What Is James Franco's Net Worth?
James Franco is an American actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, artist, and poet who has a net worth of $30 million. James Franco has had an extremely eclectic career and shows no signs of stopping. He has appeared in massive, successful blockbusters such as the "Spider-Man" franchise, critically and commercially successful projects such as "Milk," "Pineapple Express," and "127 Hours," (which earned him an Oscar nomination), and well-reviewed smaller films such as "The Great Raid," "Tristan and Isolde," and "Howl."
He's also worked successfully on television, playing Daniel Desario on "Freaks and Geeks," starring in the television movie "James Dean," and recurring on "General Hospital." He's been nominated for an Oscar, an Emmy, three SAG Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Among his acting work on both film and television, James has managed to squeeze in a number of directing and writing jobs on independent projects, and he earned a B.A. in English from UCLA, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia University (while also attending NYU's filmmaking program at Tisch School of the Arts and classes at Brooklyn College for fiction writing), and at one point was working to complete a Ph.D. in English at Yale.
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Early Life
James Edward Franco was born on April 19, 1978, in Palo Alto, California. His two brothers, Tom and Dave Franco, are both also actors. James attended Palo Alto High School, graduating in 1996. He then enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as an English major but dropped out against his parents' wishes after his first year of classes to pursue his dream of being an actor. After dropping out of college, he took acting lessons at the Playhouse West with Robert Carnegie and supported himself by working at McDonald's.
Career Beginnings
James began auditioning for roles in Los Angeles, landing his first-ever paid role in a Pizza Hut commercial in 1997. After working in guest roles on various television shows, he landed his first big break in 1999 when he was cast as the lead on the NBC show "Freaks and Geeks." Although the show only ran for 18 episodes and was eventually canceled due to low viewership, it has since become a cult hit. His first film role was in 2000's "Never Been Kissed."
Acting Career
Franco's star continued to rise with his work in the title role in the 2001 television biographical film "James Dean," for which he received a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award. He continued on to appear in hit films such as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy: "Spider-Man" (2002), its sequel "Spider-Man 2" (2004) and "Spider-Man 3" (2007). He also starred in films such as "Sonny" (2002), "City by the Sea" (2002), "Milk" (2008), "Pineapple Express" (2008), "Eat Pray Love" (2010), "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011), "Spring Breakers" (2012), "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2013) and "This Is the End" (2013). He won another Golden Globe Award, this time for Best Actor, for his film "The Disaster Artist" (2017). In "The Disaster Artist," he portrayed mysterious filmmaker Tommy Wiseau, whose film "The Room" became legendary for its sheer awfulness.
Outside of films, Franco also achieved success in television. His notable television appearances include a recurring role in the soap opera "General Hospital" from 2009 to 2012, a starring role in the limited series "11.22.63" in 2016, and starring in the HBO drama "The Deuce" from 2017 to 2019. James co-produced and starred in "King Cobra" in 2016 and then appeared in the Netflix film "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" in 2018. In August 2022, Franco was cast as Fidel Castro in the indie film "Alina of Cuba."
Additionally, Franco is well-known for his frequent collaborations with fellow actor Seth Rogen. The two appear in multiple projects together, including eight films and one television series. In 2013, James was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6838 Hollywood Blvd.
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Other Projects
Franco is a skilled director in his own right, producing and directing various projects over the years. He produced and directed the documentary "Saturday Night," which is centered on the production of an episode of "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"), informed and influenced by his experience hosting two "SNL" episodes. His short films "The Feast of Stephen" and "Herbert White" were both presented in May 2010 at the Maryland Film Festival. Other films by Franco include the 90-minute docudrama "The Broken Tower" (2011), which presents the story of poet Hart Crane and his suicide. It was screened at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival and released on DVD in 2012.
Additionally, Franco presented his first solo art exhibition at The Clocktower Gallery in New York City, titled "The Dangerous Book Four Boys," featuring videos, drawings, sculptures, and installations. James is also a writer. "Palo Alto," his collection of short stories about growing up in Palo Alto, was published by Scribner in October 2010, although it was met with generally mixed and lukewarm critical reviews. Franco has also experimented with musical projects, and his band Daddy released their first single, "Love in the Old Days," and their EP, "MotorCity," in September 2012 and the album "Let Me Get What I Want" in 2016.
Personal Life and Education
Despite his secular upbringing, Franco describes himself as Jewish. He held an official Bar Mitzvah ceremony for himself in 2015, which was presided over by a rabbi. He dated co-star Marla Sokoloff for five years after the couple met on the set of "Whatever It Takes" in 1999. Later, he dated actress Ahna O'Reilly, splitting in 2011. He has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including from actress Ally Sheedy, former girlfriend Violet Pansy, and multiple women who previously either studied acting under Franco or were being mentored by him. In December 2021, Franco admitted to having sex with students and being in treatment for sexual addiction since 2016.
After dropping out of college in the late 1990s to pursue an acting career, Franco returned to school at UCLA in 2006, majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing. His undergraduate honors thesis was a novel prepared under the supervision of novelist Mona Simpson, and he graduated in June 2008. He continued on to invest heavily in his own education, moving to New York City to attend graduate school programs simultaneously at Columbia University School of the Arts for writing, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University for filmmaking, Brooklyn College for fiction writing, and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina for poetry. He received his M.F.A. from Columbia in 2010. He has also studied in the Ph.D. English program at Yale University and attended the Rhode Island School of Design. Franco was featured in print advertisements for his alma mater, UCLA, with the tagline "Some A-Listers Actually Get A's."
