James Franco
James Franco interviewed himself as a straight and gay version to reveal his sexual identity. Reuters

So, is James Franco gay or what? Rumors about the “127 Hours” actor have swirled for years. He has an offbeat persona that people can’t seem to pinpoint, and his openness with sexuality has led some to believe he’s gay.

Franco, 36, has an impressive résumé. His role in “127 Hours” earned him an Oscar nomination, and he’s also a director, graduate student, college professor, poet, novelist and performance artist, among other things. But what's he like in his personal life?

Franco has gotten cozy with some of his male co-stars, and even kissed them on the lips -- like when he swapped spit with “I Am Michael” co-star Zachary Quinto at the Sundance Film Festival in February. As recently as Tuesday, he posted on Instagram a photo of himself cuddling naked with friend and frequent co-star Seth Rogen.

He also has been known to be a lothario, and was accused of trying to get a 17-year-old female fan from Scotland to come to his hotel room for sex last April. It's a scandal he denies.

Franco has been tied to stars like Lana Del Rey, Emilia Clarke, Amanda Seyfried and Sienna Miller, to name a few.

He sort of set the record straight, no pun intended, in a sit-down with 429 magazine, in which he was asked to interview himself as Straight James Franco and then respond as Gay James Franco. Somewhere in between was supposed to be an answer from Real James Franco. Check out his interaction with himself:

Straight James: “Let’s get substantial: Are you f---ing gay or what?”

Gay James: “Well, I like to think that I’m gay in my art and straight in my life. Although, I’m also gay in my life up to the point of intercourse, and then you could say I’m straight. So I guess it depends on how you define gay. If it means whom you have sex with, I guess I’m straight. In the '20s and '30s, they used to define homosexuality by how you acted and not by whom you slept with. Sailors would f--- guys all the time, but as long as they behaved in masculine ways, they weren’t considered gay.”

In other words, “gay” is just a label and Franco doesn’t care what you call him.

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