Franco stars as San Francisco-based scientist Will Rodman in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He is currently filming Sam Raimi's prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Oz: The Great and Powerful, in Detroit.
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty ImagesJames Franco as Hugh Hefner?
The actor, who last starred in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is in talks with Millenium/Nu Image to appear in a cameo as the iconic founder of Playboy, in Lovelace, the biopic of Linda Lovelace.
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Lovelace sees Amanda Seyfried as the woman who starred in one of the most famous pornos of all time, Deep Throat. Also in the cast are Peter Sarsgaard as her husband, Chuck Traynor, and Hank Azaria as Jerry Damiano, the director of Deep Throat.
Bobby Cannavale and Chris Noth are set for the respective roles of the film’s financiers, Butchie Peraino and Anthony Romano, while Robert Patrick will play Lovelace’s father, John.
Also in the cast are Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, Wes Bentley and Romeo Brown.
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Franco, who was at one point in talks to play Traynor before stepping aside, would appear in the Hef cameo only if dates work out. The actor and his reps have been dancing with producers around the timing of a one-day shoot, but so far a consummation remains elusive.
The production, under the direction of Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, began shooting in Los Angeles this week.
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