Blurred lines. James Franco opened up about his oft-questioned sexuality in a new interview with New York magazine.
“Yeah, I’m a little gay, and there’s a gay James,” the actor, 38, told the publication. However, Franco clarified that he doesn’t sleep with men.
“If your definition of gay and straight is who I sleep with, then I guess you could say I’m a gay c–k tease,” he said. “It’s where my allegiance lies, where my sensibilities lie, how I define myself.”
In 2015, Franco famously explored his gay side in an article for FourTwoNine magazine, in which he interviewed himself as “Straight James Franco” talking to “Gay James Franco.”
At the time, he shared sentiments that mirror his recent quotes. “I like to think that I’m gay in my art and straight in my life,” he explained in his piece for FourTwoNine. “Although, I’m also gay in my life up to the point of intercourse, and then you could say I’m straight.”
Throughout his career, the Straight James/Gay James author has never shied away from participating in LGBTQ-themed projects. He has portrayed gay men in films such as Milk, I Am Michael and Interior Leather Bar.
In his latest film, King Cobra, the Freaks and Geeks alum plays Joe, a gay porn star. The movie—which premiered this month at the Tribeca Film Festival—is inspired by the 2007 murder of gay adult film star Bryan Kocis. According to King Cobra’s director, Justin Kelly, Franco has an explicit sex scene with his costar Keegan Allen.
“They’re both fully naked wearing these things called ‘c–k socks,’” Kelly told Entertainment Weekly of filming the steamy sequence. “It was one of those moments where even though we all know what the movie is about and I wrote it, I still shocked myself watching and directing it. ‘Wait, this is kind of insane. We’re just actually doing this.’”
