We interviewed Dave Franco in a roundtable discussion about his upcoming film “Nerve.” Franco was dressed head to toe in black in the Texas heat. He’s a brave man! He was sincere, even more charming in person and candid with his responses. Here are the highlights from Part 1 of our interview.
Franco co-stars with Emma Roberts in “Nerve,” out in theaters on Wednesday, July 27. “Nerve” follows Vee (Roberts), who signs on as a player on Nerve, a game where Watchers decide what dare to assign next and, once completed, the player is awarded money. Vee meets Ian (Franco) during her first dare. Each dare becomes more and more dangerous.
Film Geek Army: I wanted to know about that dance sequence in the diner—that was very Ferris Bueller and I think you pulled it off.
Dave: I’ll take it. Thank you. That was honestly one of the scenes I was most anxious about because, as you can tell, I’m not a professional singer. So I decided that I just got to own it and try to be as confident as possible and hopefully there’s a little bit of charm. They kept telling me on set, this is your Heath Ledger, “10 Things I Hate About You” moment. I’m glad you didn’t laugh me off the screen.
Nerdlocker: One of the things that I appreciated most, being a fan of yours, is the film giving you a chance to flex your skills a bit. Is that what drew you to the project?
Dave: I’ve done mostly comedies up until this point and that was a huge draw for me to play a different type of role, a little more serious. I’m curious if people will accept me in a role like this, because there’s a lot of guys that strictly come from comedy and you can’t take them seriously. But I did my best, man.
Catherine: I noticed that you don’t really use social media, except for Facebook. Did this film make you think twice about using it in the future?
Dave: Yes, if there was any little thoughts creeping into my head about using social media, those thoughts are gone.
Catherine: Why don’t you currently use social media?
Dave: Partially because of everything we explore in this movie. People are horrible to each other online, and I’ve gotten to a place in my life where I’ve cut out all the negative people around me and I’m just surrounded by people I love. I don’t want to let anyone else into my little bubble. I am happy, and I know I’m fortunate to say that, but it’s like if I was on social media, no matter how many nice things people are going to everyday, there’s going to be a few assholes who are just going to needle at me. I am an open person, but when it comes to my personal life, I like to keep as much to myself as possible.
Interviewer 1: Do you think you’re going to have to get social media one day because it might tarnish your career?
Dave: People definitely pressure me to do so because I’ve had friends who literally didn’t get roles because they don’t have enough followers. If that’s the case, this point in my career, I would say if you’re not going to hire me, then I don’t want to be a f@$!ing part of your movie anyways. But talk to me in a few years if I don’t have any work. But right now, I’m going to try and maintain the path I’m on.
Film Geek Army: If you were going to make a movie out of a book, what would that be?
Dave: My favorite author of all-time is Roald Dahl and I feel like they’ve made a lot of Roald Dahl films—the good ones at least. I heard that Guillermo del Toro was going to remake “The Witches.” I don’t know if he’s still doing that, but definitely a Roald Dahl book.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our interview with Dave Franco and for Catherine’s full review!
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Catherine grew up watching action flicks at a very young age which led to her love of film. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelors in Radio-TV-Film in 2012. Always the adventurer, Catherine traveled and lived in Sydney, Australia for a year where she took a selfie with Brad Pitt. She runs Shuffle with passion, lots of caffeine and tacos. When she’s not editing or writing you can find her crafting and planning her next adventure.