Big Lecture was a big successby Jamie Perez - Mar 11, 2015

James Franco spoke about his career so far and the benefits of an education. Photo credit: Jamie Perez

When students were seated inside VPAC for James Franco’s “Big Lecture,” a short compilation of video featuring some of Franco’s most famous acting moments played on screen. After a warm introduction, Franco was welcomed to the stage by a sea of applause.

Franco covered everything about his career in Hollywood including how he started acting, directing and screenwriting. He also discussed his experience with individual movies he acted in, including the Spiderman series, Pineapple Express, Milk and The Interview.

Professor and Department Chair of Cinema and Television Arts, John Stahl, led the lecture with Franco with a list of prepared questions to guide it.

James Franco and John Stahl Photo credit: Jamie Perez

When talking about his experience in acting and directing, he gave the students insight into the positive aspects of each position. Overall, Franco sided with his career in directing.

“The variety makes both of them very satisfying,” Franco said. “In a lot of ways, directing is more rewarding. You get to be more a part of collaborative conversations.”

Although Franco appeared to favor directing, he still considers acting a good alternative when he does not fit the role of crafting a particular type of movie.

“Sometimes it’s nice to only have to worry about the character and let someone else paint the whole world,” he said.

Aside from speaking on his career as a Hollywood actor and film director, he also discussed his career as a college professor and why he started teaching on top of everything else he was taking on his plate.

“I would read all these books and wouldn’t have anyone to talk to about them,” Franco said.

He went on to mention that school gives him a place to talk about what he knows and reads about and can relay it to other students who want to pursue the same dream.

“I love school,” he said. “I love the academic environment. That’s where you can go to find your people. It’s a great place to find your creative gang. Or if you’re a scientist, it’s a great place to go to find your scientific posse.”

After addressing the main points of Franco’s professional career, Stahl made time during the last 30 minutes of the lecture to address questions the students specifically wanted answered. These included topics like his educational path, his aspirations and future goals.

In his response to the inquiry regarding any future projects Franco had in mind, he mentioned the possibility of writing a musical in the near future.

It was a full house for the Big Lecture. Photo credit: Jamie Perez

After an hour and a half of listening to him speak on his life, students left with a greater understanding of Franco and the Hollywood film industry.

Eighteen-year-old business management major, Eugenia Hernandez, had expressed her excitement as she stood in line waiting to get in earlier in the day.

“We all know he is a really good actor and since he is going to be talking about his acting career, I think we are all just like really excited to see, you know, how his life is and how it actually works,” Hernandez said. “We all just think he’s an actor but there’s much more to acting.”

After the event, 23-year-old computer science major, Kyle Shaver, was satisfied with the event overall.

“It was nice to see that James Franco was very humble and that his sentiments towards giving back actually mirror the people that CSUN is trying to produce,” Shaver said. “I feel like he really encouraged us to produce what we are really passionate about and I actually really like that message.”