Before we get into this, let’s just revisit one of the best, best, BEST moments of the year and perhaps the Best Quote of 2010. It’s James Franco I Went To Film School during the Hollywood Reporter Best Actor Roundtable. Remember he also declared that he doesn’t “fight for roles” anymore?
Start at the 20:25 mark and enjoy it again. It really doesn’t get much better than this:
Will he remind the entire audience that I WENT TO FILM SCHOOL at the Kodak Theatre on Oscar night when he’s up on stage hosting? Franco just gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly about his decision to host the show:
“When (producer Bruce Cohen) asked me to host, I was very, very surprised, and my initial reaction was ‘No’. Then I thought about it and I thought, well, why not? Because I’ll look bad? Well, I don’t care.”
Why should he? He WENT TO FILM SCHOOL.
Franco also explained that another reason behind his decision to do it is that he’ll undoubtedly be up for Best Actor, and that everyone thought it would hurt his chances:
“When we finally met and discussed it in person, all my representatives were saying, ‘No! Of course not!’ So that always sparks something in me. So I said, ‘Yes, of course!’ Because that reaction that they have is based on conventional wisdom of what makes a good career. And that can be boring — really boring.”
And you know, James Franco, the artiste WHO WENT TO FILM SCHOOL, is always confronting the really boring, always challenging the unexpected. That’s just what artistes do:
“I’m front and center, but … I feel confident. I’m happy to take the criticism. Even if it’s ‘The Worst Oscars Ever,’ I don’t care. It’s one night of the year.”
And all the other nights he spends with the Real Creative. People like Marina Abramovic, with whom he attended last week’s premiere of Somewhere in New York. Franco has called Abramovic the “grandmother of performance art”, and if you recall, last year he wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal on performance art after, I don’t know, eating a gold dusted dessert with Abramovic on camera. Click here to read the article and watch the video. In the context of I WENT TO FILM SCHOOL, it’s more than a little up-his-own-assy.
All that matters here though, at least to him, is that we know that he and Abramovic are friends. Because artistes recognise true artistry in each other? I never went to film school. I don’t know the answer.
Click here for more from Entertainment Weekly on James Franco hosting the Oscars.
Photos from Wenn.com and Johns PkI/Splashnewsonline.com