He’s back after a long hiatus!
James Franco, 44, is making his comeback into acting after facing sexual-misconduct allegations four years ago in 2018.
Franco, 44, will play one of the lead roles in the post-World War II coming-of-age drama “Me, You”, an adaptation of the novel “Tu, Mia” by Erri De Luca, from director Bille August.
“I am excited to board this phenomenal project and to be working with the legendary Bille August. I’m a huge fan of his work, and ‘Me, You’ is a truly brilliant script,” Franco said.
Franco says that he will also be starring in the upcoming action movie ‘Mace’.
Franco left the acting scene after a series of sexual-misconduct allegations made by multiple women in 2018.
Four of the women who accused Franco were his acting students. In 2019, students at Franco’s since-closed acting school, Studio 4, sued him and his partners.
The lawsuit claimed that Franco created an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation by engaging in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students.
Franco agreed to pay $2,235,000 to settle the lawsuit in 2021 and two years after the allegations Franco admitted to having sexual relations with his students.
“Look, I’ll admit I did sleep with students. I didn’t sleep with anybody in my ‘Sex Scenes’ class, but, over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students and that was wrong,” he said in a 2021 interview with SiriusXM’s Jess Cagle.
In the same interview, the “Pineapple Express” actor admitted he was addicted to sex, saying, “I was completely blind to power dynamics or anything like that … I didn’t wanna hurt people.”
Two of Francos victims, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, bashed him for the interview at the time and claimed he downplayed the misconduct.
Shortly after the sexual-misconduct allegations, Franco’s “Freaks and Geeks” co-star Busy Philipps wrote in her book, “This Will Only Hurt a Little,” detailing a time she was allegedly assaulted by the star on set. She claims Franco threw her to the ground and the wind was knocked out of her. Philipps said that she insisted to everyone on set at the time that she was fine.
At the time, Franco faced moderate backlash, including being removed from the Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue cover and having his art removedfrom his high school. Franco’s BFF Seth Rogan even distanced himself from the actor.
Franco’s acting comeback will see him starring alongside Tom Hollander and Daisy Jacob. Production for “Me, You” begins in September.
