Movie Star, 47, Is Unrecognizable In New Photo originally appeared on Parade.
For most of the 2000s and 2010s, James Franco was on top of the world. The A-lister starred in hit movies like Spring Breakers, Pineapple Express, and 127 Hours. But in the latter half of the 2010s, the star had a bit of a fall from grace. In 2018, off the heels of the #MeToo movement, he began facing allegations of sexual misconduct, which led to a lawsuit the star eventually settled in 2021.
Since then, the Disaster Artist star has kept a pretty low profile. But he recently made a rare public appearance to celebrate the 40th birthday of his brother, Dave Franco—and he’s completely unrecognizable.
The Franco brothers appeared together at the 71st Taormina Film Festival in Taormina, Sicily—made famous by season 2 of The White Lotus. Dave looked like he hadn’t aged since he starred in Neighbors more than ten years ago. James, on the other hand, looked much older.
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The This Is the End star appeared to have aged like a fine wine, sporting a new silver fox look. His hair was salt-and-pepper, and his famously boyish face looked significantly more mature, with more wrinkles around his eyes and more lines across his forehead (especially compared to his brother, who looked like he just came from a Botox party). Of course, wrinkles and lines are not a bad thing! They connote wisdom, which he claims to have gained during his last few years living under the radar.
“Being told you’re bad is painful,” he told Variety. “But ultimately, that’s kind of what I needed to just stop going the way I was going.” In his new era, he has gotten into painting, and most recently starred in the Italian film Hey Joe.
James may have aged out of playing a young party boy, but he could very easily play someone’s hot dad.
Movie Star, 47, Is Unrecognizable In New Photo first appeared on Parade on Jun 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
