James Franco made a rare appearance at the Rome Film Festival in support of his new film 'Hey Joe.' The Italian film sees Franco play a World War II vet who returns to Naples 25 years after finding out he has a son there. While discussing the film with the press, the actor drew parallels to his own life. Franco said, "My character is a man who wasted his own life. He catches the occasion to do something positive. That was the same for me as a person. I changed my way of seeing things."
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00:00James Franco made a rare appearance at the Rome Film Festival in support of his new movie Hey Joe.
00:06The Italian film sees Franco play a World War II vet,
00:09who returns to Naples 25 years later after finding out he has a son there.
00:13While discussing the film with the press, the actor drew parallels to his own life.
00:17Franco said,
00:18My character is a man who wasted his own life. He catches the occasion to do something positive.
00:23That was the same for me as a person. I changed my way of seeing things.
00:27He continued,
00:28I understood that what I really wanted to obtain from success was an actual bond with other people,
00:33a spiritual growth. That's what could give a meaning to my life.
00:36Franco went on to further describe his character in the film like this,
00:40My character destroyed his own personal life. His marriage is in pieces. He is alone.
00:44He is becoming an alcoholic. And then a miracle comes in his life.
00:48Some people could say, It's too late. Other people, like him, could say,
00:52This is an opportunity. Let's see where it takes me. There is always the way to change our life.
00:57In 2018, five women accused Franco of sexual misconduct. A class action lawsuit filed in
01:02Los Angeles in 2019 claimed he misused his position, offering acting opportunities in
01:07exchange for favors. In 2021, Franco agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a class action
01:13lawsuit alleging he pushed acting students at his Studio 4 film school into performing
01:18increasingly explicit scenes on camera. Since then, Franco has kept a relatively low profile.
01:23For more on this story, go to THR.com. This is The Hollywood Reporter News.