Bruce Vilanch Talks James Franco, Oscars

Bruce Vilanch writes the Oscar jokes. And he swears that James Franco wasn't a punchline.

The longtime Oscar writer spoke with NY Magazine's Vulture blog about the critically panned performance James Franco and Anne Hathaway gave as Oscar hosts, saying that, despite what some may have thought, Franco really did, earnestly, want to host the show. Unfortunately, he wanted to do a lot of other things in earnest, too.

"He has so many balls in the air, he didn't get to town till Thursday before the show on Sunday," Vilanch said. "And so we e-mailed a lot. But we had a lot of meetings. He had a bunch of people who were writing for him, and if it had been him alone, it would have been different. But it was him and Anne Hathaway, and they both had to be serviced. So there was a lot of communication beforehand. But he didn't get there."

How it would have been different, we can't quite be sure. Franco did have a horrible cover version of Cher's "Burlesque," song cut from the show, though that seems like it would have happened co-host or not.

Vilanch said that one of the reasons why he liked Franco for the job was his experience hosting "SNL" and other live productions, and the actor made it clear that he wouldn't be nervous. In fact, he said he didn't care if he hosted the worst Oscar show ever.

That being said, he didn't self sabotage. "I was with him, and he wasn't high. And I asked him, 'Are you high, and can I have some?' And he said no to both," Vilanch said.

Regardless of one's evaluation of Franco's performance, Vilanch was right on one part: Franco was pretty busy. Following the show, he ended up skipping his own party and flying back to New York. He had school the next day.

For more about the show, and Franco's performance, click over to Vulture.

Comments

[SteveDenver]

01:39 AM on 04/22/2011

It might have helped if we'd all been high. I am a fan of both Franco and Hathaway, and the show was homely.

[rezna]

02:37 PM on 03/23/2011

The two of them were the worst possible match up they could have made. The writers dug their own grave with this one. It was bad writing, bad casting, nothing they can do about that

[gypsynomad]

08:18 AM on 03/23/2011

Franco did give that impression, that he was stoned indeed.

[Sansea]

12:32 AM on 03/23/2011

In every picture James looks blitzed. He may not smoke it but it definitely appears as though he does something.

[LMPE]

06:00 PM on 03/22/2011

There's nothing immoral about being stoned.

Anyway, I didn't find the show as bad as most people did (except the Bob Hope scene).

[Jon Rose]

05:59 PM on 03/22/2011

I would totally understand if he did need to get high to host the oscars, awards ceremonies are kind of ridiculous, not sure why he agreed to host in the first place though

[Clare53]

04:30 PM on 03/22/2011

"Oscar Writer Reveals: Was James Franco Stoned During the Show?"

Uh, a question is not a revelation. Jeez, who writes these headlines?

[tashmoo2]

10:29 AM on 03/23/2011

Quite right! And that the answer was "no" makes the headline right out of the Fox News playbook. Pretty weak Huff.
Also, for how long does an old story need to stay in rotation? Some of your posted pieces are WEEKS OLD!! It's okay to let go of your old articles. C'mon Huff!

[sabrinatee]

02:38 PM on 03/22/2011

If I had to work next to the gibbering, maniacally grinning Anne Hathaway for three solid hours I'd want to be stoned, too.

[Sunnyhorse]

10:21 AM on 03/23/2011

Anne was the one having to do the work of hosting -- Franco just sat there like a bump on a log. Methinks there wouldn't have been nearly as much "gibbering" if he'd been pulling his weight. I know he gets off on this "jack of all trades" persona, but he should've remembered the rest of the old adage: "... and master of none."

[MAJK]

02:25 PM on 03/22/2011

To me, it was one of the best Oscar shows in a long time and Franco's dead-pan faux-stoned style was why. The Oscars are taking too seriously folks.

[FlangeSqueal]

04:18 PM on 03/22/2011

What Oscar show you YOU watch ?

Franco is a know-nothing and a never-was.....not even a has-been.

[Mark Ebner]

11:57 PM on 03/22/2011

Dear unpaid community moderator,

Did you think about what you were going to post before posting, and did you read it after posting?

[cardiaccare]

07:43 AM on 03/23/2011

HuffPo is not what it used to be.

[kcijones001]

12:00 PM on 03/22/2011

Bruce wrote james an email explaining and told him he needs to lighten up...james posted it with an apology...he's a lil' too sensitive...

[Southern Yankee]

10:11 AM on 03/22/2011

He was pretty bad. Anne was wonderful. I think a good change would be to get rid of Vilanch. The Oscars have been painful for a few years and how many of those years has Bruce been the head writer? All of them. Time to move on and get better writers!

[CAMBEL]

09:06 AM on 03/22/2011

Perhaps the reason that the show is unfunny and boring, no matter WHO hosts the show, or other superficial changes they make to it....is because the one thing they never change is THE WRITERS! Villanche is the SAME WRITER that was going on and on for YEARS that he had written the "African Queen" joke for Whoopie Goldberg when SHe hosted the Oscars. He has written the show for DECADES, and been head writer for the Oscars since 2000.

So the host doesn't matter, the reason nothing ever changes is because you have the exact same writer for every show.

It would be like complaining about the idiotic plots of a sitcom, and firing all the actors but keeping the same writers...makes no sense.

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

08:58 AM on 03/22/2011

Stoned or sober, the guy was just painfully bad. I felt sorry for Anne Hathaway - she had to prop him up in more ways than one too many times. He should stick to GH where his pretty face pays his bills...his comedic timing just won't cut it.

[gypsynomad]

08:28 AM on 03/23/2011

So true...

[LLNYRN]

08:23 AM on 03/22/2011

All these stories are making Anne Hathaway look more and more like a trooper in my book. Franco looked totally disinterested throughout the broadcast.

Hathaway would have been better off hosting The Oscars by herself.
You could see the effort from her.
I watched most of it because of her anyway.

[GeneParmesanPI]

12:14 PM on 03/22/2011

can you honestly blame him for not being interested?

[gypsynomad]

08:29 AM on 03/23/2011

He was paid well to perform, I would call it a tardy job...

[DL3]

07:16 AM on 03/22/2011

Pretty sure HP had a story before about how he doesn't smoke weed. Very confusing.