Nuance meets brooding intensity in the form of Franco, who was the inspired choice to play a handsome loner in the 1999-2000 cult dramedy Freaks and Geeks. Although the series lacked longevity, the actor stuck around, further crystallizing his appeal in the teen flicks Never Been Kissed and Whatever It Takes (and sharing a now-defunct romance with the latter film's costar, Marla Sokoloff). Franco's star rose in the early 2000s when he earned an Emmy nod and a Golden Globe award for his deft channeling of a late legend in the 2001 TV biopic James Dean and won solid reviews as a whimpering rich kid in the Spider-Man films. Wary of becoming a teen idol, Franco purposefully took on diverse projects that didn't necessarily cast him as the hero (or even antihero) and branched out into writing and directing four films (including The Ape) in the mid-to-late 2000s. In unusual career maneuvering in 2009, he dove into the daytime-soap realm by starring in General Hospital, playing a reclusive and enigmatic artist. Off screen, he returned to college as an adult, earning his degree from the University of California at age 30 in 2008, then furthering his education with studies at Columbia University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2010. Franco is also an artist whose work has been featured in gallery exhibits.