Actor James Franco has credited a
performance with transgender artist Kalup Linzy for landing him a
singing and dancing gig at the Oscars.
The 32-year-old Franco is set to
co-host next month's Academy Awards show.
In
an interview published Sunday with celebrity website JustJared.com,
the actor revealed he's set to perform on the awards show.
“All I'm allowed to say is I'm
singing and dancing,” Franco said.
“One of the producers of the Oscars
saw a YouTube clip of me singing with this artist named Kalup Linzy,”
he added. “And the producer was like, 'Maybe James would be
willing to have a couple of singing lessons.' But whatever, I think
I sounded pretty good with Kalup!” (The video is embedded in the
right panel of this page.)
Franco
and Linzy were also spotted together at last year's Los Angeles Gay
Pride.
The
127 Hours star made headlines last year when he posed in drag
for the fall-winter cover of Candy, the magazine dedicated
to androgyny and transsexualism.
And
in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, Franco – who has
starred in numerous gay roles – suggested that he might be gay.