James Franco said he saw parallels with his own life in the plot of new film Hey Joe, which is world premiering in competition at the Rome Film Festival.
The 1970s-set drama sees Franco play an alcoholic former American sailor who returns to Naples to reconnect with the son he left behind at the end of the Second World War.
The Italian production is directed by Claudio Giovannesi, with Vision Distribution International handling international sales.
Franco had a high-profile fall from grace following a lawsuit that accused him of having sex with students from his acting school, which was settled in 2021. Hey Joe is one of his first new projects since the scandal.
Responding to a question about the film’s redemptive themes at the Rome press conference, Franco said: “I believe no matter how far you’ve fallen or how old you are, there’s always an opportunity to change your life. To give back. That’s all you can do.
”This character destroyed his personal life, his marriage. After coming back from three wars he’s now left with himself and I don’t think wants to be with himself so he becomes an alcoholic to distract himself, and then this miracle [his son] comes into his life.”
He added: “[My character] has a paradigm shift… and for me I thought certain kinds of success when I was a young guy would bring my life meaning and I had a paradigm shift as well. I got to see that ultimately the most important things for me and the things I was trying to get from success were just real connection with other people and a real kind of growth, which you could call spiritual growth or maturity. These were the things that my life was supposed to be about, connecting to others, working with others, helping others and to grow spiritually. That’s what will give meaning to my life, rather than these other pursuits.”
In the film Franco has to speak Italian (as well as English), which he didn’t know before production started. “As an actor I love a challenge and this was a challenge, but the language barrier was the perfect barrier between the father and the son (played by Di Napoli). The father is reaching across all the damage and hurt and the language is the exact same struggle. We figured out a way to do it that was very natural.”
Hey Joe was written by Giovannesi, who previously wrote and directed Berlin screenplay award-winner Piranhas, and co-stars Francesco Di Napoli and Guilia Ercolini. It is produced by Palomar and RAI Cinema with Vision Distribution.
The Rome Film Festival runs October 16-27, with the awards ceremony scheduled for October 26.
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