James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978)[2] is an American actor, filmmaker, teacher and author. His first prominent role was a lead part on the short-lived cult hit televisão program Freaks and Geeks; he later achieved recognition for playing the título character in the TV biographical film James Dean (2001), for which he was awarded a Golden Globe Award. He portrayed Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy. His notable films are Pineapple Express, Milk, 127 Hours, Tristan & Isolde, Annapolis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and 2013 releases Oz the Great and Powerful, Spring Breakers, This Is the End, and Lovelace. He also had a recurring role in the ABC soap opera General Hospital. For his role in 127 Hours, Franco received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Franco volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity and has taught a class at New York universidade in feature filmmaking and production.[3] In 2013, he began teaching a course in short film production at the universidade of Southern California and a course in screenwriting at his alma mater, universidade of California, Los Angeles.[4] He is currently a PhD candidate at Yale University.[5]