Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n- \n\n
Dave Franco reveals to PEOPLE that his guiding perspective after turning 40 involves whether or not he’s “having fun”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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Franco, who turned 40 in June 2025, voices a villainous insect character named Titus in Pixar’s new movie Hoppers<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n\n
Hoppers<\/em> is in theaters March 6<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAs Dave Franco<\/a> puts it, he’s just trying to have fun these days.<\/p>\nFranco, who turned 40 in June 2025, caught up with PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere of the new Pixar movie Hoppers<\/em><\/a> on Monday, Feb. 23. Asked what new perspective he’s gained since reaching that milestone, Franco says his “main criteria for choosing a job” has shifted. It’s now become, “Do I like the people involved? And do I think I’ll have fun with the role?”<\/p>\n“Because of that, I’ve been in these situations where I’m surrounded by people that I love and trust, and that allows me to be free and have fun,” he says. “I think because of that, it allows me to do better work too. And so I think this is a long way of saying I just kind of reminded myself, like, this should be fun. It is hard work in moments, but why else are we doing this if we’re not having fun?”<\/p>\n
Franco costars with a voice cast that includes Meryl Streep, Kathy Najimy, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm and Piper Curda in Hoppers<\/em>, in which lead character Mabel (Curda, 28) utilizes “a new technology to ‘hop’ her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals,” as a synopsis reads.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/M..daw1PIcaI3ZB6MBS4GA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD0xODYz\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_people_articles_471\/b74eca5565a501977cbc2282675ef8e6\"\/)
<\/div>\nDave Franco on Feb. 23, 2026 <\/i><\/p>\nAxelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
The actor tells PEOPLE he accepted the offer to take part in the movie without asking any questions. “I said, ‘Absolutely. I don’t need to know what the character is. I don’t need to know what the story is, I am in,’ ” Franco says. “And it was as good of an experience, if not better, than I could have ever imagined. They just make it easy because the scripts are so good, they encourage you just to bring your own personality and they encourage you to have a good time.”<\/p>\n
“And so I was just in this booth sweating my ass off, jumping around, putting everything I could into this villainous character,” he adds.<\/p>\n
Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/q_f7_Q1A1OrTylIDsjJ2PQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD0xODYz\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_people_articles_471\/8d2b6e211a796d7f1d2dedc75334bdf8\"\/)
<\/div>\nDave Franco and Alison Brie on Feb. 23, 2026 <\/i><\/p>\nAxelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Franco previously told PEOPLE at the November 2025 premiere of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t<\/em> that he intended to take a break from acting after he appeared in several movies over the last year, including the horror movie Together,<\/em> the Colleen Hoover book adaptation Regretting You<\/em> and his much-publicized guest role on Seth Rogen’s The Studio<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n“Basically, we’re getting through this week of press and then I will disappear for a while<\/a>,” he said at the time. \u201cI’m sure people are sick of me, and I will go to the middle of nowhere and climb into a hole.\u201d<\/p>\nOther than Hoppers<\/em>, Franco’s next movie release includes a comedy titled The S—heads<\/em><\/a>, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.\u00a0That movie does not yet have a release date.<\/p>\n
Dave Franco reveals to PEOPLE that his guiding perspective after turning 40 involves whether or not he’s “having fun”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Franco, who turned 40 in June 2025, voices a villainous insect character named Titus in Pixar’s new movie Hoppers<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Hoppers<\/em> is in theaters March 6<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n As Dave Franco<\/a> puts it, he’s just trying to have fun these days.<\/p>\n Franco, who turned 40 in June 2025, caught up with PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere of the new Pixar movie Hoppers<\/em><\/a> on Monday, Feb. 23. Asked what new perspective he’s gained since reaching that milestone, Franco says his “main criteria for choosing a job” has shifted. It’s now become, “Do I like the people involved? And do I think I’ll have fun with the role?”<\/p>\n “Because of that, I’ve been in these situations where I’m surrounded by people that I love and trust, and that allows me to be free and have fun,” he says. “I think because of that, it allows me to do better work too. And so I think this is a long way of saying I just kind of reminded myself, like, this should be fun. It is hard work in moments, but why else are we doing this if we’re not having fun?”<\/p>\n Franco costars with a voice cast that includes Meryl Streep, Kathy Najimy, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm and Piper Curda in Hoppers<\/em>, in which lead character Mabel (Curda, 28) utilizes “a new technology to ‘hop’ her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals,” as a synopsis reads.<\/p>\n Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actor tells PEOPLE he accepted the offer to take part in the movie without asking any questions. “I said, ‘Absolutely. I don’t need to know what the character is. I don’t need to know what the story is, I am in,’ ” Franco says. “And it was as good of an experience, if not better, than I could have ever imagined. They just make it easy because the scripts are so good, they encourage you just to bring your own personality and they encourage you to have a good time.”<\/p>\n “And so I was just in this booth sweating my ass off, jumping around, putting everything I could into this villainous character,” he adds.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Franco previously told PEOPLE at the November 2025 premiere of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t<\/em> that he intended to take a break from acting after he appeared in several movies over the last year, including the horror movie Together,<\/em> the Colleen Hoover book adaptation Regretting You<\/em> and his much-publicized guest role on Seth Rogen’s The Studio<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n “Basically, we’re getting through this week of press and then I will disappear for a while<\/a>,” he said at the time. \u201cI’m sure people are sick of me, and I will go to the middle of nowhere and climb into a hole.\u201d<\/p>\n Other than Hoppers<\/em>, Franco’s next movie release includes a comedy titled The S—heads<\/em><\/a>, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.\u00a0That movie does not yet have a release date.<\/p>\n<\/div>
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