Photo: Doug Inglish
You can read our interview with James Franco -- actually a conversation between the actor and the screenwriter of Milk, Dustin Lance Black -- at Out.com. And, sure, it's got great headline-making material about his make-outs with Sean Penn and his nude pool party scene in the biopic.
But don't miss the more serious stuff about art, movie-making and his hectic back-to-school schedule (Franco is currently pursuing two MFAs, one in writing and one in film). And it was one of the queerest films ever that made him want to act in the first place, he says:
Lance Black: I don't know if it was you or Gus who told me that My Own Private Idaho originally inspired you to act?
James Franco: I probably told you. If Gus told you that, I'd be really touched that he would know.
Lance: I guess the deeper question is, What made you want to do Milk and work with Gus?
James: Well, let me talk about Idaho first, because -- I would watch that movie a lot, even before I was acting. For some reason that struck a chord with me. I know it's an incredibly important film for queer cinema, but I wasn't a young teenager waiting to come out. I don't know what it was... I know a lot of straight guys who loved that movie and had the same attachment to it that I did... I guess just the emotions it touches on made me want to watch it over and over.
We know the feeling. So go read the full interview (a couple more choice quotes still to come on Popnography).
And here's the campfire scene from the 1991 movie, which still stands on its own as one of the most moving moments ever caught on film. Keanu Reeves (this is why we had such high hopes for him), River Phoenix and a lonely, late-night confession: "I really want to kiss you, man." For the first time or the hundredth:
Previously > Mr. November
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