LOS ANGELES — Actor James Franco has broken his silence about his lackluster effort hosting the Oscars this year, FOXNews.com reported Monday.
Appearing dazed and confused on the three hour-plus February telecast, Franco’s widely panned performance had viewers wondering if the “General Hospital” star was either drunk or stoned.
But Franco says it wasn’t the fault of drugs or alcohol and blames bad writers.
“It’s hard to talk about because it’s like assigning blame — not a fun thing to do,” Franco explained in an interview the new issue of Playboy. “For three or four weeks we shot the promos and the little film that played in the opening. In the last week, when we really started focusing on the script for the live show and did a run-through, I said to the producer, ‘I don’t know why you hired me, because you haven’t given me anything. I just don’t think this stuff’s going to be good.'”
Franco, who likened co-host Anne Hathaway to a “Tasmanian Devil,” felt that he was reacting to his perky partner in the only way he knew how. “As far as having low energy or seeming as though I wasn’t into it or was too cool for it, I thought, ‘OK, Anne is going the enthusiastic route,'” said Franco. “I’ve been trained as an actor to respond to circumstances, to the people I’m working with, and not force anything. So I thought I would be the straight man and she could be the other, and that’s how I was trying to do those lines.”
He said he felt “trapped” in the writers’ material, gave up and turned in a half-hearted performance.
“I just didn’t want to fight anymore, even when they said, ‘You’ll come out as Marilyn Monroe. It’ll be funny.’ Me in drag is not funny,” he said. “I just didn’t want to argue anymore.”
Despite knowing the show bombed, Franco initially received some high praise from people in high places for his performance. “After the show everybody was so happy, and Bruce Cohen, the show’s producer, hugged me and said, ‘Steve Spielberg just told me it was the best Oscars ever!'”