James Edward Franco was born in Palo Alto, California to Betsy and Douglas Franco. His father, Douglas Franco, is of Swedish and Portuguese descent while his mother, Betsy Franco is descent of Jewish Russian immigrants. Betsy Franco is a children's book author, poet, and editor and she has written popular children's books such as Why the Frog Has Big Eyes. She has also compiled anthologies of poetry for teens. Franco's grandmother on his maternal side runs a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, Ohio, called, Verne Art Gallery. Franco has two younger brothers, Tom and David.

Franco attended Palo Alto High, where he went by the name of Ted. He was voted as having the "best smile." Although Franco did not participate in theater arts in high school until his senior year, his drive to do so was piqued by his jealousy over a girlfriend who had to be kissed in a scene of a play by another boy. After finishing high school in 1996, Franco attended UCLA where he majored in English and studied acting to overcome his shyness. Much to his parents consternation, he dropped out in his freshmen year to pursue acting professionally. He joined Playhouse West, where he worked with Roger Carnegie and other important actors and writes, such as Merriweather Williams, with whom, later in his career, he will co-write several plays/movies. Not long after joining - a mere fifteen months, he began auditioning. He starred in a miniseries called To Serve adn Protect and also had a role in Never Been Kissed, where Drew Barrymore starred. Franco finally got his big break with his role on the NBC series, Freaks and Geeks, in 1999.

Soon after, in 2000, he starred in Whatever It Takes with his future girlfriend, Maria (also known as Marla) Sokoloff and Shane West. Sokoloff's previous acting experience was most notably on Full House. Then, in 2001, his acting finally became popularly noticed with his award-winning performance as the legendary actor, James Dean. Said to be channeling the spirit of James Dean himself, Franco started smoking and staying away from his family in preparation for the role. The hard work had paid of, as he won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-series or a Motion Picture Made for Television" and a Critics' Choice Award for "Best Actor in a Picture Made for Television." This role really made his name known to the acting community.

Because of his performance in James Dean, Robert De Niro handpicked him for the role of Joey Nova in City by the Sea, in 2002. Also in 2002, Franco had appeared in his first big-budget film, Spider-Man. Although he had auditioned for the role of Peter Parker, he landed the role of Harry Osborn. Since then, Franco has acted in films such as Dueces Wild, Sonny, The Company, Spider-Man 2, Annapolis, and Tristan and Isolde. Coming up next for Franco is Spider-Man 3 (release date: May 4, 2007), Flyboys (for which he got a pilot's license), and Camille (where he co-starred with Sienna Miller).

Outside of acting, Franco enjoys painting and his paintings have been featured in renowned Los Angelos area galleries. Currently, his artwork can be viewed at the Glu Gallery. Some of his paintings have also appeared in his directorial debut, The Ape. Franco owns his own production company, Rabbit Bandini Productions.

In his personal life, Franco was last reported to be dating model/actress, Ashley Hartman, who has appeared on Maxim covers. Recently, he was rumored to be involved in an affair with Sienna Miller, but those rumors were prompt subdued by Miller.