You know from the clip that aired during Heroes a while back that Harry Osborn finally takes on the Green Goblin mantle. But Spider-Man 3 still has a lot of surprises for James Franco. You'll see romantic James Franco, playful James Franco and smooth dancing James Franco as Harry tears apart Peter Parker's life from the inside out. These added dimensions must have opened up the actor because the usually shy Franco got all verbose in this interview.
CraveOnline: Have you been waiting through the whole series to get these action moments?
James Franco: Well, I kind of expected it. I mean, in the comic books Harry does take over for his father. And the way they ended part I, I assumed that would happen. I actually thought it would happen in part 2 until I saw that he was just left hanging at the end. So, I was pretty sure that he would come in part 3 and my feelings toward the movies have really changed. When I signed on to the first one, I love Sam and I love working with him but I didn’t know what kind of movie it would be. I knew it was going to be a big blockbuster but I didn’t realize the heart that he would put into it, and the emphasis that he would put on the characters in developing the characters and the story. And, so, in the beginning, before I’d seen the first one, I might have been reluctant to be a superhero because it would seem cheesy, but after realizing what the movies were really like, I was happy to do it.
CraveOnline: What do you like about the development of Harry’s character over these films?
James Franco: Well, people bring up the fact that I auditioned for Peter Parker and I tested and it was huge test. It must have been thousands of dollars just for this test. There were cranes and sets and they kept me waiting about six weeks. And then Tobey got the role and nobody believes me when I say that I think he’s a perfect for the role. I think he has done a better job than I would do in that role. But after the test, after Tobey got it, I guess Sam and I got along well enough that he wanted me in the movie. And as far as I know he didn’t audition anybody else for Harry and he just called me up and asked me if I wanted to play that role. Obviously it’s a smaller role, but they’ve given me a lot to do in that role. It’s one of the more dramatic parts. He goes through a lot in these films and I’ve been very happy with it. He’s almost a parallel to Peter. I lose a father. He loses a father figure, his uncle. And then especially in this third one he’s avenging his uncle’s death, and I’m doing the same. I’m avenging my father’s death. They’ve given me a lot. And the great thing about the character too is that he develops through all three films. His arc is not completed until this last film so in every movie he’s different. It’s the same path but it’s further along in the development. And, it makes it you know doing another movie more interesting.
CraveOnline: When they bring new characters into the sequels, does that affect you or change the balance?
James Franco: No, I mean I didn’t really have many scenes with Topher and Thomas. But I saw them in the trailer, I really like them. I knew Thomas a little from before, just from around, I guess. I think they were welcomed and I think because they’re villains, and I think the same is for Alfred and not so much for Willem, but they have their own separate storylines, and so a lot of their scenes are just separate from the main actors. So I don’t know. I can’t answer that much. I welcomed them but I didn’t have many scenes with any of the villains other than Willem and he was part of the first one from the beginning.
CraveOnline: Is this the first time you’ve worn the effects makeup in any film? And, if so, did it hinder your character or help you?
James Franco: It’s the first time I’ve worn that large of a prosthetic. It’s a pain to put on, you know it takes a couple hours. I think they did a great job. It feels kind of like a raw piece of meat. And they glue it on. I lie there and have to get in a coupe hours earlier and I watch a movie and they go to work, and then they paint it. I don’t think it really inhibited my performance at all. You kind of just forget about it except when it’s pertinent to the scene.
James Franco: I could although part of it, they put the prosthetic on and then I get hit with a pumpkin bomb so I guess it’s kind of acidic or something. It burns my face and it also I guess burned my eye. So they made the right eye a different color. I guess they faded the pupil and made it bluish. And so that required a contact that went over my whole eye and it was a little difficult to see out of that.
CraveOnline: How much of the flying around stunts was you in the movie?
James Franco: A lot of it was me. I think if you watch that aerial battle in the beginning, I filmed that for a month and a half and then even after moving on from that scene we’d go back and shoot additionally shots. So I did a fair amount of that. Most of the computer-generated replicas of me are used for the wide shots, but all the stuff in close struggling with Peter is usually me. And then there are some shots where I’m wearing a mask and they’d want to use a stuntman. I don’t know why. It’s not especially dangerous work but I suppose I was shooting a different scene and they wanted to use a stuntman, I don’t know.
CraveOnline: If you were on wires, wouldn't it be dangerous?
