Getting back to Pineapple Express: James, you're known to do intense research for your roles. You learned to fly planes for Flyboys. You lived on the streets for City by the Sea. In Pineapple, you play a stoner pot dealer. How many people have asked you if you took a crapload of bong hits to prepare for the role?
JAMES: That's the starting question for every interview I've given so far! The truth is that they got me pot with no THC in it. I'm wondering if I should come up with a new answer. Just say, ''Yeah, we smoked a lot of pot on that movie.''
Got to be something really clichéd. I think maybe you and Tommy Chong flew down to Jamaica for a while...
JAMES: Basically everything you see in the movie is real. It's kind of a documentary. That's actually me and my life.
Right, and you just play James Franco in day-to-day life.
JAMES: We had to call [my character] Saul, just because there's some people after me and all that. But it's basically me.
For a while, you'd been known primarily as a dramatic actor. But you started off doing comedy in Freaks, you've done of bunch of Funny or Die stuff, and now Pineapple is your first mainstream comedy. Did you miss the funny Franco?
JAMES: You sound like you've spoken to Judd. That's what he says. I find a lot of comedies — a lot of dramas — just to be down the middle and not very interesting. Most of Judd's stuff pushed the bounds, and I knew it would at the very least be a great time. But I also knew it'd just be good. He does the best comedies. I have missed the funny Franco. The way the whole movie came together on my end was I saw Judd at a film festival in Austin a year before we did it and he saw a film I directed, a tiny, tiny film called The Ape, which is kind of a dark comedy that I acted in. He came and watched it and he said, ''I miss the funny Franco.'' And I said, ''Well, we should do something.'' And Pineapple was a script that Seth had written I think six years before when he was doing Undeclared. And Judd said, ''After Knocked Up, Seth wants to do something else. You guys should do something together.'' And then eventually he said, ''Why not this one?''
Now, you've had a number of onscreen love interests: Kirsten Dunst, Neve Campbell, Catherine Keener. In Milk, which comes out in the fall, you play Sean Penn's lover. Where does he rate in terms of your onscreen romances?
JAMES: The top! He's a little hairier than those other ones, but oh well...
That film has an amazing cast: Penn, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, and, of course, Gus Van Sant, who directed.
JAMES: It's hard to think of a director or actor who I regard more highly than [Gus and Sean]. Gus has been a hero of mine since Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho. And of course Sean is probably the best actor around. It was great. Surprisingly kind of comfortable and easy. Gus has a very soft-spoken, soft-handed approach, so he just brings everybody together, the right elements together, and then he doesn't really have to do much. It just kind of happens. At least that's how it feels.
Well, I will not ask you what sort of intense, hands-on research you had to do for this film. I'll leave that to the other reporters.
JAMES: I know the two main questions I'm going to be asked in the next year are ''How much pot did you smoke?'' and ''What was it like to kiss Sean Penn?''
Let me throw one more thing out to Dave. Clearly, your bro likes to give you a hard time. Anything you want to dish on James before you go? This can be like a therapy session.
JAMES: What!? What kind of question is that? He's nothing but grateful!
DAVEY: Nah, I can't say anything. He's done a lot for me.
JAMES: There ya go, Davey!
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