James Franco shows off buff new body as he prepares for latest film role

James Franco is really jumping into character for his new role. Co-starring alongside Megan Mullally and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, Franco is playing a billionaire in comedy Why Him?, which is approaching preproduction in Los Angeles. Directed by John Hamburg, the film follows a Midwestern dad (Cranston) who travels to see his daughter at college, but soon finds himself fighting for her affections with her brash new tech billionaire boyfriend (Franco). Covered head-to-toe in (temporary) tattoos, Franco shared a snap of his buff new physique to his Instagram account yesterday (much to our delight).

New Look

A photo posted by James Franco (@jamesfrancotv) on Feb 9, 2016 at 9:50am PST

New movie with #briancranston ❤️ A photo posted by James Franco (@jamesfrancotv) on Feb 8, 2016 at 1:14pm PST

The 37-year-old is also rumoured to be starring alongside Kristin Stewart and Helena Bonham Carter in JT Leroy, a film is based on the life of author Laura Albert, who pretended to be a fictional transgender male and deceived the Hollywood and the fashion industry during the late 1990s. Rumoured to be cast as Geoffrey Knoop in the biopic, Franco would play the lover of Albert and the older brother of Savannah Knoop, an aspiring clothes designer who made public appearances in character as Leroy, reports Vulture. Leading the project behind the scenes is director Justin Kelly, who worked with Franco on I Am Michael, with the script to be reportedly based from Savannah Knoop’s memoir, Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy. More stories: Barbra Streisand accepts medal from Obama – then slams Trump Homophobic attack victim spreads message of love and tolerance from behind his bruises