James Franco: Yeah, well, it’s not especially strenuous. It’s very time-consuming. The process involves a lot of setup and very little shooting. So had to put on the suit, which takes about a half and hour. The camera crew has to setup for about an hour and then the stunt team has to rehearse whatever mover we’re doing, and then they have to strap me in the wires and raise me up, and then everybody gets in line and coordinated and the fans blowing air. Then they say "Action!" and then it’s about like 20 seconds or less. I do like one move, and they you cut, and then get down and do the whole process over again. There are some action movies where you do multiple moves in a shot and over and over and over again and that can be pretty exhausting. Or I don’t know run a lot. But this is not that.
CraveOnline: There’s one scene that was like an old school fist fight. Was that more like blocking a series of moves?
James Franco: That’s right. That was a little different. That was more traditional fight. There was as little CG, but not nearly as much as the first fight. And, yeah, we choreographed that and we’d do a few more moves per shot, and Tobey and I would have to choreograph it before we shot it and work out the punches and the misses and that kind of thing. But it was still different than any action movie I’ve done. Some of the most spectacular action scenes in movies are in these films, so they just take a long time and they also have the budget to do it.
CraveOnline: What has your journey in the business be like, and do you think you would have had so many opportunities without Spider-Man?
James Franco: Well, I think I’ve changed a lot. I think the first one, we filmed it about six years ago, I think. And I’d done movies, some other movies before then. I’d worked with De Niro and I’d played James Dean. But I was still fairly new to movies and it was certainly the largest movie that I’d ever done at that point. We did the world premiere in Japan and Sam introduced all the actors onstage and for me he said, "And James Franco who I feel like I’ve grown up with… He’s changed so much since the first film." I think I worked hard on the first film. I did a lot of research. I did more research before the first film than on any of them. I literally read hundreds of the Spider-Man comic books and did funny things like went to prep school and tried to figure out, I don’t know what Harry’s kind of background was and that kind of thing. So I did a lot work for it but I was a young serious actor and I had my doubts about doing a comic book movie. So I assumed Sam’s comments are referring to my attitude, I guess. I didn’t do anything awful. I mean, there were no like real stories, but I don’t know if I was as enthusiastic as I was on the set of the second and third films. And, so when we go to the second film, I had already seen the first, and I knew that they were special movies and that Sam really put something more into these movies to raise the bar for superhero movies and comic book movies and to make them legitimate. So my attitude was completely different and I think he noticed that and responded to it. And he’s always been very collaborative, but the second and third films, I think we had an even more collaborative and better relationship.
CraveOnline: And as far as getting to do other big movies like Flyboys, Great Raid, Dead Girl?
James Franco: I think some are better than others. [Laughs]. To talk about those and the other films, and I’ve directed two features. I’ve done two low-budget features that I financed, so Spider-Man helped with the finances. And, I tried to take Sam’s approach. These are huge films. Often there are five units going at the same time and he’ll be directing the main one and then they’ll be a queue of people with video monitors to show him of other shots they’ve done that’ll he’ll approve. And the effects team will be waiting and here he’s produced other movies, they’ll bring videos of actors and actresses auditioning for additional films. I don’t think he’s had a minute break for six years. And, I have never seen him lose his cool and his enthusiastic good-natured attitude. So I’ve tried to take that. It seems like a small thing but I think it’s very important. I think it makes everyone want to give their best, and I think it keeps everyone in a very good mood. And I try to be collaborative as well, like I’ve watched him be and give the actors I work with room to be creative and feel like they’re a part. A director should certainly have a vision but if you allow people to contribute they’ll feel more like a part of the final product and feel like they have more of a hand in it and they’ll give their best, so I try and do that. And, then, as far as like the smaller independent films, last year I did Spider-Man 3 for most of the year and then I did a bunch of very small films. I had small parts in them but I just came to a point where I’m grateful that I’m able to support myself and have a career but there was something about acting that became less satisfying than it had been.
CraveOnline: Why did acting become less satisfying and how did you get it back?
James Franco: I think a number of reasons. I think when you get into acting, as a young actor I wasn’t sure what the whole process was like and then you learn that making movies is a group process, it’s collaborative. And an actor, unless they have a certain stature or are producing the movie, they have very little control over the final product, and so I had to really learn how to let go of the movie once I was done with my work. It’s a difficult thing to put so much time into a role and so much research and then shoot for months and then have it come out and it’s not what you expected, and then have to face the press and face everybody. It’s a very difficult thing. And so that was a little depressing. I think I’ve learned to deal with it a little better. I think one of the major things that helped is just doing these small films, and even if I had a small part I went into them knowing that I believed in the project, and it didn’t matter if it was a financial hit or not, I just was happy to be a part of it.
