James Franco: I'm not gay, but gay love stories are more interesting
Fri. September 10, 2010 1:10 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
San Francisco -
In a new interview with The Advocate, actor James Franco says he's not gay, but he finds gay love stories more inspiring than straight ones.
"Everyone thinks I'm a stoner, and some people think I'm gay because I've played these gay roles," he said. "I don't smoke pot. I'm not gay. But on another level, there's something in me that is able to play roles like that in a way that's convincing."
Franco said that gay love stories enable him to explore new territory.
"In this history of cinema, there are so many heterosexual love stories. It's so hammered, so done," he said. "It's more interesting to me to play roles and relationships that haven't been portrayed as often."
Franco played Harvey Milk's lover in "Milk" and played a gay man in the independent film "Blind Spot." He's currently working on a movie about gay Beat poet Allen Ginsberg.
He told The Advocate his agents have never tried to talk him out of playing gay characters, but they did try to talk him out of acting in the TV soap opera "General Hospital."
"Everyone thinks I'm a stoner, and some people think I'm gay because I've played these gay roles," he said. "I don't smoke pot. I'm not gay. But on another level, there's something in me that is able to play roles like that in a way that's convincing."
Franco said that gay love stories enable him to explore new territory.
"In this history of cinema, there are so many heterosexual love stories. It's so hammered, so done," he said. "It's more interesting to me to play roles and relationships that haven't been portrayed as often."
Franco played Harvey Milk's lover in "Milk" and played a gay man in the independent film "Blind Spot." He's currently working on a movie about gay Beat poet Allen Ginsberg.
He told The Advocate his agents have never tried to talk him out of playing gay characters, but they did try to talk him out of acting in the TV soap opera "General Hospital."