The 32-year-old actor told Entertainment Weekly magazine in an interview that he first said "no" when Oscar producer Bruce Cohen asked him to co-host with Anne Hathaway when the top movie honors are given out February 27. "I was very, very surprised, and my initial reaction was 'No,'" Franco said.
"Then I thought about it and I thought, well, why not? Because I'll look bad? Well, I don't care." Hesitation from his representatives and others who thought it was a bad idea because Franco is tipped for a possible best actor nomination for his "127 Hours" spurred him on even more.
"That always sparks something in me. So I said, 'Yes, of course!' Because that reaction that they have is based on conventional wisdom of what makes a good career. And that can be boring, really boring," he told the publication.
Franco first gained wide recognition playing a villain in "Spider-Man 3" before receiving a Golden Globe best actor nomination for "Pineapple Express" in 2008 and acclaim in the same year playing the boyfriend of Sean Penn's character, Harvey Milk, in "Milk."
