1992-1996 (High school)
As a teenager, Franco fell in to a crowd that stole designer fragrances and sold them to their classmates. "In my first two years of high school, I got into a lot of trouble with the police for minor things: graffiti, stealing, crashing cars," <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jan/24/james-franco-interview-milk" target="_blank">he revealed to The Guardian</a>. "It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades."
1997
After dropping out of UCLA, Franco worked the late shift at McDonald's to support himself while trying to become an actor. "I was vegetarian until [then]," he said.
2001
For his role in the TNT biopic "James Dean," Franco started smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. He was not a smoker previously and has since quit.
2002
To prepare for his role as a drug addict in "City by the Sea," Franco reportedly lived on the streets for several days.
2002
Franco shadowed a male prostitue to prepare for his role in "Sonny," directed by Nicolas Cage.
2005
Along with Merriwether Williams, a former writer and executive for Nickelodeon, he co-wrote "The Ape," a movie about a writer who lives with a talking gorilla. (It is not a children's movie.)
2006
To prepare for his role in "Tristan & Isolde," Franco trained in sword fighting and horseback riding.
2006
In order to take the lead role as an aviator in the World War I movie "Flyboys," Franco had to obtain a pilot's license.
2006
Franco re-enrolled at UCLA as a creative writing major, completing his degree in 2008 after taking an accelerated course load while continuing to act.
2007
He and Mila Kunis spoofed "The Hills."
2008
He moved to New York to simultaneously attend Columbia University's MFA writing program, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for filmmaking and Brooklyn College for fiction writing.
2008
He sometimes gives acting lessons -- or something like that.
2008
High Times magazine named him Stoner of the Year after starring in "Pineapple Express," even though he's said he no longer smokes marijuana. He revealed that his first time getting high was before an eighth-grade dance.
June 2009
After a scheduling conflict <a href="http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/04/james-franco-drops-out-of-ucla-graduation-speech/" target="_blank">prompted him to cancel</a> his delivery of UCLA's commencement speech one week before the ceremony, Franco created a video spoofing the situation.
November 2009
He joined the cast of "General Hospital" in the recurring role of Franco, a mystery artist who comes to Port Charles and becomes intertwined with many other residents in town.
December 2009
He penned a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574570313372878136.html" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal essay</a> about why his "General Hospital" role constitutes performance art.
2010
While completing an MFA at New York University, Franco received a "D" in a Directing the Actor class for missing 12 of the 14 sessions because he was away filming "127 Hours."
2010
He then enrolled in Yale's Ph.D. program in English and the Rhode Island School of Design's digital-media master's program.
2010
Sometimes he refers to himself in the third person. "He's turned his celebrity into a form of performance art," <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/8209459/A-class-apart-interview-with-James-Franco.html" target="_blank">"127 Hours" director Danny Boyle told The Telegraph</a>. "While we were shooting the film, he would sometimes ask me, 'What do you want him to do?' I would say, What do you mean? He would say, 'What do you want from him in this scene?' You mean your character? 'No, no. Franco. What do you want from Franco?' He was talking about himself in the third person. I said, Well, I think he should be more emotional. And he said, 'Oh, I can get him to do that.' And then he'd do the scene and he'd be amazing. He turned on this extraordinary performance. He really does hold himself like a tool, to be used by the director for the benefit of the story."
October 2010
He wrote a collection of short stories, "Palo Alto," named after the California city where he grew up.
October 2010
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/05/james-franco-in-drag-for-_n_751971.html" target="_blank">This</a>.
December 2010
He introduced his precious Grandma Mitzie to the world.
January 2011
Franco decided he loves the sitcom "Three's Company" so much he would reinterpret it as a dramatic short at the Sundance Film Festival.
January 2011
During <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/01/23/the-new-star-power.html" target="_blank">a Newsweek panel about acting</a>, Franco revealed he made a sex tape. When asked how he handles kissing scenes, he explained: "Anybody who has made a home sex tape knows what feels best doesn’t always look best. I remember when I was 19 doing that, and then watching it back and thinking, 'Oh, that looks horrible.' So you have a lot of respect for those actors in pornography, because they are really not just doing it, they’re really selling it! It’s the same thing with a kiss. It’s not just the kiss that feels best, it’s an image. Something different is happening if it’s a good kiss."
Feb. 27, 2011
He hosted the Oscars, at one point appearing in drag -- again. Long story short, <a href="http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/28/oscars-the-bomb-heard-round-the-internet/" target="_blank">it didn't go over well</a>.
March 2011
He directed two short films set to R.E.M. songs, one to "Blue" (seen here) and another to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwseGCm98o" target="_blank">"That Someone Is You,"</a> with the former featuring Lindsay Lohan. Needless to say, both are bizarre.
March 2011
He allowed his brother, Dave Franco, to follow him around with a camera for a day and nab a pretty revealing interview out of him.
March 31, 2011
He put on "An Evening with James Franco," a Washington, D.C., benefit dinner to support nonprofit organization 826DC, which aids neighborhood students by providing after-school programs and helping them to reach their goals.
June 2011
Franco <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/james-francos-new-art-pro_n_877740.html" target="_blank">created invisible art</a> via a Kickstarter campaign. "When you contribute to this Kickstarter project, you are not buying a visible piece of art," the project warned. Someone reportedly paid $10,000 for a piece called "Fresh Air."
September 2012
Franco released the first single with his band Daddy. "Love in the Old Days" is a psychedelic, Motown-inspired jam, and the video is predictably strange.
January 2013
He co-directed <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/interior-leather-bar-trailer-james-franco_n_2325819.html" target="_blank">"Interior. Leather Bar.,"</a> a <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2012/12/watch-the-trailer-for-francos-homo-sex-art-film.html" target="_blank">"homo-sex-art-film"</a> that pays homage to William Friedkin's controversial, sexually explicit 1980 movie "Cruising." "Interior. Leather Bar." premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
February 2013
Franco didn't want to let go of his titular "Oz the Great and Powerful" character, so he decided to start arriving places via hot air balloon. He sailed in to the movie's Los Angeles premiere and then to his appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
February 2013
He dyed his hair blond.
February 2013
He has an art show in Berlin called "Gay Town."
March 2013
He got very comfortable on Hollywood Boulevard, with his "Oz" character's doll in hand, after r<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/08/james-franco-star-walk-of-fame_n_2836348.html" target="_blank">eceiving his star on the Walk of Fame</a>.
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