# James Franco is the most overexposed actor working today: Agree or Disagree? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107 "2014-12-24T18:31:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/1 "2014-12-24T18:31:06Z")
He seems to be freaking everywhere and in every single issue of an entertainment magazine. For a long time he was hailed as some sort of intellectual because he was also in college, though that seems to have petered out (at least one his professors famously said his film connections and deep pockets outweighed his academic achievements in the eyes of administration). Yet amazingly, while he has many credits, he has relatively few _memorable_ performances considering the degree of his fame and ubiquity of his exposure. I suppose _127 Hours_ was his high water mark. Plus he’s committed the unforgivable sin of becoming less cute as he ages, and his worst enemy in this being his own younger brother whose hotness far eclipses his own. So I think he _currently_ the most overexposed actor. Agree or disagree? And if disagree, who would you nominate as most overexposed? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/2 "2014-12-24T18:35:48Z")
I don’t know if “most” is accurate but considering his level of talent, he’s definitely overexposed. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/3 "2014-12-24T18:46:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Yet amazingly, while he has many credits, he has relatively few _memorable_ performances considering the degree of his fame and ubiquity of his exposure. I suppose _127 Hours_ was his high water mark. He was nominated for an Oscar for _127 Hours_ and won a Golden Globe for playing James Dean in the early 2000’s. He was also outstanding in _Milk_. The guy can act. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/4 "2014-12-24T18:47:36Z")
I’d say that Benedict Cumberbatch is getting dangerously close. But I don’t blame these guys for taking every damned bit of [del]money[/del] work they can get while it is being offered. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/5 "2014-12-24T19:37:01Z")
Not exposed enough, given that I haven’t seen him naked yet. wink. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/6 "2014-12-24T19:50:33Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Not exposed enough, given that I haven’t seen him naked yet. wink. Just a quick google away. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/7 "2014-12-24T20:20:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Just a quick google away. 😉 I thought that was just Seth… hm. I vote for Jennifer Lawrence as the queen of overexposure. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/8 "2014-12-24T21:37:48Z")
What might put him over is a signature haircut. Could I go in and get _The Franco_? ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/9 "2014-12-25T01:46:37Z")
Mark Wahlberg by a mile. Guy is mediocre. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/10 "2014-12-25T02:24:43Z")
God loves James Franco. Thanks to the Sony hack he’s more famous than ever. As to everybody bitching about the gravitas of his portfolio at least he’s in there pitching and he seems or have a [winning attitude of not taking himself too seriously.](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/dude-lady-james-franco-appears-drag-candy-magazine-article-1.186843) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/11 "2014-12-25T02:43:11Z")
Franco wrote a poem called [Obama in Asheville](http://news.yahoo.com/president-obama-in-asheville-a-james-franco-poem--231846640.html) a couple years ago. An Asheville local offered [one of the best burns in history](https://mountainx.com/opinion/commentary/poetry_to_the_editor_james_franco_in_asheville/), beginning: > [@](#): > > I woke up and wondered > > why someone would ask you to write a poem > > when your words crack > > in the mouth like saltines — > > so bland a bath. I am thirsty > > for something real: standards > > at Colleges, cornbread > > that is not Vegan, songs > > with actual chords in them. > > James Franco, I do not know you > > from Spiderman, or any other things. > > My undergraduates’ knockers never have occasion > > to rub up against me. > > But I once saw Apocalypse Now > > at the Fine Arts cinema downtown, > > the one that used to be a porn theatre, > > Aunt Mariella said. And once I read > > Heart of Darkness in high school. > > I felt bad for the captain. > > So I want to tell you— > > the Asheville you write of > > is only a set. > > How flimsy the mountains fall, > > how clumsy the cardboard cutouts > > of men call from their onomatopoeia bubbles: > > Bam! Pow! Yikes! > > Don’t quit your day job, > > they would caution you > > if their mouths were not corrugated > > of clichés. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/12 "2014-12-25T03:04:31Z")
