Last week, we cornered General Hospital star James Franco and asked what on earth he was doing acting on episodes of General Hospital, figuring the answer was either a drinking problem or a maniacal desire to be written about on more blogs. Alas, he would only tell us: “I’ve got other ideas for my participation in this soap opera beyond just being in this soap opera.†Today, though, Movieline talks to Franco’s frequent collaborator, a one-named artist-Svengali character named Carter (the one behind the film Erased James Franco, in which Franco reenacts Julianne Moore’s performance in Todd Haynes’s Safe and ones from his own career), who elaborates slightly on those ideas. Apparently whole thing was conceived by him as fodder for some future art movie.
Via Movieline:
When it was announced that James Franco was doing this soap, I immediately thought, “Carter.†Is it something the two of you had discussed or planned?
Yeah, it’s for several different things. It was an idea that I posed to him, and it’s tied to another film that he and I are working on now. It’s not specifically for another project, because I know that he’s really enjoying the challenge of working on a soap — it’s a very taxing job, and an interesting thing for him to be doing — but it does have to do with another film that he and I are working on.
Can you tell me much about that film?
Not really, because it’s in the very beginning stages. It’s basically written, and now we’re working on getting the other actors involved, which we are super, super excited about. I obviously can’t mention them either yet, though I wish I could. Once that happens, we’re going to make the best movie ever made. [Laughs] I can’t wait.
So, what Carter is presumably implying here is that his movie won’t have the commercial appeal of, say, Casey Affleck’s upcoming documentary on Joaquin Phoenix’s pretend hip-hop career. We liked this idea better when we thought Franco was just trying to be funny.
In my mind, it’s definitely not a video, it’s a feature film. That’s what’s interesting about the collaboration that James and I have, the line between what’s fine art and what’s a commercial piece is a constant puzzle. But in my mind, if you ask me, it’s a feature film that’s gonna be pretty abstract, for a larger audience.
So, what Carter is presumably implying here is that his movie won’t have the commercial appeal of, say, Casey Affleck’s upcoming documentary on Joaquin Phoenix’s pretend hip-hop career. We liked this idea better when we thought Franco was just trying to be funny.
EXCLUSIVE: The Real Story (and the Mastermind) Behind James Franco’s Soap Opera Career Move [Movieline]