'Pineapple Express': High Hopes for James Franco

Image credit: Dale Robinette

He may not hit Spicoli's or Lebowski's high notes, but Franco's scene-stealing turn certainly comes as a surprise. Aside from a few bright spots in a handful of indie films (like a role opposite Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah), his post-Spidey film choices haven't been spectacular. ''I've done movies I'm not proud of — you can guess which ones I mean,'' he admits. (Maybe Flyboys? Or Annapolis? Camille?) ''I was doing leading-man roles, but in mediocre movies. People would tell me they were classic Hollywood roles in good popular movies, but they weren't. They were boring and stupid.'' They were also the reason Franco made the decision to go back to college two and a half years ago, both to finish up his English degree and seek out some other, nonacting activities (including directing three feature films, among them The Ape, a comedy about a man who discovers a gorilla living in his apartment).

Franco isn't thinking about giving up his acting career altogether — he's just finished portraying Scott Smith opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's upcoming Harvey Milk biopic — but he is quite serious about going to graduate school. He's already sent out applications to a bunch of universities, mostly in New York, for enrollment next year (Apatow wrote one of his recommendations). And he certainly doesn't sound like a guy who's dying to get back on a movie set. ''I spent eight or nine years working on acting and only acting,'' he says, collecting his books before leaving the coffee shop and heading toward campus. ''Eventually you discover that acting has limits. As an actor, you can never manifest your ideas in a completely free way. At a certain point, you have to turn it over to a director, a producer, an editor. But with writing, you're the one in control.''

Still, there's nothing like being at the center of a summer comedy hit to make acting feel fresh again. After Pineapple Express, all sorts of opportunities might suddenly open up for Franco in Hollywood, not all of them boring or stupid. Even Gertrude Stein herself might recommend sticking around until after the opening-weekend grosses.