The Overachiever

In early March of 2009 a photo appeared all over the internet showing a typical university student falling asleep during a seminar. The photo became an instant annoyance to the poor student since in the picture, as he sits in his seat, his well known face is tilted back and he seems about ready to drool. Although James Franco has stated in dozens of interviews that he was just resting no one can blame him for wanting to get some shut eye with all he has going on in his artistic life. Besides being one of today's most respected young leading men he is also a director, scriptwriter, author, artist and honour student. However, it isn’t the fact that Franco works in all these fields that makes him noticeable. It is the successfulness and high regard towards every one of these fields that makes Franco a very devoted and open minded creator.

As an actor Franco has created many colourful and contrasting characters from portraying a hilarious pot head in Pineapple Express to reincarnating the great poet Allen Ginsberg in one of last years well acclaimed films, Howl. However, as a director and scriptwriter he has helped to create a couple of short plays that have been adapted into films and as an artist he actually has a gallery open to the public right now, filled with various pieces of his original artwork. Also, as of late last year, Franco published his first novel, Palo Alto, a collection of short stories based in his hometown. Most of all, though, to say Franco is a very busy student does not even begin to cover how far he has taken his education. In the fall of 2006, he enrolled in UCLA in 62 credits compared to the average 19 and in June 2008 graduated with a 3.5 GPA average. He then added to this by attending Columbia University’s MLA writing program and New York University’s School of the Arts and continues to be presently enrolled.

Even though he recently received a D grade in his acting class, this year has proven to be one of Franco’s most highlighting towards his acting career. He actually received the D grade due to the fact that he was working on 127 Hours, a role in which he was given a Best Actor nod at this year’s Academy Awards and also helped to host the show. But, keeping open-minded, he also continues his role on the popular soap opera, General Hospital. Along with this and his many achievements, not just as a creator but as an overall focused and good person, Franco has more than just the staying power of an actor. He has the opportunity to be remembered as an insightful and unbiased artistic inventor.