Dave Franco

For years, the conversation started with his brother. James Franco's younger sibling, doing TV work, playing the likable sidekick. 21 Jump Street (2012) changed the framing. His role as a smug high-school antagonist turned out to be a better showcase for comic timing than anything he'd landed before. Neighbors (2014) and Now You See Me (2013) kept the momentum going, and somewhere in between, Dave Franco stopped being the other Franco.

Four films in 2025 alone, including Together, a body horror film with Alison Brie that grossed $32 million worldwide after premiering at Sundance, plus an Emmy-nominated cameo on The Studio. He's increasingly selective: his stated filter now is whether he'll actually have fun making something. He's announced a break from acting, which means he's finally got enough leverage to say no.

He wanted to be a high school creative writing teacher. The pivot to acting came from his brother's manager steering him into an acting class while he was at USC. Before that, he'd worked at a video store at 14, paid in free rentals because he was under legal working age. He tested for Edward Cullen in Twilight, which would have been a very different career. The Funny or Die videos he wrote, acted in, and co-directed with a childhood friend were the actual film school.