In the summer of 2013 I sat down with James Franco to discuss his motivations for exploring queer issues so frequently in his movies.

He ended that first conversation abruptly, after rattling off a few choice words about process. We tried the interview again a few days later, this time with the director of his latest movie with us, and he answered.

“I mean, there are a lot of reasons: aesthetic reasons and personal reasons. I’ve been a part of professional mainstream film for 17 years, and then in addition to that, I am a citizen of the United States and, you know, I am engaged with its mainstream culture, but I’ve also done a fair amount of studying queer theory or queer cinema classes. So I’ve found that my place, one thing that my position allows, is a way to bring these two worlds together and also question the rules of mainstream cinema or mainstream culture, to examine why things are made the way that they are, why some subject matter is presented in one way and not another, and how those things shape us as people, how it shapes our beliefs, how it shapes the way that we live. If we can question those things or introduce alternative ways of viewing lifestyles or whatever it might be in mainstream cinema or indie cinema or art cinema, I think it can only be for the good. If other voices or other kinds of discussions or storylines or narratives from different perspectives are introduced, it will only make us richer as a people.” – James Franco

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JAMES FRANCO x LOGAN LYNN
for HuffPost Entertainment (2013)