GH Casting News: James Franco and Khary Payton arrive in PC

[Mr. Vixen]

I hated Franco's first run. I enjoyed the second one.

I have to say, I think this guy is kind of cool. Who else can you honestly say, in the year they're going to most likely get an Oscar nom, would even consider MENTIONING their soap work, let alone returning?

I have some respect for him.

[Ann_SS]

I don't understand Franco's reasons or motivations for appearing on GH, but I haven't been impressed by his performances which seem over the top and even mocking.

I do think that if the scripts were better, Franco would do better. It doesn't help that most of his scenes are with some of the soaps' worse actors.

[quartermainefan]

So because all the snobs who write about pop culture mock GH and ask him how he can debase himself, the guy who goes back again and again is the one who is doing the mocking? Aren't you targeting the wrong person?

[DRW50]

I don't think so. He plays into the hands of those who debase soaps. His entire performance is a debasement, a bad joke that he thinks is clever because he is telling the joke.

[Sylph]

James Franco is another instance of the Cat curse.

[quartermainefan]

I am sorry, I don't think you are making a bit of sense. He is intentionally being bad because he wants to mock the show and then have a party at his house where he and all his art friends watch GH and laugh. He also is aware others look down on GH and he plays into their agenda knowingly because he...wants to see them make fun of GH too?

Don't you think he has better things to do with his time?

[DRW50]

It's not exactly a huge drain on his time. He shoots all his scenes very quickly, a few days a year, and gets free reign to do what he wants.

I don't think he cares whether other people make fun of GH. What matters is he gets to have the laugh and this gets to be seen as some sacrifice on his part.

[Antoyne]

I actually think with the right scene partners and decent writing he could actually be pretty good on GH. I'm a big fan of his film work and it's nothing like his performances on GH...I mean really, who tries that hard in scenes with Steve Burton on a regular basis?

[Jonathan]

Looks like he talked to Regis and Kelly this morning about his soap gig. Small clip.

http://www.people.com/people/videos/0,,20447754,00.html

[AllMyDaysatGH]

He was on Regis and Kelly yesterday. I liked his comments on soaps and I thought they made sense. He also sort of insinuated that he was going to return to GH, but he didn't outright say it. But I knew it was coming..

JF is one of my favorite people ever, I love his work but not particularly on GH (especially the first run), so I'm not really looking forward to seeing Franco (the character) again.

[Juliajms]

I think that it's more that James Franco looks at GH as an intellectual experiment. He's detached from the experience in a sense. He doesn't take it seriously and that offends some people. It's not something that really bothers me because I don't think he's hurting anything. As others have said, not many people would bother to even do it when their career is at it's zenith, so his motives don't bother me. I don't see them as malicious.

[quartermainefan]

courtesy of the NY Times

[JackPeyton]

Franco :wub:

[Taiah]

Welp, that's one more man who'll be fixated on Brenda. Didn't Franco have her pic last time he left?

[All My Shadows]

The only thing that annoys me is that there are five soaps shooting in LA. I know that none of them are really rocking the house right now, but jeez, make things interesting and go to B&B or AMC or DAYS or something. I'm sure the whole "crime anti-heroes" theme of GH is probably appealing to someone outside of soaps as opposed to fashion industry antics, upper-crust rich folks in Pennsylvania, and a weird mix of traditional/out there soapiness, but good lord, don't keep going for the pretentious [!@#$%^&*]. The other soaps may be just as bad depending on who you ask, but none of them are nearly as depressing as GH.

Come on, Jill Foster needs a new boytoy.