(born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, director, producer, teacher, and author.
His first prominent acting role was the lead character, "Daniel Desario", on the short-lived cult hit television program Freaks and Geeks. He later played the title character in the TV biographical film James Dean (2001), for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He played Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007). He is also known for his roles in the films Pineapple Express (2008), Milk (2008), 127 Hours (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), Spring Breakers (2013), and This Is the End (2013). He also had a recurring role in the ABC soap opera General Hospital. For his role in 127 Hours, Franco was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 2013 he also starred as a villain in Homefront with Jason Statham in a lead role.
Franco volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity and has taught a class at New York University in feature filmmaking and production.[3] In 2013, he began teaching a course in short film production at the University of Southern California and a course in screenwriting at his alma mater, University of California, Los Angeles.[4]
