After many years out of the limelight, James Franco has made an incredibly rare public appearance.

Multiple women came forward back in 2018, as well as four of his former pupils, accusing the actor of behavior that was sexually inappropriate or exploitative.

A year later 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.

Franco initially said the 2018 allegations were ‘not accurate’, but it was reported in 2021 that he had agreed to pay $2.23m to settle the lawsuit.

James Franco had been out of the public eye. (Marc Piasecki/FilmMagic)

In 2018, lawyer for Franco Michael Plonsker, said: “James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity-seeking lawsuit.”

Later in 2022, Franco admitted to having sexual relationships with his film school students in an interview on the podcast The Jess Cagle Show.

“Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong,” he said at the time.

Having previously starred in the likes of Spider-Man, Pineapple Express and 127 Hours, Franco was a regular on our screens.

But since the allegations came to light in 2018, he has very much remained in the shadows.

The 46-year-old’s IMDB page states that the actor hasn’t appeared in a project since he voiced a character in the animated film Arctic Dogs back in 2019.

However, he’s come out into the wild recently due to the impending release of his newest flick, The Razor’s Edge.

The film starring Tommy Lee Jones is debuting at Cannes before filming is expected to begin in June.

James Franco at Cannes. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

As reported by the Mail Online, Franco was spotted at the film festival at a VIP section on Cannes Croisette.

The actor turned up wearing a tux at an exclusive Nespresso party, a gathering that also saw the likes of Barry Keoghan and Hunter Schafer in attendance.

Proceedings apparently went on well into the evening, with the beer flowing and Italian food going down a treat.

Franco was hesitant to be bothered during the party as he sat in the VIP area, which was guarded by heavy security.

The actor certainly looks very different compared to when we last saw him less than a decade ago.

But with a new film on the horizon, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if we see a lot more of Franco in public during the years ahead.

Into pottery? Like Seth Rogen?

Do you want to make pottery with Seth Rogen? Of course you do. Well, now is your chance…and the opportunity is cheaper than you might think.

Airbnb

The funnyman and film star has opened his Los Angeles home up to the public and is giving his guests the opportunity of a lifetime to join him for an evening of ‘artistic revelation and relaxation’ thanks to a whacky collaboration with Airbnb.

Guests can expect a pottery session – complete with pointers from Rogen himself, a tour of the Superbad star’s beautiful mid-century modern home and the chance to eat and drink to their hearts content with a fully-stocked fridge jam-packed with late-night snacks.

This unique chance to stay with Rogen is available for three dates of one-night stays only; on 15, 16 and 17 February this year. So if you want to get potty with the Pineapple Express actor, you better act fast!

IMDb

Commenting on the experience, Seth Rogen describes it as a ‘vibe’, saying: “I don’t know what’s more of a Houseplant vibe than a creative retreat at a mid-century Airbnb filled with our Housegoods, a pottery wheel and incredible views of LA.”

Humbly continuing with: “Add me, and you’ll have the ultimate experience.”

Not only do you get to go clay-zy with the stand-up comedian-turned actor in his own home, but it’s for a good cause too.

To celebrate the collaboration between Rogan and Airbnb, the San Francisco-based short-stay-facilitating company will be making a one-time donation to national non-profit organisation, Hilarity for Charity.

The organisation is on a mission to provide care for families of those impacted by Alzheimers whilst activating the next generation of Alzheimer advocates and being a ‘leader in brain health research and education’.

Airbnb

So at this point, you must be thinking “Ok, but how much does all of this cost? Surely it’s expensive, right?” – wrong. You and a bud can stay with Rogan for just $421, which is a bargain if you ask us.

Bookings for this overnight stay of a lifetime open tomorrow (7 February) at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.

Airbnb announced the unique experience on the news section of their website last week describing it as a way to ‘start the year on a high’.

Airbnb

An excerpt from the Airbnb news article reads: “For the very first time, the actor and ceramicist is hosting an overnight stay to give guests an in-depth look at the creative process that fuels him (and his company Houseplant).

“Planted in the heart of Los Angeles, Rogen’s creative space is an escape from the everyday and is thoughtfully designed to reflect his artistic sensibilities and elevated aesthetic.

“Featuring a ceramic studio with Seth’s self-made pottery, a display of Houseplant’s unique Housegoods, mid-century furnishings, sprawling views of the city, and an array of grasses and greenery, it’s the ideal place to relax and feel inspired, to say the least.”

Haley Joel Osment has revealed the sweet way his The Sixth Sense co-star Bruce Willis kept him touch with him over the years.

The pair starred together in the iconic 1999 movie, a horror/thriller that is very much still loved to this day.

