James Franco: ‘Maybe I’m just gay’
James Franco has a history of taking on gay film roles, which has inevitably stoked curiosity about his sexuality.
He told the Advocate last year that he was straight, but was more nuanced in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.
The star, who is in a long-term relationship with Ahna O’Reilly, said: āItās funny because the way that kind of stuff is talked about on blogs is so black-and-white.
“Itās all cut-and-dry identity politics. āIs he straight or is he gay?ā Or, āThis is your third gay movie ā come out already!ā And all based on, gay or straight, based on the idea that your object of affection decides your sexuality.ā
Franco recently played Harvey Milk’s boyfriend Scott Smith in Milk and portrayed the post Allen Ginsberg in Howl.
He said there were plenty of attractions in playing a gay character, especially those who lived at a time when homosexuality was not accepted.
āThere are lots of other reasons to be interested in gay characters than wanting myself to go out and have sex with guys,ā he said.
āAnd there are also lots of other aspects about these characters that Iām interested in, in addition to their sexuality. So, in some ways itās coincidental, in other ways itās not. I mean, Iāve played a gay man whoās living in the ā60s and ā70s, a gay man who we depicted in the ā50s, and one being in the ā20s.
“And those were all periods when to be gay, at least being gay in public, was much more difficult. Part of what Iām interested in is how these people who were living anti-normative lifestyles contended with opposition. Or, you know what, maybe Iām just gay.ā
Last week, Rupert Everett, who has frequently spoken about Hollywoodās attitude to homophobia, told BBC Radio 4: āA lot of straight actors are actively searching for gay roles because it is something different to do.
“I think thatās fine but that does mean the gay actor who used to just get to play the gay part ā like me ā has been reduced to drag really.ā
