Exclusive: James Franco Returns to General Hospital

At this point it's safe to say that James Franco really does love General Hospital! A rep for the ABC soap tells TV Guide Magazine that the Oscar-nominated actor and obsessive multi-tasker will be back on the show for his fourth go-round on September 20. And this time it's no quickie. Franco's upcoming story arc is being called "longterm," meaning we'll see him well into the fall and possibly beyond. This should be a nifty trick considering GH is filmed in Hollywood and the actor is due to open on Broadway this fall opposite Nicole Kidman in a revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth — but don't forget he's known for shooting weeks and weeks worth of GH material in just a couple of days.
Franco's character, performance artist and serial killer Robert "Franco" Frank, has a hopelessly mad crush on beefy hit man Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) so the timing of his return to Port Charles is no coincidence — he'll be hitting town just as Jason is all set to wed Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco). Will Franco stop the ceremony or turn it into an unforgettable nightmare? The ABC rep will only say that this is the baddie's "most twisted plan yet" and that he'll likely be pulling other characters into his web, including ditzy heroine Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) and bitch queen Carly Jacks (Laura Wright) and her baby Josslyn.
Franco first appeared on GH for two months in 2009, andwas last seen there this past February in a two-day cameo that bookended the Academy Award ceremony, which he co-hosted with Anne Hathaway. He was also among this year's Best Actor nominees for 127 Hours. He'll soon be seen in the sci-fi reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes (opening August 5) and is the writer-director of Sal an upcoming biopic on the life and murder of gay actor Sal Mineo (Rebel Without a Cause). That's not all. In a bit of highly bizarre news, the 33-year-old Franco recently revealed that he had the name of dead actor Brad Renfro carved into his right arm with a switchblade and documented the whole thing on film. And we think his character on GH is crazy?
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