James Franco was thought to be a lock for his gonzo performance as cult film director Tommy Wiseau in “The Disaster Artist.”
Earlier in the season, Franco won the Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award for Best Actor-Comedy, and he was nominated for the SAG Award. (He didn’t do the Red Carpet and was spotted sitting quietly during the nominations).
However, a report published by the Los Angeles Times near the end of the Oscars voting, detailing inappropriate sexual conduct by the actor, could have derailed his chances.
After years of nominating directors like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski, who were both accused of sexual abuse, the Academy’s Acting Branch might have decided to embrace #TimesUp.
Since the scandal erupted two days before the polls closed, there’s a chance that he simply didn’t make the cut due to stiff competition.
Instead, the five nominees were:
Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”)
Daniel Day-Lewis (“Phantom Thread”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”)
Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”)
Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”)
If I have to speculate who of the nominees took Franco’s spot, I’d guess it was Denzel Washington, one of the biggest surprises in today’s nominations, mostly due to the fact that his movie was both an artistic and commercial flop.
Franco’s Case
In a Los Angeles Times report, five women accused Franco of sexually inappropriate or exploitative behavior, particularly while they were students at Franco’s Studio 4 or Playhouse West. The report ran on January 11, four days after he won a Golden Globe and wore a Time’s Up pin to the ceremony, and only a day before Oscar nomination ballots were due.
Franco was nominated for a SAG Award in December and attended the January 20 ceremony, where Gary Oldman won for “Darkest Hour.”
The allegations may have affected SAG Awards voting. Ballots weren’t due for the Screen Actors Guild’s ceremony until January 18, about a week after the Times report ran.
