Five years ago, the actor James Franco met Ahna O’Reilly, a fellow thesbian, and they’ve been together ever since. But what does she think about him queering his career?
Whether Franco is gay or straight or somewhere in between is your (and Ahna’s) call to make. But he appears to be having plenty of fun keeping everybody guessing, whether it’s through his career moves (Milk, Howl) or her own personal projects (writing a short story in Esquire where the narrator asks, “Don’t you ever get jealous of those girls in pornos that get to be on their knees in the middle of all those dicks?”). New York‘s Sam Anderson writes in a lengthy profile of Franco:
Although Franco has been silent on this subject, he seems to enjoy stoking the controversy. His art, across the spectrum, revels in gay culture. His student film The Feast of Stephen involves an extended fantasy scene in which a group of teenage boys gang-rape another boy—who then smiles meaningfully at the camera as the screen goes dark. (An intimate screening of the film was sponsored, last summer, by Butt magazine.) The narrator of Franco’s Esquire short story asks a friend: “Don’t you ever get jealous of those girls in pornos that get to be on their knees in the middle of all those dicks?” Franco researched his role for the 2002 film Sonny by hanging out at gay strip clubs in New Orleans, and even tagged along with a stripper as he serviced a male client in a hotel room. In a guest spot on 30 Rock, he played a version of himself whose sexual obsession with a Japanese body pillow is an open public secret—a perfect allegory for his alleged homosexuality.
When Franco mentioned to me, via e-mail, that he was leaning toward going to Yale for his Ph.D., the faculty member he singled out was Michael Warner. Warner happens to be one of the pioneers of queer theory, a school of thought born in the early nineties (just as Franco was hitting adolescence) that argues that sexuality is not a trivial, personal matter but fundamental to how we all experience the world. “Queer,” in this sense, transcends the simplistic binary of gay versus straight. As Warner puts it in his canonical anthology Fear of a Queer Planet, queer defines itself “against the normal rather than the heterosexual.” Thinking about sexuality—particularly exposing the assumptions embedded in heteronormative culture—is a form of radical social critique, a way to challenge arbitrary boundaries and institutions.
Which is, of course, basically a description of Franco’s current career: He’s systematically challenging mass-cultural norms. Franco, you might say, is queering celebrity: erasing the border not just between gay and straight but between actor and artist, heartthrob and intellectual, junk TV and art museum. His obvious relish for gay roles challenges the default heterosexuality of Hollywood leading men like Clooney or Pitt. He seems more interested in fluidity, in every sense, than in a fixed identity. As a commenter on the website Queerty put it: “He’s the World’s Gayest Heterosexual!” But he’s also the world’s most heterosexual gay, the world’s highest lowbrow, and the world’s most ironic earnest guy. It is also possible that he’s just engaged in the world’s most public, and confused, coming-out process.
(Look at that, giving a shout out to Queerty commenters.)
What we’re seeing in Franco, then, is one of the first, if not the first instance where an ostensibly straight actor is so boldly toying with the public perception of his sexuality — for cool points. To build buzz. To make him more interesting. Ten years ago, no star of Franco’s caliber would risk even remotely being seen as gay for risk of losing fans and a career. Not him. Instead, it seems to be doing to opposite: He remains well-employed and much talked about. In essence, what every celebrity wants.
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And as for the girlfriend, Ahna? “You do a movie where you’re gay,” she says, “or, in James’s case, more than one, it’s going to happen. I know that a lot of people wish he were gay, or think I’m not his real girlfriend. But there’s nothing you can do about that.”
[New York; photo via New York]
Dave
What the hell is a “thesbian”? Is that like a lesbian thespian or something?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Dave: that would be a theslesbian, I think……… :-p
Enron
To be honest, I just think he admires and respects gay culture and sexuality. I don’t think he really has any natural attraction for men. I honestly don’t get a gay vibe from him, although my crotch area wish it did.
Lefty
River Phoenix was very open and honest about being pro-gay, working with gay directors, playing a gay role – in fact, he actively made his role in My Own Private Idaho more gay than it was in the script, famously writing the fireside scene himself.
Did he ever deny he was bisexual? I don’t think he did.
This was twenty years ago. And he was a better actor than Franco.
I think Phoenix was more honest and sincere about these issues.
I think James Franco, as much as I adore him, just has certain pretentions and is very clever in how he is positioning himself.
BillySaint
He’s a beautiful guy with a great sense of himself and the human condition. I think he toys with the gay celebrity aspect, because he can . . . and it truly fits his cat like nature.
aalan brickman
He’s a great actor and comfortable with gay fans..good for him!!!!
randy
Don’t forget, Franco also played James Dean for an HBO special several years ago.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Lefty: I read recently somewhere that River was actually beginning to expolore his Gay side, supposdly he had slept with a few guys prior to his untimely death…….
As to Franco………I welcome his support whether he plays for our team or not………(howeva I will volunteer to be a member of the welcomming committee :-p)
@ Get Equal 'Why the h8 on Obamz but not the Repubs who ALWAYS vote against you? (John from England)
Gay guys-commenters-are sooo needy!
McMike
Why do we insist on saying someone must be gay or straight. As someone who is “mostly gay” I would hope we’d be smart enough to realize most people aren’t 100% one way nor the other.
Joey
@McMike: Just as long as you don’t actually think he’s straight.
@Enron: Get a clue.
Andy
@Lefty: River Phoenix forever!
frogger
Franco is so hot
Iwishshewasnthisgfeither
Totally doubt he is gay. Someone who seems as comfortable as he does making out with men I don’t think would hide if he were gay. He does what he wants and he doesn’t really care what anyone thinks and that is what is so appealing about him. I think he realizes that nowadays in Hollywood having an unconventional career is the way to go, it sure worked for Jake Gyllenhall. By the way I think it is very hot that he is going for his Ph.d.
Fallerina
What are you on about does she know hes a queer straight guy, i dont know if your aware but hes an actor, its acting darling. And i doubt that his girlfriend isnt thanking her lucky stars everyday, she must have an amazing personality, cos James could do so much better in the looks department.