Best known for his breakthrough starring role on "Freaks and Geeks"(1999), James Franco was born in Palo Alto, California on April 19, 1978. Growing up with his two younger brothers, James graduated from Palo Alto high school in 1996 and went on to attend UCLA, majoring in English. To overcome his shyness, he got into acting while studying there, which, much to his parents' dismay, he left after only one year. After fifteen months of intensive study at Robert Carnegie's Playhouse West, James began actively pursuing his dream of finding work as an actor in Hollywood. In that short time, he landed himself a starring role on "Freaks and Geeks" (1999). The show, however, was not a hit to its viewers at the time, and was canceled after its first year. Now, it has become a cult-hit. Prior to joining "Freaks and Geeks", Franco starred in the TV miniseries "To Serve and Protect" (1999) (mini) and co-starred opposite Drew Barrymorein the hit film Never Been Kissed (1999). After that he had a starring role in Whatever It Takes (2000), which is where he met his future girlfriend, Marla Sokoloff

Although he'd been working steadily, it wasn't until the TNT made-for-television movie, James Dean (2001) (TV) that James rose to fan-magazine fame and got to show off his talent. Since then he has been working non-stop. After losing the lead role to Tobey Maguire, James settled for the part of Harry Osborne, Spider-Man's best friend in the summer 2002 major hit Spider-Man (2002).

Next was Deuces Wild (2002) and City by the Sea (2002), in which Robert De Niro personally had him cast, after viewing his performance in James Dean (2001) (TV). Definitely growing out of his shyness James Franco is turning into a legend of his own.