My Interview with James Franco started in a hot air balloon. I was so fortunate to have the time to step into the hot air balloon that would take me directly to Oz, where I would find the wizard himself; James Franco. Disney took video of me inside the balloon and their video was so fancy I didn’t have any software able to edit it with so here it is take one and take two of my hot air balloon ride to Oz.
I got to pull the fire. It was AMAZING. Then I was also Glinda using my want against the terrible tornado.
Then once I was finally in Oz, I participated in a group interview of James Franco. First, I’m going to tell you that James Franco was much more than I expected. I realized that he’s very intelligent, not your typical celebrity, and possibly intimidated by a roomful of mommy bloggers. I’ve read that he’s one of the most schooled celebrities there are. He has quite a few degrees and keeps striving for more. One of my readers wanted to know if he ever sleeps and I can report that yes he does. He sleeps about six hours a night and works as hard as he does because it’s what he enjoys and wants out of life right now.
“my job is what I love and, um, so I don’t need a relief from it like someone who doesn’t like their job. I just kind of move from project to project because, it’s how I enjoy life. So it seems like I’m doing a lot of things but, it’s really just because I fill all of my time with these things rather than, half of my time.”
Now, let’s delve into what he thought about playing with wizard and the rest of the cast.
Q. How was working with magic, can you still do it now?
I can. Well, I had to train. I trained with a Vegas magician, Lance Burton and he showed me a lot of the secret tricks and I got pretty good at it. There’s a scene in the beginning of the film where we see Oz, doing his act in the traveling circus. And there were more tricks in the original act that I learned so I could make doves materialize out of nothing and pull rabbits out of hats. But, it didn’t make the cut. It was fun to learn anyways.
Q. How was it working with Finley and China Girl?
Zach Braff plays the flying monkey, Finley, and, Joey King plays the China Girl, the doll made out of porcelain. Those were some of my favorite scenes. I thought they were, just great characters and, great kind of oddball sidekicks to have in the land of Oz. And then I loved Joey and Zack. I would do anything with them. They’re great collaborators. The actual process of interacting with CG characters is it’s own kind of thing, but, filmmakers and, actors are getting more and more use to it. So it’s not as if I’m just acting to nothing the whole time. There’s a process you go through, and I had great training………In the early takes, Zach would be there with me so I could interact with him, and then for the China Girl, there was a great, puppeteer who could bring this puppet to life, Then I would hear Joey’s voice in my ear. And then the doll would react to what she was saying.
So you do that in the early takes and if the animators, or the computer animators want, they can always use my side of those takes. Then paint out Zack or paint out the puppet. But then at the end of that series of takes, the scene is sort of ingrained in me or, I know the flow of the, of the interaction. I will eventually have a take where I’m, acting to nothing and if you, [LAUGHS], were a guest that day and saw that, you’d think, I’m an insane person or something.
So that’s what it’s like working with a puppet, at least according to James Franco. Oh and I have to mention he couldn’t pick a favorite witch. He loved working with all of them equally! He’s a very smart man to answer the question in that way. You can find out just how smart the Wizard really is in theaters March 8th.