James Franco To Star In 'Lengthy' Arc On 'General Hospital'

NEW YORK — James Franco will guest star on ABC's "General Hospital" for a lengthy story arc this fall.

The "Pineapple Express" and "Spider-Man" actor will play a mystery person who comes to the soap opera's town of Port Charles. The recurring role will begin Nov. 20 – to coincide with November sweeps – and will last about two months.

Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps says it's "an honor that an actor of Franco's caliber would choose to spend some of his valuable time in Port Charles."

The 31-year-old Franco will star as Allen Ginsberg next year in the film "Howl."

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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On the Net:

http://abc.go.com/shows/general-hospital

Comments

[DonCosenza]

Somebody find his agent and shoot him. Worst... career... move... ever!

[marco01inexile]

test

[blastit]

I've been a fan of his every since he played James Dean, he's a really good actor and cute to boot no a typical at all.

[algemeen]

I H.A.T.E.D this guy until I saw Pineapple Express now I love him.

Cool thing his doing with the soap.

[mama jenna]

How fun! I'll watch him.

[LaurenJill]

is he the guy who hit knocked out Luke while he was trying to find out from Helena who was trying to take revenge on the Spencers and Casidines?

[Teas]

My thought's exactly. I've been hoping for a storyline worthy of Tony Geary. His stories are usually boring. Franco would be a perfect Cassadine.

[FeralFemale]

American show business is very snobby. In places like the UK, an actor can move in and out of TV, Movies, serials, commercials, etc, and be very, very respected.

[DonCosenza]

Call me snobby, but I've seen bits of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here (the British version, though inexplicably still with Janice Dickinson). Nothing respectable about it.

Is Hugh Grant doing a lot of TV shows and commericals? Elizabeth Hurley? I'd be surprised if they were. If you mean only UK actors who don't star in Hollywood blockbusters, well... yeah... cause they're not actors staring in Hollywood blockbusters.

[jcwtts1]

I think this is an interesting move. First, soaps have insane followings, loyal viewership and an interesting demographic. For all you know he's a fan of the show and this is something he's always wanted to do. Tons of actors got their breaks on soaps. It happens all the time. While I've never seen it this way, it is interesting enough that people will watch. If you watch a soap as good as GH for 6 to 8 weeks you'll be hooked for years. As a recovering GH addict this is awful news for me.

[missyhelly]

I love it. Saying no to Hollywood typical career path

[DonCosenza]

Yes to obscurity?

[ChiGuy]

He'll be the newest evil tied to Helena Cassidine.
They've already started laying the groundwork.

[BetterDays]

The first 10 stories, I refused to say anything because it seemed catty. Unfortunately I can't stop thinking it again. The guy really needs to have his teeth whitened. His yellow teeth ruin his looks.

[pebblesvanpeebles]

Will James Franco please report to my bedroom.

[peskime]

Only after he reports to mine.

[huffyISaHottie]

he's not here...is there something i can do?

[LovingHope]

Good for him. I'm sure the paycheck will look good. It's hard times right now for actors. I'm sure he just want to work. I don't blame him. It's not like there are so many great scripts out there either. He is not to proud to do T.V. I love him, I hope he does well.

[DonCosenza]

I'm sure he'll be giving his movie roles up to starving actors who were hoping to catch a break by landing a spot on a soap opera....

(Something tells me the Spiderman movies alone have left him doing quite alright, BTW.)

[oceanofconsciousness]

Franco was awesome in his role as James Dean and as the lead in Cage's movie, Sonny.

He's doing this role on GH to keep people guessing. Franco marches to a tune of a different drummer. He's been in school at Columbia and NYU after he made it in Hollywood. He shot his first short film based on gay poetry.

[LLeGrande]

I read somewhere that Mr. Franco and his agent approached the General Hospital people about coming on the soap for a while. So, I'm sure there was already some ideas on Mr. Franco's side about how this would work, perhaps the story line, and the GH people liked it.

Perhaps Mr. Franco watches the show daily when he's not working on films. Perhaps he has creativity to offer. We don't know all that.

I predict he'll be very popular on the show. I believe he has a very bright future in the entertainment industry.

[susou]

I think a good actor can branch out into different genres and gain experience from them.

This should only help him, not hurt him. At least he's trying to do different projects instead of just being stereotyped in one role.

Good for him!

[Victori]

General Hospital? Can we say career suicide? Oh well, atleast he'll be in a hospital, tended to by pretend doctors...but if they can't save their own careers, why would they resuscitate his? LOL.

[BigBagel]

His career's not tanking and he's doing it anyway. I think it's cool. It's what he wants to do.

[laddieluv]

Agree!!

[mama jenna]

I completely agree.

[LouisLouis]

I agree. I feel he's a pretty down to earth guy. This is hardly career suicide. Quite the opposite in my humble opinion.