10 Things We Absolutely Love About James Franco

Oh, James Franco. You stole our hearts in Freaks and Geeks, made us laugh till our sides hurt in Pineapple Express, and continue to make us swoon with everything you do. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

JAMES FRANCO!

Here are the top 10 reasons we LOVE the birthday boy, James Franco:

10. He hosted the Oscars this year and despite the naysayers and jabs from the critics, he didn't even bat an eyelash. 

9. He endured a minimum wage job, just like many normal folks... at McDonald's! 

8. He is not afraid to dress in drag. James has appeared on the cover of Candy magazine as well as the Oscars dressed as a woman - and OWNED it. 

7. He played James Dean so well, you couldn't tell that he WASN'T James Dean! 

6. His adorable, dashing smile. In fact, when he was in high school, his classmates voted him the person with the best smile. 

5. He paints. He started painting in high school. Sharon Stone has purchased some of James' paintings. So has Blink-182's Tom DeLonge. 

Caught sleeping in class at Columbia - who HASN'T fallen asleep in a college class?

4. His belief in higher education. After James completed his undergraduate studies at UCLA, he then enrolled in NYU's graduate film school, Columbia's grad program for fiction writing, Brooklyn College's fiction writing graduate program, and enrolled in a low-residency poetry program at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. He is currently attending Yale in pursuit of a Ph.D. Nothing finer than an educated man... a fine educated man at that!

3. He wrote a book of short stories entitled Palo Alto. He acts, he paints, and he also writes. Read it! 

2. His role as Harvey Milk's lover Scott Smith in the Gus Van Sant biopic Milk. Of his onscreen kiss with Sean Penn, who played Harvey, James said: "You couldn't help thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm kissing Spicoli.'" 

1. He was born. On this day in 1978. Thank you mama Franco!

Another reason we love James Franco: Because Yasi L-O-V-E-S him! And if Yasi loves him, then he gots to be cool :) 

What do YOU love about James Franco?