More Than An Actor; James Franco.

This weekly Wednesday topic on Velvet 'More Than An Actor' is basically a chance for me to talk about all the books and Spotify playlists and more that I have by people in the film industry that I'm obsessed with. As this is the first piece of its kind, it was a little to pick what one, from a very long list, to kick start it off with; which seems a bit silly since all the others listed will fill up future Wednesdays.

Eventually I decided on one, as you may have already been able to tell from the title, and that is the literary work of Mr James Franco.

We've always seen a lot of James Franco, well because he's James Franco, but recently he's got Franco and films fans alike all excited with the trailer release for The Disaster Artist, a movie about the greatest worst movie of all time; The Room. Like a lot of people, I was first introduced to James by the classic stoner comedy; Pineapple Express, and yes I called it a classic, can you deny it? I'm....not sure. Also, a side note because I know someone's though it; I did eventually find Freaks and Geeks, so don't worry!

When I first started paying attention to Franco, I enjoyed his movies, but I was not a fan of the man himself, which is one of many post-hormonal reasons I want to punch my past self and is also a great example of media creating negative perspectives. I'd heard he was an artist and a writer and with the little I knew about him and this side artistry, I made an immediate judgement that he was a bit of a pretentious dick-hence the past self punching; turns out I may have been a bit of a bitch in my teens and not quite the world loving angel I saw myself as. Good news is though, like many people who grow I learnt my lesson and in actually giving James' work a chance; it turned out that we had a lot in common in terms of people we idolize and admire and that I related a lot to him as a writer. I fell completely in love with the creative mind it turned out he had.

The books I am going to talk about here are the books I own and have read....a lot.

First off we have Hollywood Dreaming (2014, Insight Editions); This is a beautiful book of poems, prose and stories as well as being covered in chaotic art from dust jacket to inner pages. A lot of the poems in the first quarter are actually based on cast and filming of Spring Breakers (2012) and some are even written in the voice of Alien, Franco's character on the movie.

Next is A California Childhood (2013, Insight Editions); I recently got this book and was beyond happy to see that the pages weren't only filled by writing but the majority of the first half of the book is basically a family photo album with pictures of him, his brothers and his parents from babies to teens, and even some shots of old girlfriends.

Directing Herbert White (2014, Faber & Faber) is a book of poems based around the themes and feelings of short film James did with the same name, the short film was an adaptation of Frank Bidart’s Poem and starred Michael Shannon playing Herbert who is a murdering necrophiliac. One of the many things I loved about this book was that a section of it had each poem titled with the name of songs by The Smiths, who are one of the greatest bands in the world, obviously.

Palo Alto (2010, Charles Scribner’s Sons); this is a book of short stories based on teenagers in Palo Alto, and I believe it’s mix of memoir and fiction which James is famous for. This book is beautiful and brutal because it’s boundary less and truthful in terms of teenage recklessness, judgement and sex. Palo Alto was adapted into two different movies; with the first being the Gia Coppola feature with the same title, seeing James Franco in a side role starring next to Jack Kilmer and Emma Roberts. The next was Memoria which came out in 2015, received 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and saw Franco in another side role.

Annnnd finally, saving the best till last, we have Actors Anonymous (2013, Faber & Faber); This is another book of short stories that most definitely mixes memoir and fiction and there’s this thrilling yet frustrating element of trying to figure out what’s true and what’s not and I love that. This book actually knocked my favourite book of all time off it’s top spot after the first reading and since others that has not changed. The stories, like Palo Alto, are boundary-less and grasps the spiked edges of human desire and addiction brilliantly, from sexual encounters to recovering alcoholics and I couldn’t love it more. This is a book for me that turned a type cast stoner actor into a genius idol who is always inspiring me, so if you were wondering, yes I like this book?

Okay, so to say this piece is bias is a little bit of an understatement, but as Barry from American Dad  once said; “Do what you love and the money will come!” metaphorical money obviously, I’d be happy with cups of tea, OH! Or the hardback edition of Actors Anonymous because I only have the paperback! You should know me by now Velvet-ians, once I start I can’t stop! So, there are a few books by a guy some people still don’t know is writer but that’s why I get to ramble about all this stuff, so it’s not only interest but also obliviousness that’s my gain, cool. As I said before, all links to these books are below and look out other Wednesdays for similar pieces; this is just one part of a new schedule for the blog so if you’re interested on knowing what other daily topics to expect, then follow the social media links below and it’s on there, somewhere.

Twitter & Facebook; @VelvetFilmMore / facebook.com/Velvetfilmmore

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