James Franco opens up about his ‘gay obsession’
James Franco has revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that he has an “obsession” with telling LGBT stories on screen – specifically the stories of gay men.
Franco tells the magazine that his “artistic preoccupation” started while he was studying at NYU. “I took classes in critical studies, and one of my favourites was on queer cinema.”
The Michael star went on to state that the telling straight, hetereonormative stories have been told ad nauseam by now, “in our movies, our shows, our commercials- everywhere.”
Last year Franco also released a book titled Straight James/ Gay James in which ‘Straight James’ interviews ‘Gay James’ and asks “Are you gay or what?”
He also announced last year that he was working on the porn drama King Cobra which is based on the violent 2007 murder of Cobra Videos filmmaker Bryan Kocis.
“I think it’s healthy to make work that disrupts and questions that, and shows alternative narratives. That’s what an artist should do,” he says.
While his preoccupation with LGBT content might have led to rumours about his sexuality, Franco tells the magazine that this actually works in his favour when it comes to dating women.
“One of the nice things about all that speculation is that it’s a smokescreen” he says.
The new issue of Rolling Stone is out now – while you can check out more from James’ cover profile here.
More stories:
The Attitude Guide to Manscaping
Meet Mr Gay Belgium’s first ever Muslim finalist