You know Dave Franco. He’s known for roles in movies like Neighbors, 21 Jump Street, and Together.
You’re probably also familiar with his older brother, James Franco, who’s best known for his performances in the 2000s Spider-Man films and movies like Pineapple Express, Spring Breakers, and 127 Hours — the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2011.
And while James has quite the résumé, his career notably took a turn nearly eight years ago when he was faced with allegations of sexual misconduct.
For context, just four days after he took home a Golden Globe for his performance in The Disaster Artist in January 2018, James was accused of “inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior” by five women. The Los Angeles Times reported that four of the five accusers were students of James’s acting and film school, Studio 4.
Though he initially denied the allegations, James did admit to sleeping with students at his acting school during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Podcast in 2021. In that same interview, he also said he’d decided to speak out on the accusations to avoid people like Dave and Seth Rogen from having to “answer for” him.
Seth, one of James’s longest friends and closest collaborators, has since made it clear that the two of them are no longer in contact, neither professionally nor personally. On the other hand, Dave has said very little about James and their relationship — until now.
Speaking to Bustle in a new interview, Dave talked about James for the first time in years during a conversation about nepotism and his early links to the industry. Notably, one of Dave’s earliest movie credits was “Greg the Soccer Player” in Superbad, which was co-written by Seth.
Dave was happy to acknowledge that James helped him get his foot in the door; however, he denied that his road to success was entirely a result of his older brother being an established star in the industry.
“No one was going to hire me just because I was James Franco’s little brother,” he told the outlet. “If I sucked, I would’ve disappeared very quickly.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Dave didn’t go into much more detail about James, but he did say that his brother keeps up to date with his career. “At this point, I think he’s excited just to see me trying new things and to see me grow,” he said.
His comments come four months after the brothers were photographed in public together for the first time in about eight years while celebrating Dave’s 40th birthday in Italy, which would suggest they’re still pretty close.
Of course, we can’t be sure of the exact nature of their relationship. But Dave’s latest acknowledgment of his older brother is certainly something. You can find the full Bustle interview here.