James Franco gives an awards-worthy performance in The Disaster Artist, his heartfelt biopic about the making of the best worst movie, The Room. He was recently nominated for Best Actor at the Gotham Independent Film Awards — could the Oscars be next? Franco already has one Academy Award nomination, Best Actor for 127 Hours in 2010, the same year he co-hosted the telecast with Anne Hathaway. It went about as well as Aron Ralston’s fateful trip to Canyonlands National Park. Franco was lifeless, awkward, and he left Hathaway, who was trying to save a drowning man, out on a limb.
“At the time I justified it to myself,” Franco said about his ill-fated hosting stint. “‘This will be an experiment. This will be weird.’ Part of me was so uncomfortable with the attention of being nominated, but also fear of losing, because everybody was talking about Colin Firth [who eventually won for The King’s Speech].” He continued, “I mean, I shouldn’t have been doing it. Honestly, I think the biggest criticism of me, it seemed like I was high or low energy. In my head, I was trying to be the straight man. I guess I just went too far or came across as the dead man.” Also, Franco slipped into Marilyn Monroe’s dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in a bit that has not aged well.
Jimmy Kimmel has already been announced as the 2018 Oscars host, so Franco won’t be doing double duty again. That might tear him apart.
(Via Variety)
