Is James Franco gay? Everything you need to know.
Hollywood heartthrob James Franco has sent fans swooning since his breakout performance in the 2001 TV movie James Dean. With the fame came the usual speculation about his dating life, as well as whispers about his sexuality.
James Franco has made jokes in the past about it, but what’s the truth? Is James Franco gay, straight, or bisexual? Keep reading to learn more about his romantic history and whom he might be getting cozy with now!
Related | James Franco Gets Pumped in New King Cobra Teaser
Who Is James Franco?
Born on April 18, 1978, in Palo Alto, California, James Franco is an actor, writer, and filmmaker. Franco garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 2010 for his harrowing turn in the survival film 127 Days. He’s known for his scene-stealing turns in the Spider-Man trilogy (2002-2007), Pineapple Express (2008), and Milk (2010). Apart from these star-making performances, Franco also starred in The Disaster Artist (2017).
Franco is also a notable film teacher, having taught at New York University, UCLA, the University of Southern California, and Palo Alto High School.
James Franco Has Dated Many Of Hollywood’s Hottest Stars
James Franco’s earliest public relationships started in 1999 when he began dating his Whatever It Takes co-star Marla Sokoloff. The two dated for five years before calling it quits, leading some to speculate that his rising star had been the cause of the breakup.
Franco then started dating The Help actress Ahna O’Reilly, but that relationship also fizzled out in 2011. The reason? He revealed in a 2011 Playboy interview, “It’s over. That lasted about four or five years. We’d been living together in L.A. and then came to New York to go to school for two years. Then I signed up for more school at Yale. I think that was it for her.”
James Franco and Mamma Mia’s Amanda Seyfried dated from 2011 to 2012. He then dated Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke in 2013. He was also rumored to have dated model Erin Johnson from 2014 to 2017 and actress Amber Heard in 2016.
Currently, James Franco is dating actress Isabel Pakzad. He’s come clean about his own failings, famously saying, “I had girlfriends. I could never be faithful to anybody. I cheated on everyone before Isabel.” His vow to work on his relationship problems makes fans hopeful he’s made positive changes, so we wish this couple the best!
Is James Franco Gay?
Franco has always been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. However, after playing gay roles in movies such as real-life activist Scott Smith in Milk and porn producer Joe in King Cobra, people have speculated that he may also be gay off-camera. In a a 2015, interview with Four Two Nine magazine, Franco addressed his sexuality. He said, “Well, I like to think that I’m gay in my art and straight in my life.”
In the same 2011 Playboy interview where he revealed his breakup with Ahna O’Reilly, he also played it coy, saying, “Into the 1950s, 1960s and so on, the straight and gay thing came up based on your sexual partner. Because of those labels, you do it once and you’re gay, so you get fewer guys who are kind of in the middle zone. It sounds as though I’m advocating for an ambiguous zone or something, but I’m just interested in the way perception changes behavior.”
When asked in 2016 by New York, he reiterated his refusal to put a label on his sexuality and mused further about the fluidity of sexuality in art.
“There is a bit of overfocusing on my sexuality, both by the straight press and the gay press, and so the first question is why do they care?”, he mused. “Well, because I’m a celebrity, so I guess they care who I’m having sex with. But if your definition of gay and straight is who I sleep with, then I guess you could say I’m a gay c**ktease. It’s where my allegiance lies, where my sensibilities lie, how I define myself. Yeah, I’m a little gay, and there’s a gay James.”
Whether he means “gay James” is purely an artistic “persona” or a part of his sexuality he is still trying to define remains to be seen. Because he’s repeatedly beaten around the bush when it comes to the topic, it’s hard to give a definitive answer to the question of Franco’s sexuality.
In Conclusion
It’s hard to say for sure if James Franco is gay or straight. We can’t even tell if he’s bi based on his dating history! For now, it’s best for fans to wait until we get word from Franco himself. Over time, we hope he can feel comfortable enough to give a definitive statement about his sexuality!