Willis starred as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, while a then ten-year-old Osment played Cole Sear, a troubled child who is given the power to communicate with the dead.

Not only did the role lead to Osment earning an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, it also lead to a decades-long friendship between him and Willis, with the Die Hard actor keeping in touch in the years that followed.

Haley Joel Osment has had some nice things to say about Bruce Willis over the years (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

Speaking to Variety in a new interview, Osment said: “I heard from [Willis] a lot after it [the film] came out in those subsequent years. He’d leave voicemails at the house from time to time, just checking in.

“He would just call out of the blue, so sometimes it was in the lead up before travel. We went to Japan together twice, if I remember correctly, to open Sixth Sense in different cities.

“So he would call ahead of that, and then sometimes I would just come home from school and the answering machine would be blinking and it’d be him going like, ‘Hey, Haley Joel. Just saying hi’.”

Discussing further the heartwarming way Willis would keep in touch, Osment added: “I need to find those old answering tapes. I know we preserved those.

Osment and Willis starred together in The Sixth Sense (Spyglass Entertainment)

“I know his daughters a little bit, but I have not spoken to him since the news of his health in recent years.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Osment spoke on what it was like working with Willis from such a young age in The Sixth Sense.

He continued: “I had worked with Tom Hanks before on Forrest Gump and other big name actors, but at that point I was old enough to have seen a lot of Bruce’s movies, which added a lot of excitement to it.

“And that’s something that lasts your entire career, where you get to work with people who you’ve enjoyed watching in other things.

“And it made a huge impression on me because that was the first gigantic celebrity that I’d worked with at an age where I was aware of his stardom.”

Willis has had health struggles in recent years, leading to him retiring from acting (Jim Spellman/WireImage)

The actor went on to say Willis would do everything in such a ‘cool way’ and had quite the ‘charisma’, and to be honest that’s hardly a surprise.

“It was a script that we all cared about so much and put so much effort into, and Bruce led the way on that,” Osment concluded.

This comes after Osment paid a touching tribute to Willis on Instagram in 2022 following the actor’s devastating diagnosis with aphasia, a condition that affects a person’s cognitive abilities – specifically impacting their language and speech and causing problems with reading, writing and listening.

James McAvoy has revealed he replaced Joaquin Phoenix in a role that was probably one of his greatest performances.

From the UK’s grimy Shameless TV show, to being known as Professor X in X Men: First Class, the Scottish actor has been a staple on the big screen for decades now.

However, you’ll probably know him best as playing a man with multiple personalities in a mind-bending thriller.

But it could have all panned out differently had Phoenix not dropped out just ‘two weeks’ before it started filming.

James McAvoy has played some iconic characters (Universal Pictures)

Playing a man called Kevin Wendell Crumb, McAvoy had to embody someone with dissociative identity disorder.

The condition came in the form of over twenty different personalities living inside of Kevin, who had eventually been pushed ‘away from the light’ in order for other people to take over his life as they began to scheme against the world.

It was a hefty film, which was heavily praised for its execution.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, 2016’s Split is one you won’t forget about after watching.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McAvoy revealed that Phoenix had ‘ditched’ the film just before shooting was scheduled to take place.

He said: “He’s an amazing actor. I think he’d give a very different performance to the one I did. Sometimes, coming in last minute is the best way.

“I think he ditched it like two weeks before they started shooting. It was really last minute. The script was well put together, so a lot of it was pretty clear what I actually wanted to do straight away.

“There was a couple of characters it took a little bit longer to find. Patricia came real quick, Dennis came real quick, Hedwig took a little while.”

His performance in Split is like no other (Universal Pictures)

McAvoy continued: “I hadn’t even found some of the characters and then it just came on really quick, and then Night actually said to me, ‘I want you to give Hedwig a speech impediment,’ and I was like, ‘What, just at the last minute? You want me to just go for it?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, we need to try something.’ So, we did it in the read through and after one scene of doing it, were like, ‘Done!’”

It appears that McAvoy was the right man for the job as Split became the best-received film that Shyamalan had directed since Signs in 2002.

It also went a long way in reigniting the world of Glass and Unbreakable.

Last month reports emerged that Phoenix had dropped out of a project from director Todd Haynes at the last minute.

Though during a press conference for Joker 2 at the Venice Film Festival, Phoenix reportedly said: “It would just be sharing my opinion and the other creatives aren’t here to share their piece.

“It doesn’t feel like that would be right. I don’t think that would be helpful so I just don’t think I will. Thank you.”

UNILAD has contacted representatives for Joaquin Phoenix for comment.