James Franco got stoned out of his mind in "Pineapple Express," played nude gay sex scenes in "Milk" and cut off his own arm in "127 Hours." Still, there is one script that actually made the 32-year-old movie star from Palo Alto uneasy: his mother's erotic poetry.
"In one poem, teenagers are talking about what it's like to have sex the first time," James told me. "When I was reading it, I have to say it was, well, slightly uncomfortable knowing my mother had written it."James and his brother Dave recorded the audio book version of "Metamorphosis, Junior Year." The novel about teenage life by their mom, prolific children's author Betsy Franco, was published last year. In poetry, prose and pictures drawn by the third Franco brother, Tom, the novel chronicles high school through the eyes of an artistic and troubled teenager named Ovid, who has a thing for Greek mythology.
Now, Betsy's novel is going through a metamorphosis of its own. She is turning it into a play, which will be staged in March by the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. Once again, her sons are involved: Tom is helping design sets and James is producing a documentary film about the process.
Artist Tom Franco, on left, created illustrations for book with mom Betsy Franco,on right, children's author, during reading through the script with the Palo Alto Teen Arts Council. At Palo Alto Children's Theater, Lucie Stern Community Center, in Palo Alto, Calif. on Sunday, December 12, 2010.
"I thought that if done right, a documentary about the making of the play would be very interesting," James told me by phone from New York. "I love onstage, offstage kinds of material, showing a performance and then pulling away the curtain and showing what's behind it. The fact that it's my mother made it even more interesting."
Creativity always has been a family affair for the Francos. Betsy met her husband, Doug, in a drawing class at Stanford. They settled in Palo Alto in the 1970s and raised three curious and artistic sons.
"Two little boys were a handful, and raising three was like a circus," she said, laughing. "James and Tom were risk-takers from the get-go."
The perfect fit
Betsy and I were sitting in her sunny office in the back of their cozy south Palo Alto home, watching winter light filter through the red leaves of the Japanese maple outside the window. A shelf was filled with her whimsical children's books including "Bees, Snails & Peacock Tails" and "Mathematickles!" Children's Theatre Director Judge Luckey originally wanted to stage one of her children's stories. Then he read "Metamorphosis."
"It was so rich with material that I thought, 'This has to be adapted for the stage,' " he told me.Adapting it wasn't easy. The book is written to look like a kid's diary, a mix of journal entries and poetry, with drawings and doodles in the margins.
After meeting with Luckey, Betsy wasn't sure how to approach the project.
"Then I went home and dreamed the play," she said. For Betsy's first foray into scriptwriting, she's getting lots of help -- not only from her sons, but also from members of the Palo Alto Teen Arts Council.
"I asked the teens for input, and they gave me the inside dope about high school culture," she said. "How to text during class so the teacher can't see, how this character would talk. I took notes madly."
Shadow reading script Ethan Cohen,15, with Rebecca Ackroyd,15, sits in chair role playing during reading through the script with the Palo Alto Teen Arts Council. At Palo Alto Children's Theater, Lucie Stern Community Center, in Palo Alto, Calif. on Sunday, December 12, 2010.
Inspired by youth
James, who got his start on stage at Palo Alto High School, is working on his doctorate in English at Yale. He was just nominated for a Golden Globe for "127 Hours," a harrowing true story of a hiker who amputated his own arm to free himself. Somehow, the actor managed to find time to jet into town with his crew for a recent script meeting and stayed for an hour to talk with the kids on the arts council.
"I like to collaborate with young people," he told me. "That is one of the things that inspires my mother as well."So, is Mom nervous about being filmed by a famous movie star?
"Luckily, I took a film class, so I don't even see the camera," Betsy said. "James really encourages everyone's creativity around him. He draws us all into his projects."
And now she has drawn him into one of hers.
mercurynews 15 Dec 2010
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