James Franco To Return To Acting Four Years After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

James Franco is set to return to acting four years after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him.

A number of women came forward in 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, accusing the 44-year-old actor of behaviour that was inappropriate or sexually exploitative.

In 2019, actors Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal filed a lawsuit alleging that Franco had engaged in 'sexually-charged behaviour towards female students' at his now-defunct acting school.

A $2.2 million settlement was made in 2021, under which Tither-Kaplan and Gaal agreed to drop their claims, and Franco stepped away from acting.

Alamy

But now the Disaster Artist star is set to make a comeback by taking a lead role in a post-World War 2 coming-of-age drama film titled Me, You.

The film is adapted from the book Tu, Mia by Erri De Luca, and is being helmed by director Bille August.

Franco will be starring alongside The Kings Man's Tom Hollander and Vanity Fair's Daisy Jacob.

In a statement published by People, he said: "I am excited to board this phenomenal project and to be working with the legendary Bille August.

"I'm a huge fan of his work, and Me, You is a truly brilliant script."

Warner Bros. Pictures

Dozens of people have commented on Franco's return, with one writing on Twitter: "Example 8,786 of how cancel culture does not affect wealthy, privileged men."

Another said, "‘Me, You’ more like ‘Me Too’. The jokes write themselves atp," while a third added, "He should stay away from acting."

LADbible has contacted a representative for Franco for a comment.

Last December, the actor gave his first in-depth interview since the allegations, where he claimed he'd been battling sex addiction for 20 years.

Speaking on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Podcast, he admitted he was 'completely blind' to people's feelings.

"I [was] completely blind to power dynamics or anything like that," he said. "I didn’t wanna hurt people."

He suggested that addiction was a contributing factor as to why he 'could never be faithful to anybody' until he met his girlfriend, Isabel.

Franco, who gave up drinking at the age of sixteen due to alcohol abuse, added that an addiction sponsor once encouraged him to remain single and 'just hook up'.

"And I, in fact, I wasn’t like really a one-night-stand guy," he said. "Like people that I, you know, got together with or dated, like I’d see them for a long time, years.

"It’s just that I couldn’t be present for any of them. And the behaviour spun out to a point where it was like I was hurting everybody."

It wasn't until he was gifted a book on sex and love addiction that he said he realised his problems.

This was just one of many topics touched upon in the interview, another being his love for Seth Rogen after the actor said he had ‘no plans’ to work with him in the future.