By 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, Natasha Pereira was already in line.
The 19-year-old UF psychology sophomore camped out in the hopes of scoring backstage passes to James Franco’s visit to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Though not a huge fan herself, the event fell on Pereira’s sister’s 18th birthday, and she has been a fan of Franco’s since the Spider-Man movies.
“He’s very dedicated in everything he does,” said Natalia Pereira, Natasha’s sister. “He’s so passionate.”
During the Accent Speaker’s Bureau-sponsored talk with journalism professor Mike Foley, Franco touched on everything from the book he wrote based on his experiences as a teenager, “Palo Alto,” to his friendship with Seth Rogen.
“He’s what you see in the movies, is what he is,” Franco said. “What can I say? He smokes a lot of weed.”
He spoke about the controversy surrounding “The Interview” and the Sony computer hacks, which had him worried hackers would break into his bank account or personal computers.
“It was a weird situation to be in,” Franco said. “There was nothing I could do but wait.”
The famously well-rounded Franco said he went back to school and began directing after acting in a string of movies he wasn’t happy with, such as “Flyboys,” caused him to sink into a sort of depression.
“I had what a lot of people want, but I was making movies that I hated,” he said. “You change from your mistakes. If things are going well, you don’t really change.”
Though no backstage passes were given out, the Pereira sisters did score front-row seats.
“It was a pretty exciting interview,” Natalia said. “It gave some insight into him.”
The event had the O’Connell Center packed to the rafters, and it ended after Franco took the customary Gator Chomp selfie with the screaming crowd.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/26/2015 under the headline “Franco visits UF, talks Rogen, learning from past mistakes”]
James Franco speaks to a crowd at the O'Connell Center on Wednesday. In his talk, which was sponsored by Accent, Franco discussed his reaction to the 2014 Sony hack, how he transformed into the character Alien for the movie "Spring Breakers," and his growth as an actor.
