James Franco talks about playing Allen Ginsberg

In anticipation of the Ginsberg biopic Howl, postmodern Renaissance man James Franco has penned an essay for Vanity Fair chronicling his character study. In preparation for taking on the role of Ginsberg, Franco saturated himself with information about the poet’s life and work. Here’s how Franco parsed out the part and learned to march to Ginsberg’s beat. The film is slated for release on September 24th.

From Vanity Fair:

To play the young Ginsberg you will be required to read his poems in character—and will want to catch the distinctive New Jersey accent (he was from Paterson), and the determined lilt that varies in tone from ironic-tragic to wryly comic. So you will need to listen to recordings, and listen to them a lot. There is little film footage of Ginsberg from this time, but there are plenty of audio recordings. Notice how on the earliest ones his delivery is staid and serious—he even tells hecklers to shut up. On the later recordings, 35 years on, he is loose and funny, a practiced performer. If you are going to play the young Ginsberg, you will want to meld a variety of these readings. If you are completely faithful to the early ones, your performance could be flat. Use the early readings as a model for the scenes where Ginsberg is just starting out. Use the later ones to provide a sense of Ginsberg’s evolution. Regardless, listen to all of the recordings, every day, for months. Walk around New York doing this. Put the recordings on your iPod and walk. Get your voice in tune with his. Don’t worry about people looking at you. In New York, this is not weird.