James Franco Talks About Being Bullied In High School

These days if there’s a film or short with the topic of homosexuality then James Franco’s name is not too far away from it. However, while at Sundance promoting his films Kink and Interior. Leather Bar, Franco recalls a time he was bullied and accused of being gay.

Probably prompted by being asked about his own sexuality, which in the past has been speculated over the years, Franco opened up about his time in high school when he was picked on over his sexuality. Not exactly feeling as though it was important to define his sexuality during the interview with MTV, Franco had this to say about his trying time in high school:

“In high school these girls got mad at me and so they spread this rumor that I was having a gay relationship with one of my closest friends, and they even made up a little dance they would do in the girl’s locker room about me being gay. I still don’t know what the dance was.”

This isn’t the first time James Franco has addressed rumors about his sexuality. The actor, who has been involved in a number of films with themes of sexuality like Milk, Howl, and The Broken Tower, opened up to Entertainment Weekly in 2011 promoting 127 Hours:

“There are lots of other reasons to be interested in gay characters than wanting myself to go out and have sex with guys. And there are also lots of other aspects about these characters that I’m interested in, in addition to their sexuality. So, in some ways it’s coincidental, in other ways it’s not. I mean, I’ve played a gay man who’s living in the ’60s and ’70s, a gay man who we depicted in the ‘50s, and one being in the ‘20s. And those were all periods when to be gay, at least being gay in public, was much more difficult. Part of what I’m interested in is how these people who were living anti-normative lifestyles contended with opposition. Or, you know what, maybe I’m just gay.”

Despite being open about his work, Franco’s romantic life is another subject. The actor has been linked to Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson and, before that, dated actresses Ahna O’Reilly and Marla Sokoloff. However, the actor hasn’t addressed those relationships as publicly as he does his passion for films. Do you think James Franco’s quote is significant to the LGBT community?