Culture

James Franco: I wasn’t ‘frightened’ when girls spread gay rumours about me at school

Jan 23 2013
Written by Joseph McCormick

Actor and director, James Franco, has spoken about girls who used to make up gay rumours about him at school, that they even made up a dance about it, except he said he was never “frightened” by them.

In an interview with MTV news, the Milk star said: ”In high school these girls got mad at me and so they spread this rumour that I was having a gay relationship with one of my closest friends.

”And they even made up a little dance they would do in the girls’ locker room about me being gay. I still don’t know what the dance was.”

The star, who is straight, said he didn’t care, and that that he was never “frightened” by the rumours.

”It wasn’t like it was anything new. And in fact, it wasn’t something that frightened me, like if people think that, it’s fine. I really don’t care.”

Not the first time Franco has been subject to rumours in the media about his sexuality, in 2011, after rumours that he had been dating a man, he was falsely accused of assaulting him. Franco’s lawyers warned off two gossip magazines because no complaint was ever filed with the police, and the accuser later admitted he had ever met the star.

Hinting at further gossip about his sexuality, he told the magazine: “I was in Milk, a movie I felt strongly about. Some more great rumours will be coming up.”

A long time advocate for gay rights, Franco has a history of taking on gay film roles, which has inevitably stoked curiosity about his sexuality. In a 2011 interview he said “maybe I’m just gay”.

He recently teamed up with a gay art-porn director to produce and star in an indie film which re-imagines footage lost from the 1980 film Cruising which starred Al Pacino. Franco’s film, Cruising, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last Friday.