James Franco Reflects on His ‘Obsession’ and the Wild Journey Behind His Oscar-Nominated Turn in 127 HOURS

James Franco is looking back at the intense creative push that fueled his performance in Danny Boyle’s survival drama 127 Hours, a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination and a reputation for going all in.

Speaking at Italy’s Torino Film Festival, where he received the Stella della Mole award, Franco opened up about the film’s unlikely beginnings, the physically demanding shoot, and the personal drive that shaped the project and his career.

Franco remembered how doubtful people were when Boyle first set out to make 127 Hours, the true story of outdoor adventurer Aron Ralston, who became trapped alone in a Utah canyon.

“Danny wanted to make it but nobody else on his team did. Everyone said it would be a disaster,” he said, explaining how the movie’s biggest hurdle was its premise. Ralston was isolated, stuck under a boulder, and completely alone for almost the entire film.

What unlocked the film creatively, Franco said, was the discovery that Ralston had been documenting his ordeal on his video camera.

“Then they realized the real guy had his own video camera with him – he was talking to it. That opened up another way of telling the story. He wasn’t just sitting there quietly. He could externalize his inner thoughts.”

Ralston ultimately made a drastic choice to survive, amputating his own arm to escape. That harrowing decision shaped the unique challenge for Franco as an actor.

“Just to state the obvious, but normally, when you’re making a movie, you have multiple characters. But here, because he’s trapped in a canyon, there’s no one to interact with. It was different to anything else I’ve ever done as an actor.”

The entire filmmaking team was diving into unfamiliar territory, Franco noted. “Danny Boyle has never done anything like it and neither has [cinematographer] Anthony Dod Mantle. Nobody’s made a movie like that! But despite it being about just one guy, all alone, it’s still very dynamic. It feels like an action film.”

He described how the tension came from unusual sources, saying: “The interplay is now between the character and the environment, the character and himself, the character and death, and, on a technical level, the actor and the camera. It was there [in front of my face] the whole time. It was a whole different dance.”

Franco’s first meeting with Boyle didn’t go smoothly. He joked that the director might have thought he wasn’t enthusiastic enough. But his unexpected training ground turned out to be his time on the soap opera General Hospital.

“There’s not much dialogue in [127 Hours] but there’s one big speech. I’m basically saying goodbye to my family. Before that, on General Hospital, we would shoot 80-90 pages in one day. I became very good at memorizing my lines, fast. We did it and Danny said: ‘You’re the guy.’ And he gave me a hug.”

Once production started, Boyle encouraged Franco to push himself physically and emotionally to recreate Ralston’s situation.

“He said: ‘Look, you’ve just been trapped. Your natural reaction would be to force your way out, so I want you to do everything you can to try to get out. Don’t stop.’ So I kept going and going, and going.

“When he finally said ‘cut!’ I think it has been 25 minutes. I was really tired and sweaty. It became very realistic, because we did everything that Aron would have done – except for cutting my arm off.”

The performance earned Franco his first and only Oscar nomination. The recognition hit him hard. He described it as “so impactful.” He added, “At that time, it was almost too much to take in.”

Franco, who has faced significant controversy in recent years, continues to work steadily. He appears in Vincent Gallo’s Golden State Killer and has completed the long-gestating project The Long Home as a director. But he also acknowledged that he’s learning to adjust the way he approaches his work.

“Let’s just say I was a little crazy for a while,” he said with a laugh.

“I love movies so much and there were so many stories I wanted to tell. I went back to film school to learn how to direct [and realized]: ‘I’m no longer the person who has to wait for them to call me to be in their movie. I can make my own films!’ This started a whole other chapter.”

That creative fire is still there, though he says he’s learning to control it. “I still have that: that obsession. Let’s call it that, because I’m the kind of person who can become really obsessive. But I’ve also learnt it’s good to have balance. I had to learn its importance.”

Franco’s journey with 127 Hours was risky, exhausting, creatively liberating, and ultimately career-defining. Revisiting it now, he acknowledges how the experience shaped him, both as an artist and as a person.