QUEERTY EXCLUSIVE

INTERVIEW: James Franco On Hollywood, Poetry And Broken Tower‘s Gay-Sex Scene

By · 58 comments · Updated on August 7, 2012

James Franco has worn many hats: In addition to acting in films like Milk, Spider-Man and 127 Hours, he’s been a filmmaker in his own right, a soap star, a writer, a perennial student, a multimedia artist and an Academy Awards host.

He’s been called a visionary, a con artist, an Adonis, a narcissist and a hundred other things. But chatting with him about his feature-film directorial debut, Broken Tower—a bio-pic about gay poet Hart Crane—it’s clear Franco doesn’t worry too much about what others think of him, good or bad.

A few other things about Franco that may be less apparent: He’s genuinely intelligent and well-read. Franco first discovered Hart’s work as an undergrad at UCLA and carried the idea of a movie about the poet, who committed suicide at age 32, for over a decade. (Broken Tower originated as Franco’s masters thesis at NYU.)

Another realization: That stoner demeanor—the closed eyes and slow, meandering voice? That’s not drugs or exhaustion. That’s just how he is.

And, lastly, Franco is utterly charming in person. Whether that’s genuine empathy and interest or just good acting—well, only he knows for sure.

Queerty’s Dan Avery talked with the actor-director about Crane, making choices in Hollywood and why he felt the need to include a hardcore gay-sex scene in Broken Tower. (We knew that last one would get you.)

Hart Crane is considered one of the greatest poets of the last century. But he’s not well-known now and his work is so difficult to comprehend. What made you want to make a movie about him?

I was an English major at UCLA and I left after one year. But I fell in love with literature, and it was one of those things where one writer leads you to another. So I was led to Crane’s work, and I found it difficult—but fascinating. The introduction to the book of of Crane’s works I was reading was by Harold Bloom. And he recommended Paul Mariani’s biography, Broken Tower. That was ten years ago.

And after I read it , I felt, ‘God, his work is so cinematic.” But I was just an actor at that time, not a filmmaker, so I didn’t know how to respond to  that impulse. No one said, “James, we want you to play Hart Crane!”

But when I was at NYU we had to make short films and I did some of poems. I started with “Feast of Stephen,” by Anthony Hecht. And I had this idea that Crane’s poems could be turned into a movie. And I thought Broken Tower as the perfect transition. It wasn’t a literal translation of his poems. It was about his life, but it was filled with all the this imagery and readings [of his poetry.]

 

Click through for more of Queerty’s interview with James Franco

 

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Do you get Crane’s work?

I think I understand his intentions. He acknowledged how difficult his work was, but he said he was reaching for a deeper meaning. Kind of like music.

Crane was gay with a penchant for rough trade. How essential do you think his sexuality—and how he expressed it was to his work?

Some people have said, ‘I don’t wanna see a movie about a blow job!’ It’s not a movie about a blow job!”

I think Crane’s sexuality was key to him and to some of his work. One of the poems of his I read in the film, “My Grandmother’s Love Letters,” is basically about his love life. It’s his coming out. “Yet I would lead my grandmother by the hand/Through much of what she would not understand.” His “Voyages” poems were written for his lover Emil Opffer. “The bottom of the sea is cruel” [is about] how life’s experiences can be crushing. So it was definitely essential to defining him.

But I think it affected the kinds of people who were drawn to [Crane’s] work, too. Tennessee Williams called him an inspiration. Allen Ginsburg. They were drawn to his life, not just his poetry. And I think that’s true of me too.

There’s some graphic sex in the movie—including the infamous fellatio scene. Why did you feel it was important to include that element?

Crane had two sides: The side devoted to his work—he was so dedicated it’s probably what drove him to suicide. And then there was the other side, the roaring drunk. The guy who’d… have tons of casual sex, mostly with sailors. I think even his liberal literary friends were shocked by his behavior. The only people [Crane] was afraid to be out to was his parents, and that was because of his inheritance. So, I thought it was important to put that kind of in-your-face attitude across. One way of doing that was some explicit sex scenes.

They certainly got a big reaction.

I knew those scenes, like the blow job scene, would be the thing that the critics would use—it’s easy to get readers that way. But I feel like, based on some of the other responses, that it did achieve its effect. Some people have said, ‘I don’t wanna see a movie about a blow job!’ It’s not a movie about a blow job!”

But I think it created an effect. Just like Crane’s friends were maybe threatened by his sexuality, so is the audience. That wouldn’t have happened with a kiss and a fade to black.

Are you worried audiences won’t “get” Broken Tower?

Well, of course I want people to like my movie but I can’t let that affect my work. I think you can do a lot of commercial stuff and then have one area that’s pure. I’ve been in movies that have broken box-office records and gotten critical acclaim but with Broken Tower, I’m trying to be loyal to Crane. My obligation is to rise to that challenge.

I know this isn’t going to be Spider-Man. I want people to go see the film and like it but in a sense I feel like I’ve already achieved what I wanted.

 

Broken Tower opens at New York’s IFC Center on April 27 and is available now on DVD and VOD. Photos: Focus Features


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