James Franco, Soap Operas and Lots of Layers

We've been speculating about James Franco's sexuality for quite some time. Of course, you can't blame us - from his roles in Milk and Howl to his Out cover to his ridiculously homoerotic short film, The Feast of Stephen, our prayers suspicions are clearly justified.

And now, there's even more to add to that ever-growing list!

I attended the Cannes Film Festival in May and was able to see Franco's newest short film, "The Clerk's Tale," which closed Critics Week. In line with his other shorts, it was an adaptation of a gay-themed poem, this time by Spencer Reece. Franco's engaging film, shot with hand-held cameras in a cinema verite style, captures the essence of Reece's work, a psychological portrayal of an aging gay man trapped at a monotonous department store job. We watch as Spencer (John Kelly) goes through his daily routine, folding ties, fitting customers and listening to his coworker tell the same stupid joke over and over again. In the end, he walks through an empty parking garage to his car, an image symbolic of his lonely existence.

Don't worry James, we'll come save you!

If that weren't enough, Franco was recently spotted at LA Pride with video artist Kalup Linzy and gave this random and hilarious interview:

Adopting his new role as director, Franco spends the first half of the video awkwardly filming random gays on the street. He then offered these cryptic words about his new project inspired by ... soap operas?:

"I thought it would be interesting if I took a real artist that was inspired by soaps... and then you were in a real soap opera doing their own version of contemporary art."

--NICK STERGIOPOULOS

Previously > James Franco continues to get in touch with his gay side