Interesting Facts

Early Life
- Called Ted/Teddy by his family.
- Called Jim/Jimmy by his friends.
- Childhood idol was Tony Hawk.
- Was arrested repeatedly while still in high school (‘for this and that’).
- Was voted ‘Best Smile’ at Palo Alto High School.
- Destroyed his Nissan Stanza by racing it in the San Fernando Valley.
- After James dropped out of UCLA, his parents stopped paying his way. He got a job at McDonalds.
- To overcome his shyness, he got into acting while studying literature at UCLA, which, much to his parents’ dismay, he left after only one year.

Actor
- Acting teacher was Robert Carnegie.
- Studies up his roles passionately with perfection.
- James gave his Golden Globe award — which he won for his portrayal of James Dean, to his mother.
- Has his own production company.
- Rabbit Bandini Productions.
- Admires Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, and Catherine Keener.
- Auditioned for the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man (2002), but was given the part of Harry Osbourne.
- Appeared in two movies that premiered on the same day, Deuces Wild (2002) and Spider-Man (2002), both opening on May 3rd.

Other
- Is currently [2006] taking a History course at UCLA.
- Does horse tricks.
- Likes to paint.
- He wooed Sokoloff by giving her his portrait of the goddess Venus.
- James enjoys painting in his free time. Some of his work has been shown in galleries, such as the Glu Gallery in Los Angeles. Also, his ex-girlfriend Marla Sokoloff has some, which was still hanging in an episode of Cribs. James says that a member of the band Third Eye Blind also has some of his work.
- Gave his grandmother a painting of his as a Chanukah present last year (2003).
- Doesn’t wear watches.
- Shares a birthday with Hayden Christensen (April 19).
- Was named one of People Magazine’s 50 Hottest Bachelors [2004].
- Was named one of Salon.com’s ’10 men who might just inspire the rebirth of Jewish male cool.’
- If he could have any super power, it would be to become a speed reader.
- Dated Marla Sokoloff (3 years), whom he met on the set of Whatever It Takes.
- Offscreen, Franco is an artsy loner
- By his own confession. When not in front of the camera, he has taken to writing screenplays.
- He has written six scripts with Williams in the year and a half since they have been writing together.