This could be the most bizarre story of the day. Actor James Franco attended a class at NYU titled “Directing the Actor.”
Well, not exactly attended, since Franco missed 12 out of the 14 classes, since he was too busy cutting his own arm during the filming of the film “127 hours.” The professor, Jose Angel Santana, gave Franco a “D.” And that’s where things started to get a little out of control.
Soon after Santana gave Franco the almost-failing mark, he lost his teaching job. Now Santana alleges that he was fired because of the bad grade, and is suing the actor for defamation, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Franco responded in several media outlets, claiming that he chose to work with director Danny Boyle on the film instead of going to the class. In addition, Franco said in a YouTube video earlier this year (prior to being sued), that Santana “wasn’t fired. He was asked not to come back after three years because they didn’t think he was a good teacher.”
Santana disputes that account, claiming he never received any negative evaluations or performance reviews, and is demanding trial by jury. Franco, meanwhile, predicts Santana is “not going to be hired at another institution.”
“I didn’t even knew what my grades in NYU were because grades don’t matter, what matter is the films that you make,” Franco says. “Anybody coming out of film school is not going to come to Sony or Warner Brothers and say ‘hey I got an ‘A’ in acting class, give me a job!”
Franco for Secretary of Education, anyone?
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