For many people, James Franco is an enormous mystery despite starring in comedies like This Is The End and directing documentaries like Kink.  There are many things that even fans of James Franco may not know.

His Mother Was An Author

James Franco’s mother was an author, and his grandmother was an artist.  This is what inspired him to paint and write during high school.  However, he did not stop being artistic during high school and has even sold some of his paintings to other A-list celebrities.  Some of the notable names to have bought his paintings include Blink 182’s Tom Delonge and Sharon Stone.

He Was On His Own After Dropping Out

James Franco went to UCLA, but he dropped out during his freshman year.  This lead to his parents refusing to support him and he had to get a job at the drive-through window of McDonald’s.  While he was working at McDonald’s, he would practice different accents with the customers.

However, Franco did return to UCLA for two years and graduated in 2008.  He had a 3.5 GPS for his degree in English Literature.

He Stole Cologne During High School

During high school, France and some of his friends decided to become entrepreneurs by selling cologne.  To get the products, they could steal expensive cologne from department stores and then sell them to other students at the school.  This is someone ironic because in 2008 James Franco became the face of Gucci cologne.

He is a Marketing Genius

Most of the movies James franco has directed and acted in were very well marketed by him. A chicago seo website has reported that the name alone (James Franco) get’s about 1.5 Million monthly searches! This doesn’t come around that easily. To have this many searches on a monthly basis, you have to be amazing at marketing yourself and he is just that.

He Has Published Short Stories

If you are looking for a book of short stories and like James Franco then you should look at his published work called Palo Alto.  The short stories are based on his life growing up in the suburb of California.  During high school, he was arrested for vandalizing private property and underage drinking.  All of this is included in the stories which is one of the reasons why he has not allowed his mother to read them as he does not want her to know all the trouble he got into as a child.

He Has Acted Alongside His Mother

While on General Hospital, Franco had to act alongside his mother.  He has stated that this was a strange experience at first.  This was due to his mother acting differently because she was at work, but he was able to get over this to continue filming.

He Studied At Two Schools At Once

When Franco was part of Yale’s Ph.D. program, he was also enrolled in another program at a different university.  At the time he was also studying a digital media master’s program at the Rhode Island School of Design.  He was also a very good student for the Yale program as he set up classes with his professor over the phone and via video conference.

The subject that Franco was discussing with his professor was a look at the film as a form of grammar or language.  Franco was so committed to attending the meetings that he continued to do so while filming Oz, the Great and Powerful in Detroit.  He even attended the meetings the week that his father was buried.

He Dated Actress Anha O’Reilly

France and O’Reilly dated for five years starting in 2006 and ending in late 2011.  Franco has attributed the breakup to his ambition which caused him to move to the east coast and return to school.  He admitted that when he was admitted to the Yale Ph.D. program, she seemed to have enough.  O’Reilly starred as Dewey Del in Franco’s adaptation of As I Lay Dying.

Danny Boyle Thought He Was Stoned

When Franco and Danny Boyle met about Franco’s role in 127 Hours, Boyle has admitted that he thought Franco was stoned.  Franco has sworn that he was not and was just trying to come off as calm.  He has made further claims that he has not smoked weed since he was in high school because he simply does not have the time any longer.

He Wanted To Be Spider-Man

When it was time to audition for the 2002 version of Spider-Man, James Franco auditioned for the part of Peter Parker.  This would later be given to Toby Maguire. However, the director, Sam Raimi, really liked Franco’s audition.  This is why he was instead offered the role of Parker’s best friend and future nemesis Harry Osborn.

Judd Apatow Thought He Was Ugly

When Judd Apatow first met James Franco on the set of Freaks and Geeks he thought that he was ugly.  He has stated that all he remembers is that he though Franco had a big mouth, was very skinny and greasy.  He does admit that Franco made him laugh because he thought he was strange and funny in the way he completed the scenes.  He also admits that after hiring Franco he would hear women around the office state that Franco was good looking and could not quite understand what they were talking about.

James Franco is an enigma to many people, but most can agree that he is good at what he does.  There are many facts that most people do not know about the actor with the fact that he has attended Yale only being the tip of the iceberg.  James Franco is not only an actor but also directs, was part of a cologne stealing ring, wanted to be Spider-Man and made Danny Boyle think he was high.