James Franco has to be one of the most talented actors in Hollywood at this moment. He had the Midas touch when it comes to new cult classics and it is clear that he puts his full dedication to whichever role he chooses. When it was announced yesterday that James Franco will star and direct in an adaption of Andre Dubus III’s The Garden of the Last Days, my interest was immediately piqued.
For those of you who, like me, are not familiar with the book, here’s the synopsis from Comingsoon:
One early September night in Florida, a stripper brings her daughter to work. April’s usual babysitter, Jean, has had a panic attack that has landed her in the hospital. April doesn’t really know anyone else, so she decides it’s best to have her three-year-old daughter close by, watching children’s videos in the office while she works.
April works at the Puma Club for Men. And tonight she has an unusual client, a foreigner both remote and too personal, and free with his money. Lots of it, all cash. His name is Bassam. Meanwhile, another man, AJ, has been thrown out of the club for holding hands with his favorite stripper, and he’s drunk and angry and lonely.
From these explosive elements comes a relentless, raw, searing, passionate, page-turning narrative, a big-hearted and painful novel about sex and parenthood and honor and masculinity. Set in the seamy underside of American life at the moment before the world changed, it juxtaposes lust for domination with hunger for connection, sexual violence with family love. It seizes the reader by the throat with the same psychological tension, depth, and realism that characterized Andre Dubus III’s best-selling “House of Sand and Fog” — and an even greater sense of the dark and anguished places in the human heart.
While that sounds a tad more heart-wrenching than my usual cinema fare, James Franco helming the project is going to be interesting – as is the first bit of casting news: Emilia “Daenerys Stormborn” Clarke has been cast as the stripper, April. Yeah, wrap your heads around that one, guys.
So, I am now assuming you are all back from googling Emilia Clarke for the better part of 10 minutes, so I feel I can now continue by saying how exceptionally excited I am to see the Khaleesi outside of a fantasy role. She’s taken the world by storm and depending who you ask, is possibly one of the best parts of the Game of Thrones series. She’s got potential and I’m dying to see what she does with it. Teaming up with James Franco is definitely a clever move.
Admit it though, most of you are just happy to hear she’s playing a stripper.
Last Updated: May 2, 2013
