's journey keeps deepening. I think we'll start seeing this happening more and more with celebrities in this country... and about time, I might add! Since so much social patterning seems to follow reverential adulation of these people, it's great that boundaries and definitions are intermingling.

[josephga]

I'm sure writing a book and trashing fellow actors didn't help Rupert Evertt either

[+ ArVaGuy]

Good point. But let's not forget about Neil Patrick Harris in this equation. He's been out of the closet for years, claims to have never been in it actually. He plays an oversexed straight guy on a major network hit show. He was the comic lynchpin of Harold & Kumar again playing it straight. He's proved to be a bankable talent on Broadway and has hosted two major award programs to great acclaim.

 

I'm not saying that Hollywood has changed in any major ways regarding gay actors. It all comes down to bank, no doubting that, but there's a remote chance that NPH may serve as viable example of a gay actor the public accepts and makes money for the studios.

 

 

You are EXACTLY correct, Epigonos.

 

Hollywood is all about making bank. If you can't do that, you don't work. Looks come second and talent comes third. If the moguls can't get richer from your work, you will not work as a lead actor in Hollywood.

 

You might be sucking cock in every WeHo parking lot, or keeping a boyfriend(s) on the side, but you had better be absolutely straight in the eyes of the movie-going ticket-buying public.

[jackcali]

Also, it sounds like the problem is in Hollywood, not with the viewing public. Nobody minds Neil Patrick Harris playing an aggressively hetero guy on TV even though he's out. In addition to Rupert Everett's trashing of the industry, he may have suffered more for being the ONLY movie star to come out. I think my point was that if more actors and public figures came out there would be little or no public hostility. I don't know Hollywood and can't speak for the spinelessness of people in that industry.

[+ deej]

Good point. But let's not forget about Neil Patrick Harris in this equation. He's been out of the closet for years, claims to have never been in it actually. He plays an oversexed straight guy on a major network hit show. He was the comic lynchpin of Harold & Kumar again playing it straight. He's proved to be a bankable talent on Broadway and has hosted two major award programs to great acclaim.

 

Don't forget that NPH was already ON his hit TV show when he came out, which he only did to beat a tabloid to the punch.

 

He basically played himself in Harold & Kumar and I'm hard pressed to think of a movie where he plays the male hetero romantic lead. ("Starship Troopers" doesn't count.) He's had some popular success but I suspect it's because the flyover states still see him as Doogie Houser.

 

Time will tell what happens to his career once his series is canceled. And I'll bet even he would admit that.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Time will tell what happens to his career once his series is canceled. And I'll bet even he would admit that.

 

Agreed.

[curious2000]

Franco could be gay

 

I have always gotten a closeted gay vibe from Franco. He played a tormented loner with a sexually ambigueous side in Spider man, lip locked with Sean Penn and played his very convincing gay lover in Milk, and I think another gay role and then the aforementioned new one about Ginsberg. I had read all those rumors about the rape thing. Not sure if it's true but I can see him maybe being rough and having some odd tastes in boyfriends and dealing with a lot of drama in his private life. I remember his first appearance on David Letterman as a guest and he was cute but awkward and nervous and his mannerisms ranged from masculine to more less than masculine ( his hand gestures, body language,etc) and my gaydar went off. He comes across to me as a closeted, quirky,cute, smart,funny,and sweet, but complex young man. If he was not a famous actor and just some guy and I talked to him in a bar I would definitely be attracted to him and want to take him home.

[operalover21]

Good point. But let's not forget about Neil Patrick Harris in this equation. He's been out of the closet for years, claims to have never been in it actually. He plays an oversexed straight guy on a major network hit show. He was the comic lynchpin of Harold & Kumar again playing it straight. He's proved to be a bankable talent on Broadway and has hosted two major award programs to great acclaim.

 

I'm not saying that Hollywood has changed in any major ways regarding gay actors. It all comes down to bank, no doubting that, but there's a remote chance that NPH may serve as viable example of a gay actor the public accepts and makes money for the studios.

 

I think it's not as easy as any of us think. Rupert Everett may be right to some extent but it's also true that a string of bombs is what really hurt his career and his obvious inability to have an emotional range that didn't go beyond A-B.

 

Hollywood really could care less. It's a business. If they think they can make money off you they will and they won't care if you fuck a man, woman, or a vegetable.

[Lookin]

Just ask Chad Allen.

[Lankypeters]

Scratch an actor, you'll find an actress.