In explaining why he's played so many
gay characters, actor-director James Franco said that a lot of his
heroes just happen to have been gay.
Franco's latest film, Sal, looks
at the life and murder of Sal Mineo, considered the first major
Hollywood actor to come out gay.
(Related: James
Franco's Sal
looks at last day in the life of openly gay star Sal Mineo.)
In an interview with The
Daily Beast, Franco was asked about his “fascination”
with gay characters.
“It's not like it's my mission to
tell the stories of as many gay men as possible, although in some
cases, I think it is the point,” Franco said. “In Milk,
the point is to show one of the great fighters for equal rights for
the gay community, so I was happy to do that. With characters like
Allen Ginsberg [in Howl], my love for him started with his
work when I was a teenager. So his sexuality is secondary to me. It's
an important aspect of who he was and his character, but it wasn't
like, 'Yes, I want to play another gay role,' it was more, 'Yes, I'd
love to play another one of my heroes.'”
He added: “But I feel like because
I've done more gay characters, gay scenes, or gay projects than most
straight actors, people see it as some sort of mission. It's more of
a case-by-case basis, and just trying to capture figures that I love.
I guess that a lot of the figures that I love were gay.”