James Franco: 'McDonald's was there for me when no one else was'

Actor James Franco. Photo / AP

Before James Franco was famous as an actor, writer, director, and more, he was a fast-food employee at McDonald's

In an essay published in The Washington Post, the 37-year-old Spring Breakers star talked about how he worked at the hamburger chain to support himself in acting school.

Franco used his time wisely, perfecting foreign accents at the drive-thru window, and had only positive things to say about the experience.

"All I know is that when I needed McDonald's, McDonald's was there for me,' Franco wrote. 'When no one else was.'

The budding actor had recently dropped out of UCLA in order to pursue his dreams, but he had no money or work experience.

"Someone asked me if I was too good to work at McDonald's," recounted Franco. "I was definitely not too good to work at McDonald's."

"I went to the nearest Mickey D's and was hired the same day," he added.

To pass the time, Franco worked on accents as he took orders at the drive-thru window.

"As bad as the accents were (Brooklynese, Italian, British, Irish, Russian, Southern), people actually found them persuasive," he said in the essay.

"I was asked to give Italian lessons to a cute young woman who thought I was from Pisa," Franco gave as an example. "Of course I couldn't follow up as I did not speak Italian."

Franco also took advantage of the already-available food at his new job, eating "the cheeseburgers that were headed for the trash," French fries "straight from the fry hopper," and frozen apple bars that were "great with coffee."

Interestingly, Franco's only real complaint about McDonald's was about some of the customers, especially those with children.

"Parents ordering for their children are the worst, and parents ordering for a group of children, like a sports team, are the devil incarnate."

Thanks to a Super Bowl commercial - for rival fast-food chain Pizza Hut - Franco was able to work as an actor and quit McDonald's after three months.

He retained fondness for the restaurant though, and wrote that "just like their food, the job was more available there than anywhere else."

Despite now being a celebrity capable of eating anywhere he wanted, Franco also admitted that he still loved "the simplicity of the McDonald's hamburger and its salty fries."

"Maybe once a year, while on a road trip or out in the middle of nowhere for a movie, I'll stop by a McDonald's and get a simple cheeseburger: light, and airy, and satisfying," he wrote in conclusion.

- Daily Mail