James Franco recently opened up about his addictive personality and the struggles that he’s gone through because of it. James shared that in his teen years he got into trouble for drinking and stealing. It was after an arrest that he decided to throw himself into acting, but ultimately that became an addiction of sorts as well.
“I really threw myself into it, and that became everything, to the point where I didn’t even socialize. And then after, like, 10 years of that, at age 27, I realized, ‘Man, I’m so depressed. On the surface my life seems pretty good—I have a career and everything— but I feel isolated and lonely.’”
Now he feels like directing is the place for him. He recently directed two episodes of the upcoming HBO series The Deuce, in which he stars as twins.
“I’ve got to say, of all the things that I’ve done, and I’ve done a lot, the actual process of directing is the most fun, because you’re in the middle of all these different creative people.”