Interview with Marla Sokoloff
and James Franco
Stars of "Whatever It Takes"
interviewed by Max Tremblay, age 14, from US
"I always wanted to get into acting since I was young, it was just that
I was scared of rejection," says James Franco, star of the upcoming
romantic comedy, "Whatever It Takes," a story of two guys from different
social groups joining forces to snag their dream girls in the last few
weeks of their senior year of high school. "I had huge buck teeth, and
my parents had to manipulate me into getting braces. I didn't want to
get them, but my mom said I'd never be an actor."
Franco actually got into acting early on in high school. "My girlfriend
at the time was in the Drama Club, and she was asked to do a one act
play with some drama geek. She had to make out with him on stage, and
that was really hard to take. I begged her and begged her with tears
in my eyes not to do it. She did it anyway, so to get her back I joined
the club and did a couple plays." Franco kept acting through college at
University of California Los Angeles, and is still a member of a popular
acting school, at which classes are taught by members who have since
become movie stars, such as Jeff Goldblum, star of "Independence Day" and
both "Jurassic Park" movies.
Marla Sokoloff, Franco's Whatever It Takes co-star, holds a similar
passion for acting, saying that she was "born wanting to do this." She
got her start at ACT, a famous acting school in San Francisco,
California that puts on plays in the city. Teachers at ACT have coached
some of the biggest stars of today. As it turns out, a prominent agent
caught one of Marla's plays and suggested that she move to Los Angeles
to try her luck. Her mother was against it, and said no’ at first.
"I
always complained: 'Mom, please! I can't believe you said 'no!' After
about a year and a half of this, she couldn't stand it anymore." The two
made the move to Los Angeles for pilot season, the time of year when
pilot episodes are shot for new TV series hoping to get picked up for
the new fall season, when Sokoloff was about eleven. "We wound up never
leaving. " Fortunately, Sokoloff and Franco never gave up on their
common dream to become actors, and now they have starring roles in a
major motion picture to show for their efforts. You can also still see
both of these talented young actors weekly in roles on television
series. Sokoloff can be seen on the Emmy-award-winning show "The
Practice," while Franco is a regular member of the cast on the series
"Freaks and Geeks."
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