I Honestly Believe James Franco Could End Up Doing Porn

Hear me out here.

James Franco is a really interesting guy, and his decision making process comes from his own idiosyncratic views of the world. He did a guest spot on General Hospital as an acting exercise, because he heard that soap opera acting was the most difficult - in terms of how grinding the work is - form of acting in the world. He agreed to host the Oscars specifically because his representation told him that doing so was a bad idea. Franco has also engaged in some extreme role research; he has said that he hung with a gay prostitute and watched him fuck a guy in preparation for a role.

Now Franco is circling a role in one of two competing movies about Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace, where he would play Chuck Traynor, Linda Lovelace’s abusive husband who also happened to be a pimp and a pornographer. And then there’s this quote from Franco in the latest Newsweek, where he gives an odd reply to a question about making a kiss look good on screen.

“I think if anybody who has made a home sex tape knows, what feels best doesn’t always look best,” he said, eliciting laughter from the others. “I remember when I was 19 doing that, and then watching it back and thinking, oh, that looks horrible. So what Nicole is talking about, yeah, you have a lot of respect for those actors in pornography, because they are really not just doing it, they’re really selling it. It’s the same thing with a kiss. It’s not just the kiss that feels best, it’s an image. Something different is happening if it’s a good kiss.”

First of all, James Franco made home sex tapes. But second of all combine his penchant for heavy research with his interest in taking on acting challenges and it kind of makes sense that Franco could give porn a shot.

Of course it doesn’t have to be the kind of sleazy porn you’re thinking of. There have been “straight” films where people have actual intercourse (among which is rumored to be Don’t Look Now, starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie), and they’re usually fairly arty. Franco’s already appeared nude on screen in Milk; couldn’t he go the next step and try to sell actual sex like he is often called upon to sell kissing?

So this year Franco has: the Oscar hosting gig, a medieval stoner comedy, a Planet of the Apes prequel and maybe a Linda Lovelace biopic. Why not throw some actual penetration in there while he’s at it?