In a new interview,
actor-director-producer James Franco laughed when asked to explain
his controversial “I'm gay in my art” comment.
Franco, 39, spoke to The Guardian
to promote his upcoming film The Disaster Artist, which
arrives December 1.
Interviewer
Hadley Freeman wrote: “Our time is up, but, before I go, I have
one last question. What did he mean when he said he is gay in his
art, but straight in his life? He furrows his brow again, as if he is
about to make another ever so serious answer. But then suddenly his
face clears and instead he looks up at me and just laughs. Even
Franco can laugh at Franco these days, it turns out.”
In a 2015 piece titled The straight
James Franco talks to the gay James Franco, Franco, who has
played gay in numerous films, including 2008's Milk and 2015's
I Am Michael, and produced several films which feature gay
characters, asks himself whether he's gay.
“Well, I like to think that I’m gay
in my art and straight in my life,” gay
James Franco answered. “Although, I’m also gay in my life up
to the point of intercourse, and then you could say I’m straight.
So I guess it depends on how you define gay. If it means whom you
have sex with, I guess I’m straight. In the twenties and thirties,
they used to define homosexuality by how you acted and not by whom
you slept with. Sailors would fuck guys all the time, but as long as
they behaved in masculine ways, they weren’t considered gay.”