[IMG:L]Spider-Man 3 could have the webbed one facing his biggest challenge yet – his best friend. The third installment picks up with Harry Osborn (James Franco), now armed with the powers of the Green Goblin, going after his former friend Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), whom he believes killed his father. Between the web-slinging and pumpkin bombs, someone’s sure to get caught in the middle … someone like Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst).
Hollywood.com sat down with Franco to find out more about transforming his character Harry into a villain with a vengeance.
Hollywood.com: What do you think about Harry’s arc over the course of the series?
James Franco: People bring up the fact that I auditioned for Peter Parker and I tested and it was a huge test. It must have been thousands of dollars just for this test, there were cranes and sets and they kept me waiting about six weeks. Then Tobey got the role, and nobody believes me when I say that I think he is perfect for the role…Obviously [Harry] is a smaller role but they have given me a lot to do in that role. It is one of the more dramatic parts. He goes through a lot in these films and I have been very happy with it. He is almost a parallel to Peter. I lose a father, he loses a father figure his uncle, and then in this third one he is avenging his uncle’s death and I am doing the same avenging my father’s death.
HW: Harry finally gets to see some action this time around. Were you ready to jump right in?
JF: I kind of expected it. In the comic books Harry does take over for his father, and the way they ended part one I assumed that would happen. I actually thought it would happen in part two until I saw that he was left hanging at the end. I was pretty sure it would come in part three.
[IMG:R]HW: How much of that was you onscreen and how much of it was a stuntman?
JF: A lot of it was me. I think if you watch that aerial battle in the beginning I filmed that for a month and a half. Then even after moving on from that scene we would go back and shoot additional shots. I did a fair amount of that but most of the computer generated replicas of me are used for the wide shots. But all the stuff in close and struggling with Peter is usually me. Then there are some shots where I am wearing a mask and they wanted to use a stuntman.
HW: Sounds difficult.
JF: It is not especially strenuous, it is very time consuming. The process involves a lot of set up and very little shooting. I have to put on the suit which takes about a half an hour. The camera crew has to set up for about an hour. Then the stunt team has to rehearse whatever move we are doing. Then they have to strap me in the wires and raise me up. Then everybody gets in line and coordinates it and the fan’s blowing air. Then they say ‘action’ and it’s about 20 seconds or less…Then you cut and get down, and do the whole process over again…It is really a case of working myself up for those 20 seconds and making sure that when I do those 20 seconds it matches what happened in the last 20 seconds and keep that continuity of performance over the course of a month and a half.
HW: Harry and Peter get into an old school fist fight, how did it compare?
JF: That was different, that was a more traditional fight. I don’t think there was much, I mean there was a little CG but not nearly as much as the first fight. We choreographed that and we would do a few more moves per shot and Tobey and I would have to choreograph it before we shot. Working out the punches, the misses, and that kind of thing but it was still different than any action movie I have done. I shot that for a month and a half as well and on a normal movie I probably would have shot that for a week at most.
HW: What was it like to “grow up” doing this trilogy?
JF: We did the [Spider-Man 3] world premiere in Japan, and Sam [Raimi] introduced all the actors on stage and he said “James Franco, who I feel like I have grown up with. He’s changed so much since the first film.” And I think I worked hard on the first film. I did a lot of research; I did more research before the first film than on any of them. I literally read hundreds of the Spider-Man comic books and did funny things like went to prep schools and tried to figure out what Harry’s background was and that kind of thing. I did a lot of work for it, but I was a young serious actor and I had my doubts about doing a comic book movie, so I assume Sam‘s comments are referring to my attitude, I guess. I didn’t do anything awful, there were no real stories, but I don’t know if I was as enthusiastic as I was on the second and third films
HW: You’ve been working on some independent projects, including stepping behind the camera.
JF: I have done two low budget features that I financed. So Spider-Man helped with the finances and I have tried to take Sam‘s approach…I try to be collaborative as well like I have watched him be and give the actors I have worked with room to be creative and feel like they are a part. I think it’s important, a director should certainly have a vision, but if you allow people to contribute they will feel more like a part of the final product…As far as the smaller independent films last year, I did Spider-Man 3 for most of the year and then I did a bunch of very small films…there was something about acting that became less satisfying than it had been.
HW: Why?
JF: I think a number of reasons. When you get into acting as a young actor I wasn’t sure what the whole process was like and then you learn making movies is a group process. It is collaborative and an actor, unless they have a certain stature or are producing the movie, they have very little control over the final product. So I had to really learn how to let go of the movie once I was done with my work. It is a difficult thing to put so much time into a role, so much research and then shoot for months, then have it come out and it’s not what you expected. Then you have to face the press and face everybody. It is a very difficult thing and that was a little depressing. I think I have learned to deal with it a little bit…I think one of the major things that helped was doing these small films and even if I had a small part I went into them knowing that I believed in the project. It didn’t matter if it was a financial hit or not. I just was happy to be a part of it.
HW: What can you tell us about your new movie The Pineapple Express?
JF: The Pineapple Express is a movie I am filming right now … I wanted to work with my old friends from Freaks and Geeks. Judd Apatowis producing and Seth Rogen was a freak with me in that show. When I did Freaks and Geeks it was early in my career and I knew it was a good show but I didn’t realize what a great environment that was. I took it for granted and after working on a bunch of movies I realized how great that experience was. I wanted to do this movie so I could be around those people again and also just to do a comedy.
– Reporting by Scott Huver
