James Franco ‘Dying to Find a Way’ Back Into Hollywood: He Misses ‘Being the Center of Attention’

James Franco is trying to buddy up to industry executives once again as he tries to reinvent himself in Hollywood both professionally and socially – but a source exclusively tells In Touch it’s going to be an uphill struggle as he’s still very disliked in many circles. 

“James has expressed remorse for his actions and has made some efforts to reverse the damage caused by his behavior, but Hollywood is just not in the forgiving mood with this guy and everybody knows he’ll survive life not being a major studio movie star,” explains a high-level source who worked closely with James on some of his final studio movies and who also knows James’ (non-cancelled) brother, Dave Franco. 

Once the darling of the movie biz, the 127 Hours star, 46, fell hard from grace in January 2018, after the Los Angeles Times reported five women were accusing the actor of “inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior” while they were his students. More accusations of abuse emerged but James denied them, despite settling with two accusers. He would later admit to being in sex addiction treatment and using “fame like a lure” to try to get women, but continue to deny the exploitation. 

Even though he’s been iced out, the former star isn’t having to sell his homes or anything like that,” the source says. “James isn’t financially strapped like Armie Hammer claims to be. James has been in five or six truly giant, successful blockbusters thanks to his work in the Spider-Man and Planet of the Apes franchises that continue to steadily push money his way as they circulate on streaming networks, and James even outright owns large chunks of some of the smaller movies he’s starred in or directed.” 

“James is not trying to get back into the business for the money,” the insider says, “the thing he really misses is being the biggest star on a set and being in the center of the action on a large, complex project.” 

The actor has faced rumors of odd behavior on set, to say the least, outside of the sex accusations, which includes a narcissistic streak. The insider says that’s now coming back to bite him.

“The real problem is that during his heyday between 2007 and 2017, when he really blew up, he behaved in such an arrogant way to the studio executives who were giving him all those giant opportunities and putting his face on movie posters.” 

With his name being dragged through the dirt by allegations and legal settlements, “those opportunities aren’t coming his way anymore and he hasn’t found anything to replace them with.” 

“He’s dying to find a way back into that world. Because of James’ scandals, it’s very hard for him to raise money for his own film projects, but he can still be an actor-for-hire in indie films.” 

“If he had more friends behind the scenes in the business, I think it would be easier for him to relaunch his career, but his brother Dave and his sister-in-law Allison Brie are still the last people in Hollywood truly loyal to James.”