Not sure about “overexposed” as such, but he’s overrated, and from what little I’ve seen of him in interviews and his roles, someone I would never want to be anywhere near if I could help it. Polar opposites in personality and interests. Same with Seth Rogen, and the rest of their so-called comedy contemporaries. Ugh. I’m so old. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/13 "2014-12-25T06:10:36Z")
I would have to disagree. For overexposed I would say the two mentioned before, Cumberbatch and wahlberg first. I mean recently he was around because they had a movie coming out. A small movie without a lot of money pushing it. And then of course because it became big news. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/14 "2014-12-25T09:53:36Z")
I like James Franco. My favorite roles were as Allen Ginsberg in the movie Howl, and as the drug dealer Alien in Spring Breakers, for which he seriously deserved an Oscar nomination. Actors act. It’s what they do. It’s their job. It’s their occupation. It’s their career. No actor is going to say “Oh, I’d better not take that role or some random person on the internet will complain that I’m working too much!” Franco has lots of different interests and irons in the fire, including teaching. I don’t believe that he was a slacker. From IMDB: > [@](#): > > May perhaps be one of the most academically accomplished actors (an “extreme scholar”) in Hollywood history: besides his BFA in English from UCLA, he has two MFA degrees - both in writing - from Columbia and Brooklyn College, and a third MFA, in film, from New York University. He is continuing further degree studies while also teaching a graduate class that takes students through the process of making a feature-length film. (2011). From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > In 2013, he began teaching a course in short film production at the University of Southern California and a course in screenwriting at his alma mater, University of California, Los Angeles.[4] He delves into a lot of different areas, many that don’t have anything to do with acting, but even as an actor, why shouldn’t he try a lot of different roles in a lot of different movies and shorts? He even put his movie career on hold to be on a soap opera just because he wanted to try it. Soap operas are more demanding than a lot of people give them credit for. He’s also directed several films. They were small indies and didn’t get wide distribution, but they were about topics he was interested in and he gained experience for future projects and his teaching courses. Many of his smaller roles, roles in small indies and shorts, tend to be psychological in nature, it’s a subject he’s interested in, so why shouldn’t he take them? He also takes roles in LGBT-oriented films and shorts, Milk being the most famous, but only one of many. I think he should be respected for his charity work, if nothing else. Taking on high-paying, higher-profile gigs every now and then helps with that, in bringing money and attention to them. Anyone who thinks that Franco is just in the business for the money and fame without giving back or using those things for good is dead wrong. > [@](#): > > Franco has said “aiding others is the key to life, the key to happiness and, as an actor, you can get wrapped up in yourself and your career…A little secret is one of the greatest ways to break that is to stop thinking about yourself for a second.”[146] When Franco was at a point in his life where he wanted to give back but was unsure how, he asked his Spider-Man co-star Kirsten Dunst for advice. At the suggestion of Dunst, he started volunteering at the charity Art of Elysium, where she also volunteers, which helps children with serious medical conditions. He said the experience helped save his life. In January 2011, at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles, Franco was honored for his work at the hospital, receiving the Spirit of Elysium accolade.[147] > > On March 31, 2011, the actor took part in “An Evening with James Franco,” a Washington DC dinner benefit for 826DC, a non-profit foundation created to help neighborhood students reach their goals, as well as provide after-school literature programs and workshops that encourage them to improve their writing skills. Franco became involved with Dave Eggers’ 826 National after Eggers asked him to do a conceptual idea for the program, and he directed a documentary for them and has since been a supporter of them. At the event, he spoke about how he thought schools needed to be more original with their literature programs. “Writing can do things that video cannot,” he added.[148] In April 2011, Franco autographed a T-shirt that would be auctioned off through the Yoshiki Foundation, with the proceeds being donated for Japanese tsunami relief.