The Weirdest Things James Franco Has Ever Done

From fake celebrity tattoos to writing an essay about McDonald's, Franco likes to keep it weird.

01 of 09
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James Franco is known for his weird and hilarious antics but with his 40th birthday approaching next year and his latest movie, The Disaster Artist, hitting theaters Dec. 1, the actor is atoning for a lot of his crazy past deeds. To celebrate this new chapter in Franco's life, here's a compilation of someof his most head-scratching acts.

02 of 09

He had his assistant take his girlfriend to the hospital

EXCLUSIVE: James Franco walking with a friend after dinner
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In a recent Variety cover story, The Disaster Artist star opened up about a time when he wasn’t the best boyfriend and had his assistant take his girlfriend to the hospital for him. Franco has clearly grown up a bit since then and talked about the remorse he feels over the act.

“There was one instance, this old girlfriend was visiting me in New York,” Franco says. “I had come out here for school. My cat had scratched her in the eye. I had so much work to get done for the next day, I didn’t take her to the hospital. I had my assistant take her. That moment haunted me so much. What kind of selfish, self-centered boyfriend are you?”

03 of 09

He's had fake celebrity tattoos

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Franco has a history of freaking the public out with fake tattoos of celebrities on random places on his body. Some examples of the fake ink include: a neck tattoo of Emma Watson and a tattoo on his scalp of Elizabeth Taylor.

04 of 09

He painted a weird mural of him and his costars

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To promote his hit comedy This Is the End, Franco painted a weird mural of himself and the rest of the cast -- and costar Jonah Hill got a particularly bad representation. When Hill was on Conan to talk about the movie, he offered up an explanation for his creepy sketch: “I think James sees me as a graverobber from the 1400s who is now a ghost…Maybe he’s blind I don’t know.”

05 of 09

He had a Bar Mitzvah at 37

James Franco
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Thrown in 2015 by Franco’s hilarious partner in crime, Seth Rogen, the event featured stars like Miley Cyrus and Jeff Goldblum who both got in on the Bar Mitzvah-related fun. The event was thrown as a part of the fourth annual Hilarity for Charity event but it still left some people scratching their heads because it was about 24 years late.

06 of 09

He shared a naked selfie on social media

JAMES FRANCO
YouTube

Back in 2014, James’ brother Dave was on Conan to promote his new movie and Conan couldn’t resist asking him about his brother’s revealing selfie. “Compared to some of the other weird things he’s doing this seems like a refined act,” Dave said. “He’s reeling it in a little bit.”

07 of 09

He penned an essay about McDonald's for The Washington Post

EXCLUSIVE: Actor James Franco is seen carrying the book 'A Killer Life' while out and about in Los Angeles
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In an essay titled “McDonald’s Was There For Me When No One Else Was,” Franco detailed the time that he worked a McDonald’s in L.A. after he dropped out of school to pursue acting. Franco said he worked the late shift drive-thru role and tried out fake accents on his customers.

08 of 09

He played Carrie Bradshaw and Walter White

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In the mash-up that no one asked for, Franco played both Sex and the City leading lady Carrie Bradshaw and Breaking Bad’s Walter White in a video titled Breaking Sex where the pair are beginning a new romance.

09 of 09

He wrote a short story about an evening between him and Lindsay Lohan

James Franco 
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For Vice, the actor penned a confusing short story about a night that Lohan knocked on his door while he was staying at the Chateau Marmont. It’s not clear if it is fact or fiction but it is one thing for sure: weird. Read it here.

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