James Franco Gay Rumors: Actor Opens Up About His Sexuality In Confusing Interview

Is James Franco gay? The actor decided to take on the rumors about his sexuality in a bizarre, new interview that’s unlike any other.

The actor interviewed himself for Four Two Nine Magazine with the straight side of himself sitting down for a chat with the gay side of himself.

Franco realizes that his roles and his behavior have led to a lot of discussion about his sexuality, and he really does not mind all the talk surrounding him. He likes to be provocative and do things that people will notice. He also likes to challenge himself. His most normal role in recent years was in Oz the Great and Powerful.

Franco has been keeping busy though, and he has three movies set for release this spring, True Story, I Am Michael, and Everything Will Be Fine.

In his interview, he did not hold back, and he tackled his sexuality first. The gay side of himself answered the question about his sexuality.

“Well, I like to think that I’m gay in my art and straight in my life. Although, I’m also gay in my life up to the point of intercourse, and then you could say I’m straight. So I guess it depends on how you define gay. If it means whom you have sex with, I guess I’m straight. In the twenties and thirties, they used to define homosexuality by how you acted and not by whom you slept with. Sailors would f**k guys all the time, but as long as they behaved in masculine ways, they weren’t considered gay.”

One would think that James Franco would really start to mind all the speculation about his sexuality, but he actually seems to enjoy it. On Instagram, the actor posts outrageous things that leave fans wondering about his sexuality.

According to a February Inquisitr report, James Franco was joined by Seth Rogen for a parody shot of the famous Rolling Stone cover featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In this photo, a nearly naked Rogen is curled up against Franco’s side as he kisses Franco’s cheek. The Interview co-stars had to do deal with the scandal surrounding their film back in December, but the photo share on Instagram was another sign that the pair did not allow the scandal to faze them.

Franco defended his outrageous behavior on Instagram during his interview.

“Why would you say that it was a good thing that people would consider me straight? I actually like it when people think I’m gay; it’s a great shield. Like the guy in Shampoo or the play that Shampoo is based on, The Country Wife by Wycherley. I guess I mean that I like my queer public persona. I like that it’s so hard to define me and that people always have to guess about me. They don’t know what the hell is up with me, and that’s great. Not that I do what I do to confuse people, but as long as they are confused, I get time to play.”

Franco has starred in many films as gay characters, including Milk, and Howl, and The Broken Tower, and Interior Leather Bar. This has only added to the speculation about his sexuality. In I Am Michael, he plays a gay character once again. This time alongside Zachary Quinto, and he spoke about his homosexual roles and how they have changed him in an interview with Vulture for the film.

“In the case of Milk, once I did that movie, it kind of opened me up to a lot of things I hadn’t really thought about because they hadn’t been a part of my life. Lee Daniels says that gay rights are the civil rights of our era, so I like doing a movie like Milk or Interior Leather Bar where I can bring themes and ideas I’ve been engaged with, and do it in such a way that those ideas are pulled into the mainstream more. I feel like that’s my place: I can in some ways lend myself and say that these are important issues of equal rights, though on the other hand, I’m very much about preserving this queer kind of space of defying identity and defying labels. I think there are a lot of those themes in this movie as well.”

Even with James Franco taking on his sexuality, he ended his self-interview in a way that will only confuse his fans even more. He revealed that it was his public self speaking during the interview.

“Yes, in the sense that I am answering as James Franco, but no in the sense that it is a public statement in an entertainment magazine, which means that it is part of my public persona and not my private veridical self—and even if it were in the New York Times, it would be the same; it would be an expression of my public self.”

Franco went on to say that he would not share his private self because then it would be public. In a way, Franco answered his questions in a manner that would only stir up more controversy. People have taken to social media to talk about the provocative interview.

I don’t get why James Franco tries to be the “gayest straight man” alive when Depeche Mode have beaten him at that game for decades.

— Christopher Adams (@Chhadams) March 19, 2015

james franco is the most interesting person in the world to me I wanna sit in a parking lot and talk about his life with him for hours

— amanda (@harryuhm) March 19, 2015

James Franco says he’s gay “up until the point of intercourse.” Kind of like being smart up until the point of saying anything.

— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) March 19, 2015

Lmao this is why I love James Franco pic.twitter.com/FQyHYTFril

— JAZZZZ (@jazminetiffany) March 19, 2015

What is next for Franco? In addition to the three films set release this spring, the actor is already working on another project. However, he is working behind the camera this time. According to Digital Spy, Franco will direct In Dubious Battle. Zach Braff and Josh Hutcherson are the latest to join the film about an “activist becoming involved with California’s contentious labor movement during the 1930s.” Production for the film will take place in Georgia.

What do you think of James Franco interview and the gay rumors surrounding him?

[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]