• "Acting is an art form and you want to take roles that are challenged and it's more of a challenge I think to play dark characters. Not that I want to always play those, but it is a challenge and challenges are rewarding and fun."
  
  
• [About painting] "I needed an outlet in high school and came across painting. I've actually been painting longer than I've been acting. A movie is a collaborative effort, and with painting you just have yourself."
  
  
• [About finding time to relax] "Never. It's an impossibility. I don't even like to sleep. I feel as if there's too much to do."
  
  
• [About what he looks for in a girl] "Just someone I can relate to artistically and who can also be understanding and supportive of the demands of my lifestyle."
  
  
• "When I was a child, I wanted to be an actor, but I had really bad buck teeth. I didn't want to get braces, but my mom said I couldn't be an actor if I didn't get the braces. So, I got the braces."
  
  
• I worked at a McDonald's drive-through. I could always tell when girls were interested: They'd drive around again and say, "I forgot something."
  
  
• "You know, directors kind of want different things. Some of them think that if they just are always talking to you and keeping your spirits up and everything that it helps you, and then some leave you alone and give you your space."
  
  
• "The life of an actor...whatever relationship you have, it's still going to be hard."
  
  
• "I don't think it's a contradiction to be shy and an actor."
  
  
• "I've come across two types of actors. Some have always been performers and are out front about it. Then, there are some who are very reserved and who open up in an imaginary world. I'm kind of the latter."
  
  
• [About his paintings] "I do these graffiti-style cartoonish images. With acting, the emotions are veiled by the character you're playing. Painting is a little more raw for me."
  
  
• [About directing The Ape] "Being the director was pretty fun, to be honest, it's nice being your own boss."
  
  
• "I always wanted to act, but I was kind of scared of failing at acting. I didn't really do it until my last year in high school."
  
  
• [About his start into acting] "A guy in my then-girlfriend's class wrote a play - a love story with extensive kissing. He asked my girlfriend to be his co-star. I got very jealous. I begged her not to. But she did it, so I decided that, out of spite, I would do theater, too. I got even. I got the leads in the next two plays."
  
  
• "I was supposed to go out with this girl, but the plans got mixed up because I was working late. So I went to her third-story apartment with a flower. She was asleep, but I really wanted to see her. I figured I'd be like Romeo, and I climbed up to her balcony and gave her a rose. She was very shocked. After that, it was over."
  
  
• [About life before fame] "I did the drive-through from 9 pm to 2 am for two months. Then I got a [Pizza Hut] commercial - and it paid more than two month's work at McDonald's."
  
  
  What Others Say About James
  
  
• "He doesn't give a lot away, yet he's got a twinkle in his eye." - Spider-Man costar, William Dafoe
  
  
• "He's had his share of torment and he pours that agony into his work." - Mark Rydell, director of James Dean
  
  
• [About Franco as a painter] "He was addicted to portraiture. He was obsessed with skin and getting flesh tone perfect. It was like pulling teeth to get him to give it up." - Anthony Colt, Franco's painting teacher
  
  
• "On one of our first dates, we were on the beach and he read a book of poems by Ezra Pound. I was completely overwhelmed. No guy had ever done that before." - Marla Sokoloff, ex-girlfriend