James Franco: Working At McDonald’s Helped Me to Become a Better Actor
The Washington Post published an interesting op-ed from writer/director/filmmaker James Franco today. The article centers around Franco’s experience while working at McDonald’s. Franco ultimately confesses he is saddened by the restaurant’s current slump and he wants to let everyone know that he hopes the company can rebound from their current downward spiral.
He writes, “McDonald’s was there for me. When no one else was.” Franco says his late-night job at McDonald’s was the first job he’d ever had where he didn’t read at work, but he was able to train as an actor.
In high school, I was fired from a coffee shop for reading behind the counter and from a golf course for reading while driving the cart on the driving range…I refrained from reading on the job, but soon started putting on fake accents with the customers to practice for my scenes in acting class.
Franco continues by explaining what it was like to work at the counter.
After a month, they allowed me to work the front counter during the day. Parents ordering for their children are the worst, and parents ordering for a group of children, like a sports team, are the devil incarnate. Some customers seem to think that paying for food entitles them to boss the service workers around, but if you’re buying fast food, how much entitlement does that buy you? When you’re paying a dollar for a burger, is it the end of the world if I accidentally forgot to take the mustard off the order?
It is interesting point out that Franco once said in a 2013 interview with Howard Stern that McDonald’s “didn’t want [him] at the front counter.” He also told Stern that he worked there for “two or three” months instead of the full three, but who’s counting?
Overall he said it was a great experience.
I was treated fairly well at McDonald’s. If anything, they cut me slack. And, just like their food, the job was more available there than anywhere else. When I was hungry for work, they fed the need. I still love the simplicity of the McDonald’s hamburger and its salty fries.
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