James Franco Is 'Fascinated' By 'Twilight'

James Franco Is 'Fascinated' By 'Twilight'
'The go-to guys, Taylor and Rob, are in the tent [and] it's almost like a 'Brokeback Mountain' scene,' he tells MTV News of 'Eclipse.'



James Franco is becoming not only an actor-of-all-trades, what with his stints in dramas, comedies and soap operas, but also a bit of a Renaissance man, having gone back to school for a master's degree, filming a documentary, etc. So it should come as no surprise that he has some very insightful thoughts on the phenomenon that is "Twilight."

When we caught up with Franco at the Toronto International Film Festival recently, where he was alongside director Danny Boyle promoting their buzzy "127 Hours," we asked him his thoughts on the series.

"I haven't read the last one! I kind of know what happens ... some very strange birth, right?" he asked rhetorically about Stephenie Meyer's fourth book in the series, "Breaking Dawn." "I read a part of it. I think I got to the sex scene, but it was so brief, I didn't even know if it was the actual sex scene," he admitted. "It was kind of a letdown after all that buildup."

But did he enjoy the three novels he has read?

"I wouldn't say I enjoy them, but I'm fascinated with them. I'm interested in the metaphor of the vampire placed in the high school setting and how a relationship with a vampire can stand in for general feelings that people have as teenagers," he said. "And the obsession people have with that is also fascinating to me."

Franco also revealed that he has seen the three "Twilight" movies, enough to call out series superstars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner by first names and cite the infamous "tent scene" in the process.

"The movies are interesting also because they've really become part of the whole 'Twilight' phenomenon, and it's really hard to extricate those actors from the reading experience or just the phenomenon of 'Twilight' now. They've become a part of it to the point that the movies are almost commenting on themselves," Franco said. "There will be a scene where the go-to guys, Taylor and Rob, are in the tent, it's almost like a 'Brokeback Mountain' scene, where the two guys are talking in a tent and the girl is asleep, and they're having, like, this romantic moment almost through her, in a way. One of them says, 'Well, I'm hotter than you,' and it's almost like they're winking at the fans, like to the Team Jacob or the Team Edwards."

Perhaps we should enlist Mr. Franco for further "Twilight" analysis ...