James Franco is one of the interviews I was most excited about. Not only had I seen him in his role as Harry Osborne in the Spider-Man movies (which you know my hubby and son have made me watch over and over), but had seen him in other roles (he’s such a versatile actor) and he is also a scholar (He teaches and English class at UCLA). He always seems to have something going on that you have to wonder if he ever gets any sleep (which he addresses in the interview).

I had seen him on the red carpet, saw him at the after party (my story is that we locked eyes, not that he’ll remember but in my mind he actually saw me, LOL) and then I was sitting front and center during his interview with 24 other mommy bloggers and I.

*After the interview, I sneak in right next to him and he had his arm around my shoulder…you know you would have done that too. Picture below.

As soon as he walked into the room of Mommy Bloggers, he says “I wanna see pictures of everyone’s kids and get to know each other. We’ll get all the pictures and then we’ll be done.”

But we weren’t there to show off our kids, although us mommies probably had hundreds of pics of our kids ready to show him, we wanted to know more about his role as Oz in Disney’s upcoming film, Oz The Great and Powerful.

Q: Were you a fan of the Wizard of Oz growing up?

James: I was. When I was a boy, the days before Harry Potter was around, I read all of the L. Frank Baum Oz books on my own. They were some of the first books I read for pleasure outside of school. I remember going to the local book store that had all the Oz books there, and I remember getting excited seeing all of them and going through each one. So that was my Harry Potter, I guess.

Q: What was your favorite part with doing magic, and can you do it in real life now?

Click on “Read More” to see the rest of this interview

James: I can. Well, I had to train. I trained with a Vegas magician, Lance Burton and he showed me a lot of the secret tricks and I got pretty good at it. There’s a scene in the beginning of the film where we see Oz doing his act in the traveling circus. There were more tricks in the original act that I learned, like making doves materialize out of nothing and pull rabbits out of hats. But, it didn’t make the cut. But it was fun to learn magic anyways.

Q: What was your most memorable moment while filming the movie?

James: It pretty enjoyable all the way through. I was working with my old friend, Sam Raimi and all the other actors and actress were great to work with.

Q : Did Sam give you the freedom to add to your characters personality?

James:  Sam is a very collaborative director. He collaborates not only with the actors but with everybody. Everyone is welcome to bring things to the table.  With the character Oz, not only did we rehearse two weeks before the film but we also rehearsed throughout the film.

So I didn’t ever have a lunch to myself.  I was spending all of my lunches going over the script and the scenes with Sam and the other actors and through that process, I think the character of Oz changed quite a bit. In fact, I was surprised at how different that early draft was to where we ended up and that’s just because of the way Sam works.

Q : Who was your favorite witch to work with?

*He pauses because he is highly aware that if he doesn’t answer this correctly he can get into BIG trouble. 

James:  That’s a hard question.  You’re gonna get me in trouble…

* He is wise…

They’re all some of the best actresses alive and we’re very fortunate to have had all of them.  They’re all very different but the roles are also very different…so, each one was enjoyable but a very different experience. I was glad to have all of them.

*I think he answered pretty well…you?

You can check out my interviews with the 3 witches by clicking on their names: Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis & Rachel Weisz

Q : How was it working with Finley and China Girl?

James:  Those were some of my favorite scenes. I thought they were just great characters and great kind of oddball sidekicks to have in the land of Oz. And then I loved Joey and, and Zack. I would do anything with them.

Q: Being that the characters of Finley and China Girl are animated, what was the process like?

James: You go through a series of different kinds of takes. So in the early takes, Zach would be there with me so I could interact with him, and then for the China Girl, there was a great puppeteer who could bring this puppet to life and I would hear Joey’s voice in my ear.   The puppeteer would make the doll react to her and to what she was saying.

Then the animators or computer animators can always use my side of those takes and  paint out Zack or paint out the puppet.  At the end of that  series of takes,  I’d  eventually have a take where I’m acting to nothing and if you, [LAUGHS], were a guest that day and saw that, you’d think, I’m an insane person or something.  By that point, the performance was so engrained in me, I knew it and I still got to hear their voices in my ear. So it’s not like I’m making all of it up.

Q: How was this role different for you compared to Spiderman?

*You’ll see by his answer that he admires the director, Sam Raimi and that based on both interviews (you can read Sam Raimi’s HERE) they have really great relationship.

James: Well, in the Spiderman films, I play Harry Osborne who is a supporting character and the thing I’ve learned about Sam Raimi is that he identifies with the characters in a lot of his films.  So, when we did the Spiderman films, he identified with Peter Parker and even though he and I got along very, very well, and became very good friends,  I felt like I was not getting the full sunshine of his love because I was playing the character that was trying to kill his alter ego.

In this film, I’m the lead and I think Oz is a stand-in for certain sides of Sam.  Oz has a little nerdy side and a childlike side, but he can also be a little bit of a trickster.  In addition to that, Oz in an entertainer. He  creates illusions to entertain people, and that’s exactly what Sam does.  So,  I’m finally playing the character that Sam identifies with and so I get all of his love. So it’s great!

Q : Do you ever sleep. How do you manage all that you do?

James: I do sleep, I sleep about six hours a night.  I do a lot of things but I’m in the fortunate position that my job is what I love, so I don’t need a relief from it.  I just kind of move from project to project because it’s how I enjoy life, you know.  It seems like I’m doing a lot of things but it’s really just because I fill all of my time with these things.

Q: Have you seen the Oz Dolls?

James: I have not seen them. Very odd, huh?

Q: Does having a doll of yourself freak you out?

James: I’ve had dolls made before from the Spiderman films, so it’s nothing new to me.



Movie Synopsis:

When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great wizard but into a better man as well.

Disney’s Oz The Great & Powerful will be in theaters on March 8th.

Make sure your following Disney Oz Movie on Twitter and “Like” the Oz the Great & Powerful Fan Page. You can also check out their website.

Pictures courtesy of Insideoutmotherhood.com & Disney

Disclosure: This post was facilitated as a result of a press trip. As always, ALL opinions are my own.