James Franco: the guy you love to hate (and hate to love)

On Wednesday, James Franco makes his Broadway debut playing the lead in “Of Mice and Men.” The actor’s latest role could make him the toast of the town — or just plain toast.

Which is kind of the way his career has gone. One minute we’re loving him in “127 Hours” or “James Dean,” the next we’re wanting to smack him across the face after he announces he’s planning to release a book of poetry. C’mon, man! It’s hard to think of another actor who falls in and out of public favor so quickly and so often.

The swings seem to be an unavoidable byproduct of Franco’s unorthodox career, in which he has taken on a wide variety of roles and head-scratching side projects. Various events in his personal life — both good and bad — have also driven the approval-condemnation cycle.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights (and lowlights) of his career.

We’re Loving Him . . .

in 1999’s canceled-too-soon TV series “Freaks and Geeks.” The Judd Apatow- and Paul Feig-produced series ably captured the life of a group of high-school students in the 1980s.

We’re Loving Him . . .

in 2002’s “Spider-Man,” where he played Peter Parker’s friend Harry Osborn. The film helped kick-start the current superhero boom and offered Franco a meaty role, in which his supporting character morphed into a villain.

We’re Hating Him…

in 2007’s “Spider-Man 3.” To be fair to Franco, that movie just stank.

We’re Loving Him . . .

in 2008’s “Pineapple Express.” Franco, playing a stoner, showed he could do comedy.

We’re Hating Him…

as the face of Gucci in 2008. It’s hard to take someone seriously as an actor after they’ve ventured into “Zoolander” territory.

We’re Loving Him . . .

in 2009, when he made a guest appearance on “General Hospital” playing Franco, a character similar to himself. He claimed the role was performance art.

We’re Hating Him…

in 2010, when his book of short stories called “Palo Alto” was released. “The author fails to find anything remotely insightful to say in these 11 amazingly underwhelming stories,” Publishers Weekly wrote.

We’re Loving Him . . .

in 2010’s “127 Hours.” Playing a hiker who has to amputate his own arm after it becomes trapped under a boulder earned Franco his first and only Oscar nomination.

We’re Hating Him…

in 2010, when his NYC art show “The Dangerous Book Four Boys” opened. Stick to movies, please.

We’re Hating Him…

in 2010, as the world was awash in articles about Franco’s superhuman student life. He’s enrolled in four post-grad degrees at the same time, including one at Yale! He doesn’t care about celebrity or Hollywood! He just wants to learn!

The narrative is mostly upended when a photo of the actor sleeping in class is widely circulated.

We’re Hating Him…

in 2011, when he co-hosted the Oscars with Anne Hathaway. His glazed, low-key performance drew worldwide scorn.

We’re Loving Him . . .

in 2013’s “This Is the End,” an apocalyptic comedy in which Franco plays a veiled version of himself, sending up his image as a pretentious artist and model.

We’re Hating Him…

in 2013’s “As I Lay Dying,” an adaptation of the unwieldy William Faulkner book that Franco wrote, directed and starred in. The pretentious stinker looked like Franco’s cinematic equivalent of proudly telling people at a party that you don’t own a TV.

We’re Hating Him…

 

in April 2014, when he was busted trying to pick up an underage Scottish girl on Instagram. “Where are you staying? . . . What’s the hotel? Should I rent a room?” he wrote to her. The actor later blamed the incident on “social media” being “tricky.” Uh huh.