I can’t help but feel like James Franco is constantly trolling us all with his ridiculousness. Either that, or he’s legit insane and needs some clinical intervention… but likely the former. Most recently, he’s been singing the praises of McDonald’s – not because they have delicious chicken nuggets (I KNOW they’re bad for me, but they’re just so delicious!), but because they gave him a job when he was a struggling actor in the ’90s. He expressed his appreciation for the fast food chain and his hope for McDonald’s financial recovery in a new op-ed for The Washington Post.
All I know is that when I needed McDonald’s, McDonald’s was there for me. When no one else was…
I had very little work experience. In high school, I was fired from a coffee shop for reading behind the counter and from a golf course for reading while driving the cart on the driving range. All the waiter jobs were taken by more experienced actor/waiters.
Someone asked me if I was too good to work at McDonald’s. Because I was following my acting dream despite all the pressure not to, I was definitely nottoo good to work at McDonald’s. I went to the nearest Mickey D’s and was hired the same day.
I was given the late shift drive-thru position. I wore a purple visor and purple polo shirt and took orders over a headset. I refrained from reading on the job, but soon started putting on fake accents with the customers to practice for my scenes in acting class.
Franco went on to say that he practiced doing all kinds of accents – Irish, Brooklyn, Russian, Southern and British, among others – and that people found him rather convincing. He also stopped being a vegetarian and started being gross and eating out of the fry hopper with everybody else:
I had been a vegetarian for a year before working there because I was obsessed with River Phoenix, a staunch vegetarian — he actually cried on a date with Martha Plimpton when she ordered soft-shell crabs. But as soon as I got to McDonald’s and was paying my own way, I started eating the cheeseburgers that were headed for the trash after being under the warming lamps from more than seven minutes. I would also sneak frozen apple bars and eat them in the freezer, still frozen — great with coffee.
I hate to whistleblow, but everyone ate straight from the fry hopper. You’d walk by and snag a fry and pop it in your mouth. So easy. I also put tons of salt on the fries because that’s how I like them. I don’t know if the customers ever complained.
Charming, I’m sure. In conclusion, Franco wants you to know that McDonald’s isn’t so bad, after all because they hired him when he needed work. Unfortunately, he’s pulling a bit of a Paltrow here, because the problem with McDonald’s is much, much bigger than that – and while it may have helped Franco, McDonald’s is still suggesting their full-time workers get a second job just to make ends meet, plus they’re poisoning us with frankenfoods, so… I’m still gonna say no to them (but yes to chicken nugs, obvs).
