James Franco Loves Performance Artist Marina Abramovic, So Do We

December 04, 2009








We've been completely fascinated by James Franco's recent decision to play a devious and over-the-top character named "Franco" on the pulpy soap General Hospital. Not that we haven't been longtime fans of his talent, or that he is any stranger to television—we first got psyched on the dude when he played the lovable stoned-out Fonzie-type Daniel Desario on Judd Apatow's much-loved Freaks & Geeks. But today Franco took it to another level by writing a piece for the Wall Street Journal about viewing his role in General Hospital AS performance art. He followed that up with this related video interview with acclaimed/confrontational performance artist Marina Abramovic, a woman we once saw stand butt-ass naked for like three days straight in the middle of the Guggenheim. She was being still and serene, we were avoiding eye contact with her. Our roommate was moved to cry. More people might know her from being in the final season of Sex in the City in that scene where Carrie first meets Aleksandr Petrovsky. Google it. In this video, Franco and Abramovic ritualistically make a dessert as performance art, and talk about process. Totally unexpected, fully awesome. Also, if you're a fan of performance art, read the final paragraph of Franco's piece—the final, unaired episode of his General Hospital run will actually take place in a gallery.

James Franco Loves Performance Artist Marina Abramovic, So Do We