James and Marsha Thomason (ABC)
In an interview with Movieline, James Franco’s frequent artistic collaborator, Carter, explained the reason for the movie star’s move to Daytime.
In the article Carter stated, "Yeah, it’s for several different things. It was an idea that I posed to him, and it’s tied to another film that he and I are working on now. It’s not specifically for another project, because I know that he’s really enjoying the challenge of working on a soap — it’s a very taxing job, and an interesting thing for him to be doing — but it does have to do with another film that he and I are working on."
He couldn’t get into specifics, but described it as, "a feature film that’s gonna be pretty abstract, for a larger audience."
Updated November 10:
Here are a couple more photos of James playing Franco. Also, check out the video clip preview to see who else Franco will be interacting with.
Updated November 5:
In an article on TV Guide Magazine, it was previewed that James Franco’s character’s name will be Franco, he'll be connected to the C077X graffiti tag and ‘He’s a psychotic yet self-deprecating artist who is fixated on death and will zero in on Jason Morgan’.
Steve Burton (Jason) was quoted as saying in the article, “Franco is fascinated with Jason and what he does for a living—he thinks they both love death and are essentially the same kind of guy. But then Jason refuses to meet with him and that’s when things start to go south.”
GH head writer Bob Guza also teased, “We’re mixing James up with as many of our major characters as possible and creating a big umbrella story that will continue to play out after he’s gone. He’s very excited and wants to do more. There’s a very good chance he’ll be back.”
Updated November 4:
Here's a look at James Franco on set as he filmed his first scenes on October 30.
Updated October 1:
According to TV Guide Magazine, James Franco himself came to GH with the idea for him to be on the ABC Soap, as he was interested in trying out a 'grueling daytime drama’.
Franco, Maxie and Sonny. (ABC)
As for his shooting schedule, Franco will shoot several episodes on October 30, November 6 and November 13, which will air over the course of two months. The only thing known about his character so far is that he will be ‘Jason Morgan’s worst nightmare’.
Updated:
Franco's first air date will be November 20 and will last for roughly two months.
As quoted in the Associated Press, executive producer Jill Farren Phelps stated it's "an honor that an actor of Franco's caliber would choose to spend some of his valuable time in Port Charles."
Original article October 1:
Word is movie star James Franco (“Milk,” “Spiderman”) is joining General Hospital. As reported by Soaps in Depth, Franco will work a few days a week, taping several shows a day as part of research for an upcoming film.
While that is big news in and of itself, there is also speculation that Franco’s presence on the GH set would spur Vanessa Marcil (ex-Brenda) to return.
Steve Burton recently tweeted in response to a fan’s question about the two actors joining the ABC soap, stating, “Franco is…don’t know about Vanessa.” The Biggest Loser trainer, Jillian Michaels who is close friends with Vanessa also chimed in, tweeting, “She said James Franco is doing 2 months on the show and she would consider going back for that time to work with him.”
There are no specific details at this time, but Soaps.com will keep you updated as news breaks.
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