Actor James Franco admits he is still estranged with his old friend and collaborator Seth Rogen, but “not for lack of trying” on his part.
“No. I haven’t talked to Seth,” Franco told Variety while promoting his latest film, “Hey Joe,” at the Rome Film Festival. “I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over. And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”
Still, Franco isn’t crying foul that he was “cancelled” by Rogen or the rest of Hollywood.
“I mean, it is what it is. I’ve honestly moved past it,” Franco said. ”[The legal issues were] dealt with, and I got to change. So that’s it, it’s over.”
Franco and Rogen worked on various projects together over their decades in Hollywood, including the “Freaks And Geeks” TV series and movies like “Pineapple Express” and “The Interview.” But Franco’s career took a nosedive in 2021 amid allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct with two students in his acting class.
Franco agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle the resulting lawsuit, but the accusations put a damper on his relationship with Rogen. In 2018, in the immediate aftermath of the allegations, Rogen had said he’d stick by Franco, but by 2021 he said he was no longer working with his friend.
“The truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” Rogen told told the Sunday Times.
In that interview, he admitted the accusations against Franco had impacted their friendship, but he also refused to flat out say the relationship was over.
“I don’t know if I can define that right now during this interview. I can say it ...has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic,” Rogen said.