James Franco Got a ‘D’ in NYU Acting Class
It’s not easy being James Franco.
He’s getting rave reviews for his roles in “Howl” and “127 Hours” this fall, and is headed to an Oscar nomination for the latter. The former opens this weekend, and it’s quality work from this multi-tasking actor.
But Franco did reveal to me last night–and we’ll have a video interview later–that he got a D in his acting class at NYU. He was there taking film classes. Now he’s up at Yale working on his PhD.
But holy moley-what happened?
“I did the work, I did well in everything else,” he said. But the acting teacher probably felt uncomfortable with a working well known actor in his class. It was not the norm. Also, as Franco pointed out, he missed a lot of classes because he was shooting “127 Hours.”
The low grade did not deter Yale from accepting him for their graduate writing program. How’s it going? “I have a class in Walt Whitman with a massive amount of reading.” He’s up to the challenge, he says.
At the premiere for “Howl,” I also ran into Oscilloscope Pictures owner and sometime Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. He showed us pictures on his IPhone of learning to ride a horse in Kentucky. Actor Edward Norton stopped by to say hello, as did Lola Schnabel–daughter of Julian–with friend Annabelle Jones, daughter of Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Ann Dexter Jones (she’s also the sister of Charlotte, Samantha, and Mark Ronson).
Anyway, more on Franco in our Showbiz411 Video, including memories of his summer job at Lockheed aircraft in Palo Alto, California.
Oh yeah and one more thing: since the famous picture that was snapped of him sleeping at a Columbia University guest lecture, he’s deathly afraid of nodding out in public again. “I fell asleep on the train today,” he said, “and I was worried the guy sitting next to me had his IPhone pointed in a funny way. If you see a picture of me sleeping on the Acela, you’ll know where it came from.”
[…] did the work,” Franco told Showbiz411.com last year. “I did well in everything […]
[…] that he’s the victim here. “I did the work, I did well in everything else,” he told Showbiz411 in September 2010. (But see, the point of college is to get real-world experience — if […]
Best lead actor yet got a “D” at acting school… just goes to show doesn’t it. anyway, well done James Franco for using public transport… lol
Good work buddy, continue the good work.
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I really love all the celebrities in Hollywood, CA. Especiall the Soap Operas Bay 9 News Club and much more.
“Um ‘Franco’, maybe, just ‘maybe,’ you got a ‘D’ because you didn’t even know the subject of the course that you got a ‘D’ in? It was a ‘Directing the Actor’ course NOT an ‘Acting’ course as you say. And if you hadn’t missed so many classes, ‘maybe.’ you would have known the basic subject matter of the course, and that would have saved everyone all this noise? But then that wouldn’t have gotten you any attention, right?” – Onceinalifetime
[…] But I digress, because the big news for those of us interested in Franco’s foray into grad school is the big news making the rounds of the gossip columns is that Franco has admitted to earning a “D” in, get this, acting, while earning his master’s at NYU. As he tells Showbiz 411: […]
James was on letterman and didn’t talk about yale at all. If he is here in my city hope I run into him. He’s sexy and talented. The pix of him sleeping is funny. I am sure it was boring and he is busy wth working a lot.
[…] Franco, who is surrounded by buzz for his new films Howl and 127 Hours, recently revealed he earned a D in acting class at New York University where he was taking film classes. He’s currently […]
[…] Franco, who is surrounded by buzz for his new films Howl and 127 Hours, recently revealed he earned a D in acting class at New York University where he was taking film classes. He’s currently […]
[…] Franco, who is surrounded by buzz for his new films Howl and 127 Hours, recently revealed he earned a D in acting class at New York University where he was taking film classes. He’s currently […]
[…] James Franco admitted that he got a D in his NYU acting […]
[…] that she'll star in a new MTV reality show. Sigh.-Hilarious: James Franco admitted that he got a D in his NYU acting class.-Random: the girl who played Natalie on Facts of Life is the godmother of […]
[…] norm. Also, as Franco pointed out, he missed a lot of classes because he was shooting 127 Hours. SOURCE Oh what the fuck ever, the teacher's probably just pissed he didn't get to play the Green Goblin or […]
[…] have a class in Walt Whitman with a massive amount of reading to do,” he tells 411. But he’s up to the challenge, he […]
[…] As an acting student at New York University, James Franco got a D. “I did the work, I did well in everything else,” he said, but missed a lot of class to film a movie. “The acting teacher probably felt uncomfortable with a working, well-known actor in his class,” concludes Franco’s interviewer. [ShowBiz411] […]
[…] he isn’t sure how that happened. “I did the work, I did well in everything else,” he told Roger Friedman. Maybe his teacher saw Flyboys. […]
You have to admire James Franco for going on the train to classes. As for getting a D for acting class, it just seems funny that a guy who’s being feted as Best Lead Actor at TIFF etc, even revealed this. Sweet.
[…] for his acting class (maybe Queer Cinema?).Yesterday, NYU’s most popular student told Showbiz411.com that he received a D grade in his Tisch acting class. As we mentioned back in March, he’s now […]