Franco was born April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California, the son of Betsy (née Verne), a poet, author and editor, and Doug Franco. His maternal grandmother, Mitzi Levine Verne, runs the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, Ohio. Franco's father is of Portuguese and Swedish descent and Franco's mother is Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia. Franco grew up in California Read more...

After fifteen months of training, he began auditioning in Los Angeles, California, and got his first break in 1999, after he was cast in a leading role on the short-lived but well-reviewed television series Freaks and Geeks. Franco has since described the series as "one of the most fun" work experiences that he has had. Franco's first major film was the romantic comedy Whatever It Takes (2000), Read more...

In 2008, Franco received his undergraduate degree in English from UCLA. He plans to move to New York for graduate school next year, and attend Columbia University's MFA Writing Program and New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.

Art—painting in particular—is a talent Franco developed during his high school years while attending a rigorous summer school for Read more...