James Franco played James Dean in the biopic James Dean.
 In the comedy Why Him?, released in December 2016, Franco played an immature tech-billionaire whose girlfriend's conservative father tries to intervene in the couple's relationship, with Zoey Deutch playing the girlfriend and Bryan Cranston as her father
 In August 2022, Franco was cast as Fidel Castro in Alina in Cuba, a casting decision that was supported by Fidel Castro's daughter

