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James Franco On 'Actors Anonymous' And Fame

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Hollywood A-lister — now novelist — James Franco joins us to talk about his new book” Actor's Anonymous.”

Actor James Franco signs autographs last month at Venice Film Festival. (Andrew Medichini/AP)
Actor James Franco signs autographs last month at Venice Film Festival. (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Nowadays – Hollywood is filled with triple threats. Multitalented entertainers, who sing, dance and act their way to the top. James Franco blows them out of the water. Actor. Director. Screenwriter. Producer. Musician. Artist. Student. Teacher. And now – novelist. His debut novel, takes a hard look at the dark side of celebrity. A look inside the mind of an actor.  Up next, On Point: James Franco – and his debut novel, "Actors Anonymous."
-- Jane Clayson

Guests

James Franco, Academy Award nominated actor, director, producer, teacher, and author. His debut novel is "Actors Anonymous." (@JamesFrancoTV)

From The Reading List

Slate: “Like a King That Orders One Thing Then Orders the Opposite Thing” Why does James Franco make people so angry? --"Franco continually commits the ultimate sin: being apparently sincerely interested in things that are presumed to be pretentious and boring. Franco is all too aware that the more artwork he makes, the less cool it makes him. As he put it to Playboy in 2011, “There’s this feeling about me like, ‘He’s doing too many things. Let’s get him.’ ”

Washington Post: Book review: James Franco’s ‘Actors Anonymous’ — "There are touching stories, usually about losers or recovering addicts or aspiring actors (featuring lots of bragging about straight sex but lots of graphic descriptions of gay sex). There are also letters and memos and e-mails written by Franco — no metaphorical stand-ins, just the guy himself — at various points in his busy life."

Vice:  A Few Impressions: Writing to Live In Hollywood -- "Like Pat Hobby, the Coen brothers’ film Barton Fink perfectly encapsulates this clash between art and commerce in the making of motion pictures, offering a whole new perspective to the term “film business.” Pat Hobby and Barton Fink are writers who are victims of the grinding machinery of the studio system. Pat is more or less a passive and accepting victim, while Barton is an artist new to Hollywood who tries to flout the commercialisation of his work by writing with an individual voice. "

Read An Excerpt From "Actors Anonymous" by James Franco

Watch The Book Trailer for James Franco's Novel, "Actors Anonymous"

Actors In Trailer Include James Franco, Jim ParrackScott Haze, Mia Serafino and Stacey Miller

This program aired on October 14, 2013.

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