James Franco

Born: April 19 1978

Where: Palo Alto, California, USA

The actor first attracted attention with his eerily authentic portrait of the rebel without a cause in the US TV movie James Dean.

Notable roles have included parts in Spider-Man, Never Been Kissed and City By the Sea.

The eldest of three brothers, Franco tried to overcome his shyness while studying acting at University College Los Angeles by acting.

He left after a year and went on to study at Robert Carnegie's Playhouse West from where he landed a starring role in Freaks & Geeks.

Although the series was binned it retained a cult status and led to Franco being cast in his first feature - Never Been Kissed opposite Drew Barrymore.

Minor roles followed in the comedy drama Whatever It Takes and If Tomorrow Comes before he was cast as James Dean.

In 2002, he played Peter Parker's best friend Harry in Spider-Man (he was under consideration for the lead) and also starred as Tino in the action caper Deuces Wild!

Robert De Niro had him personally cast in City By The Sea after seeing him in James Dean and he went on to star in the Robert Altman drama The Company.

Recently, he reprised the role of Harry in the sequel Spider-Man 2 and he also starred in Tristan & Isolde opposite Sophia Myles.