Just Wondering: Why is James Franco guest starring on "General Hospital"?

Wonderwall, Thursday, October 1, 2009, 12:45pm (PDT)

By Melissa Hunter

James Franco has signed on for a multi-episode story arc on "General Hospital" this fall. That's right. The Golden Globe-winning, tentpole studio movie-starring actor is now a soap star.

Did I miss something? Is time moving backwards? Last I checked, soap guest stars happen before you make the leap into Gus Van Sant films. Next, we'll see James starring in an Olive Garden commercial and then it's onto the glamorous life of community theater in Wichita!

RELATED: Click here to see more pictures of James

So the question still remains for Dr. James Livingston Franco III, Esquire (what I assume to be his character name): Why is he going on a soap? We have a few rationales...

The sexy colleagues:

"General Hospital" is to soap operas as Krispy Kremes are to donuts. Only the top-of-the-line sultriest of D-list actresses wind up on the show. He pretty much has his pick of stripper-lookalikes without the stigma of, you know, dating a stripper.

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He's a diehard fan:

Hey, stranger things have happened. Surely he spent some of his afternoons at Columbia in the dorms smoking, erm, legal substances and peering into the lives of Bobbie Spencer and Robert Scorpio.

He needs to shake things up:

Sure, playing roles such as Allen Ginsberg and Harvey Milk's lover is challenging, but man, is it boring! Remember, the guy kicked off his big sceen stardom in "Spider-Man" pitted against villains plotting to destroy the world and disharmed by the discovery that his best friend had a secret life as a hybrid spider-man. That's not a far cry from the sinister, backstabbing, sometimes supernatural events that occur in Port Charles.

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He's desperately needs an addition to his trophy case:

He nabbed a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice award for his breakthrough role as James Dean, but those awards are getting awful dusty. As prime time TV has gotten a little extra awesome lately with lots of A-list talent, he's gotta find a way to nab an award quickly and effectively. Ahh, the untapped resource of the Daytime Emmy Awards for a movie star.

He may not be the most talented movie star out there, but he'll be damned sure to out-act all the other soap opera guest star nominees. And if they add a Best Soap Opera Guest Star Who Has Starred in a Judd Apatow Movie, he's a shoe-in. Fingers crossed!