[149] On June 14, he was honored by amfAR, the foundation for AIDS research, at the Museum of Modern Art. Franco received the Piaget Award of Inspiration for his humanitarian work and contributions to men’s style.[150] > > In April 2013, Franco received the Ally Award at the 15th annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The award was presented to him in recognition of his unwavering support of the LGBT community.[151] > > In April 2014, Franco presented at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition with Leighton Meester and Chris O’Dowd, after raising donations at his Broadway show Of Mice and Men. [152] In June 2014, Franco performed in the BC/EFA benefit Broadway Bares [153] Anyway, if you’re sick of him now, you might as well just go live on a desert island, because he has over 20 upcoming projects. I’m most looking forward to Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert, with Nicole Kidman, another actor who went through her own “You’re overexposed, stop working so much” craziness. He also has Everything Will Be Fine, directed by Wim Winders, coming, and I can’t wait to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/15 "2014-12-25T13:11:38Z")
James Franco has talent. Seth Rogen’s continued employment baffles me. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/16 "2014-12-25T14:51:43Z")
I don’t get why the ladies think he’s such a sexpot. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/17 "2014-12-25T16:55:15Z")
Disagree. But based on my recent experience of going to the movies and seeing approximately 23 trailers for upcoming movies of his, I would alternatively suggest Kevin Hart. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/18 "2014-12-25T17:44:50Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I don’t get why the ladies think he’s such a sexpot. I’m too old to be thinking of any younger man as a “sexpot” (unless we’re talking Chris Hemsworth, who sets my inner 18-year old’s heart a-flutter), and he’s not my type (my husband is my type) but he’s attractive to me in a way that goes beyond his looks. I do think he’s cute (and still, even as he ages, cuter than his brother, who is also cute), but it’s the combination of intelligence, curiousity about many different topics, that ability to be both serious and totally goofy/playful, his often self-depreciating humor (come on, he was hilarious in This Is The End) and more, makes him very appealing. Does any straight man ever get why any woman thinks another man is attractive? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/19 "2014-12-25T18:24:18Z")
Here’s an [Open Letter to James Franco](http://www.out.com/entertainment/michael-musto/2014/04/21/gay-love-letter-james-franco-broadway?page=full) that to me is pretty dead on about why Franco is attractive. It’s from a gay man but I agree with most of it. I love how he’s completely confident in his sexuality, whatever that may be. He doesn’t care what other people think. If he’s gay and people think he’s gay, no problem. If he’s straight and people think he’s gay, no problem. He loves to playfully tweak the tabloids. He thinks their obsession with “Is \_\_\_\_ Gay???” is ridiculous so he’ll deliberately post photos of himself bromancing another guy just to set them off. I’m on my mobile and links are problematic, but this is a good piece that comes up if you Google James Franco Gay. > **[James Franco Reveals Who's Responsible For Gay Rumors About Him](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-franco-gay-rumors-attitude-magazine-blames-himself_n_2805572)** > > James Franco Reveals Who's Responsible For Gay Rumors About Him > [@](#): > > “It’s funny because the way that kind of stuff is talked about on blogs is so black-and-white,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s all cut-and-dry identity politics. ‘Is he straight or is he gay?’ Or, ‘This is your third gay movie — come out already!’ And all based on, gay or straight, based on the idea that your object of affection decides your sexuality.” > > “Part of what I’m interested in is how these people who were living anti-normative lifestyles contended with opposition,” he said regarding his choice to play gay roles. "Or, you know what, maybe I’m just gay.” Did he come out just then? The beauty of it is, no one can be sure. People can think what they want to think and it makes no difference to him. He keeps his private life private yet fuels the rumor mill to make the speculation look silly. I love that! ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107/20 "2014-12-25T19:10:12Z")
Totally disagree. If anything, Rogen is far more over exposed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-franco-is-the-most-overexposed-actor-working-today-agree-or-disagree/708107.md?page=2)