James Franco Returns to Acting in 'Me, You,' First New Film Since Sexual Misconduct Allegations

James Franco is returning to Hollywood. Four years after stepping out of the spotlight amid controversy, Franco is set to star in the coming-of-age period drama Me, You.

Helmed by Danish director Bille August, the film is an adaption of Erri De Luca's novel Tu, Mia, which is set in the years following World War II in Italy.

Franco is set to co-star alongside Tom Hollander and Daisy Jacob in the film, with filming set to kick off in September in Ischia, an Italian island in the Gulf of Naples, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Franco released a statement, per Entertainment Weekly, expressing his excitement to be a part of the film, sharing, "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."

This is Franco's first film project since he stepped back from his career in 2018, following a number of inappropriate sexual behavior allegations made against him by multiple women in a 2018 report published in the Los Angeles Times, as well as a sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against his acting school in 2019. Franco reached a settlement in that lawsuit in February 2021.

The actor spoke out for the first time about the allegations in December during an interview with SiriusXM's Jess Cagle and explained why he's stayed silent.

"Well, in 2018, there were some complaints about me and an article about me and at that moment I just thought, I'm gonna be quiet," he said. "I'm gonna pause. Did not seem like the right time to say anything. There were people that were upset with me and I needed to listen."

"So, I've just been doing a lot of work," he continued. "And I guess I'm pretty confident in saying like, four years, you know? And, I was in recovery before, you know, for substance abuse. And there were some issues that I had to deal with that were also related to addiction. And so I've really used my recovery background to kind of start examining this and changing who I was."

Franco revealed that he's been in recovery for sex addiction since 2016 and also acknowledged cheating on all of his past partners prior to his current girlfriend, Isabel Pakzad.

James Franco Speaks Out, Reveals Why He’s Opening Up About Sexual Misconduct Allegations

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