There’s been a lot of speculation that James Franco was baked out of his mind at the Oscars, which would certainly explain his very mellow, phone-it-in attitude the whole ceremony. I defended Franco in an earlier post about this, which many of you disagreed with, including Kaiser. My point was that the guy may be an unprofessional douchebag but no one could have made that material funny or watchable and I think he realized that and just sort of coasted through. It’s also worth noting that he often acts like that, and whether it’s snobbery or just his general demeanor is up to interpretation. It could be due to a lot of herb, but according to Franco’s rep that’s not the case. He claimed his client was sober and that “James does not drink or do drugs ever.” A simple “No, James would not jeopardize an important job like that” would have sufficed. The ever part makes it less believable.

In Marc Malkin’s coverage of this on E!, he mentions that other sources confirm that Franco isn’t a partier and that the guy was just exhausted from a busy week:

Franco was not under the influence on Sunday. “James does not drink or do drugs ever,” his rep tells me.

Several sources (who have no reason to spin me) confirm that Franco is not a partier.

He was “exhausted” because he had spent several weeks flying back and forth from the East Coast to L.A. to rehearse on weekends. By the time Sunday rolled around, one source said, “he was going on 20-hour days four days in a row.”
It’s certainly not the first time someone assumed Franco was a stoner. It almost cost him 127 Hours.

“I wasn’t sure at first,” 127 Hours director Danny Boyle told me in October about casting Franco. “We met him and he was so relaxed—he looked stoned to me. People say that about him. But he’s not. In fact, he’s abstemious.”

As for the Us Weekly report that he and Hathaway grew to “hate each other” during Oscar rehearsals, reps for both insist there’s no animosity between the two. While they may not have become best buddies, one source insists “they’re friends.”

Hathaway’s rep says, “Anne adores James and had a wonderful time hosting the Oscars with him.”

[From E! Online]

I’ve never heard that word that Danny Boyle dropped, “abstemious.” I assumed it meant a person who abstains but it means a person who is moderate in their eating and drinking. Boyle probably thought it meant straight edge too.

Getting back to this story, I get the criticism of Franco, I really do. He can be charming and witty when he’s on his game, so it’s true that there’s no excuse for that behavior no matter how lousy his lines were. I’m reminded of Franco’s appearance on Inside the Actor’s Studio late last year. He was engaging, funny and excited. Of course he was talking about himself, which is a key difference from his Oscar duties.

Even assuming that Franco’s rep was telling the truth and that the guy was just exhausted, that’s no excuse for blowing a huge gig like this. Most anyone else would have tried to rest up ahead of time for such a big moment in their professional careers. I still say that Franco on his most gracious A-game wouldn’t have made the show any more watchable, though. People have a tendency to blame the host of the Oscars when it’s poorly organized, too self congratulatory and not entertaining. The fact that producers used Hugh Jackman as a punchline instead of inviting him to host again shows how clueless they really are.

Photos courtesy of WENN & other sources.