“I truly did not think a nomination was a possibility for me,” says Dave Franco, who’s among the five guest actors from The Studio contending in the category — a near sweep for the Apple TV+ satire. (The lone exception: Last year’s winner Jon Bernthal for The Bear.) Even though his publicist texted him the good news, it took a Google search to convince Franco — and his wife, Alison Brie — that the news was in fact real.
In The Studio, Franco reunites with his longtime friends and creative collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for a wild ride across several episodes that starts with him playing a gangster in a Ron Howard film — and ends with him partying “old-school Hollywood buffet”-style in Las Vegas at Cinema-Con.
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Here, Franco tells Gold Derby about his biggest fears about filming those now infamous oners, whether he’ll be back for more antics in Season 2 — and what it means to see his name listed alongside legends like Scorsese and Howard.
I can only imagine the celebrating when the show got 23 nominations. What did you hear from Seth and Evan?
Franco: Seth reached out and congratulated me, and I obviously did the same to them, but I just remember thanking them for listening to me when I was on my knees begging them to bring me back [for additional episodes]. I’m just so happy for them. I know how much they put into this, and it’s just awesome to see your friends win.
You and your fellow guest actors pretty much swept that category. What did that feel like?
Franco: It felt awesome! I am just so in love with this show. I remember when [Seth and Evan] first sent me the episodes before it actually aired on Apple, and I got scared because I loved it so much. I was like, “Oh, I think this is my favorite show, and I don’t want to be the one to ruin this.” But I just love everyone involved. Seth and Evan, they’re at the head of this thing, and they just create such a warm family environment. They make it so it’s almost impossible to fail. They just feed us gold. It’s the type of set where, if you’re an a–hole, if you’re not playing ball like everyone else, you’re gonna get kicked out. And so it’s just a bunch of nice people who are giving it their all.
Everyone in the cast has pretty much said the same thing about being afraid to ruin it, but it actually feels genuine given the one-take filming style.
Franco: I think it was very natural to be scared going into it, because you don’t want to be the one who messes up a long oner. But what you realize is it’s such a fun way to work as an actor, because no matter how much or how little you have to do in any given scene, you are engaged at every moment, because the camera will likely catch you — as opposed to standard coverage, where, when the camera is not on some people have a tendency to shut down a little bit and not be fully engaged in the scene. Seth and Evan talk about how the sweet spot for the number of takes to get the perfect one is 16 to 18 takes. And so as an actor, you have that many takes roughly to hone your performance and to just try stuff in the earlier takes and see what works. And so by the time you get to take 16 to 18, you feel like you’ve really locked in on the best version of the scene.
What were some of the things you tried in some of those earlier takes that stuck the landing?
Franco: I think in the first scene of mine at Cinema-Con, where Zoë Kravitz shows up at the party, I go up to her, and I’m already messed up on drugs, and I have a line that was scripted that was something like, you know, “I’m gonna go to the tables and win some money.” And on take one I just added, “I’m gonna go to the tables and win some money Now You See Me-style” — and no one said anything. So I was like, “I guess I’m just gonna keep saying this.” And what ended up happening is the Now You See Me thing kind of became a runner throughout those final two episodes, where the second episode starts with a recap. They had my character, one of the most f—ked up characters in those episodes, recap the episode as if I’m drunk and I’m recapping what happens. And in that recap, I am once again bringing up Now You See Me. So it’s just, let’s throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. It’s amazing working with Seth and Evan because I’ve known them for nearly 20 years, since Superbad. and so I just feel so comfortable with them, and I know that I can push things to the limit. And if I ever go too far, they’re gonna reel me back in. But I just feel liberated, and it’s the most fun kind of acting.
You had two very different performances from your scenes in the early episodes versus your scenes in the final episodes. Do you think that’s what voters were responding to?
Franco: It’s interesting. The truth is, I was only supposed to be there for that earlier episode when I’m in that fake Ron Howard movie, playing this New York gangster. I remember when we started shooting those scenes, I went up to Seth, and I was like, “Should I be doing a New York accent for this?” And he was like, “You know what? Let’s try it. Let’s see.” And again, I tried it on the first take, and he didn’t say anything. So I was like, “OK, I guess I’m leaning into the accent.” And the great thing about that is the accent ends up coming into that final episode when I take the stage and I embody that character again. It speaks to how much Seth and Evan are willing to continue to rewrite and work on the fly and just use what’s happened before to really tell the story, as opposed to writing all the scripts and saying, “We’re set and this is the way we’re doing it.” They’re just like, “Let’s see what happens. Let’s change things in the last second, and let’s just make the best version of this.”
Why do you think the show has succeeded so much?
Franco: I think because it is the marriage of so many incredible things. It’s very funny comedy mixed with incredible cinematography mixed with amazing wardrobe and set design. It’s for film nerds and fanatics with the aesthetics but it’s also accessible to everyone because of just how genuinely funny it is. I think maybe some people might have feared that the show would be too insidery, and you might have to be in the business to fully understand certain things. But at the end of the day, funny is funny, and even if you don’t understand every reference in the show, it doesn’t matter.
Will you come back for another season?
Franco: I want to come back for 10 seasons. I hope they make this forever and they know I’m there whenever they need me. I don’t need to read the script. Just tell me where to be.
Do you think audiences understand the difference between the real Dave Franco and The Studio Dave Franco?
Franco: Yes and no. The people who know me, they recognize how far outside of myself this “character” is. I am not someone who really parties these days. I definitely don’t go to Vegas. I don’t do drugs. My idea of an exciting night is staying in with my wife and my cats and watching a documentary. But this kid the other day came up to me and he was like, “Oh man, I wish I could party like you in The Studio!” [Laughs] It’s been incredible, and it’s also kind of surreal that I got my first nomination for playing myself while inebriated on alcohol, weed, cocaine and mushrooms.
Anything you want to see for the second season of The Studio?
Franco: There’s got to be something with playing into the standing ovations that get timed at these European festivals. It would be fun to see my wife come on the show and potentially be even more manic and unhinged than me. What’s amazing about the concept of this show is that it really can go forever, because there will always be new things satirize that is going on in Hollywood.
And if you win, will you thank Sal Saperstein?
Franco: I feel like so many people are going to do it to the point where it’s almost uncool to do it after a while. But I pray that it becomes such a trend that it becomes uncool. Ike Barinholtz is one of my very close friends. I love him to death, and for him now have this iconic moment associated so closely with him, I just am so happy for him.
What’s scarier: Acting with your wife in a horror movie, or being nominated alongside Scorsese and Cranston in the same category?
Franco: I would say being nominated amidst those guys! If someone told me earlier this year that I was going to be in the same category as Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard and Bryan Cranston and just all these amazing people, I would not believe you. Acting with my wife in a horror movie, believe it or not, is very easy, very fun. We take that movie to the most intimate places we’ve ever gone, on or off screen. But being nominated with Martin is still scarier.
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