Dave Franco
David John Franco (born June 12, 1985) is an American actor and filmmaker. He began his career with small roles in films such as Superbad (2007) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010). Following a starring role in the ninth season of the comedy series Scrubs, Franco had his film breakthrough as a supporting role in the buddy comedy film 21 Jump Street (2012).
Dave Franco
University of Southern California (attended)
- Actor
- voice actor
- producer
- screenwriter
- director
2006–present
- James Franco (brother)
- Tom Franco (brother)
Franco has also starred in Fright Night (2011), Now You See Me (2013) and its sequel Now You See Me 2 (2016), Neighbors (2014), Nerve (2016), The Disaster Artist (2017), and Day Shift (2022). In 2020, he made his directorial debut with The Rental, which starred his wife Alison Brie.
Early life[edit]
Franco was born in Palo Alto, California, to Betsy Lou (née Verne), a poet, children's book author,[2] and editor, and Douglas Eugene Franco (1948–2011), who ran a nonprofit agency[2] and a business;[2][3][4] the two met as students at Stanford University.[5][6][7] Franco's father was of Portuguese (from Madeira) and Swedish descent.[8] Franco's mother is Jewish (of Russian Jewish descent);[9] her parents had changed the surname from "Verovitz" to "Verne". Franco's paternal grandmother, Marjorie (Peterson) Franco, is an author of young adult books.[10][11] Franco's maternal grandmother, Mitzie (Levine) Verne, owned the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, and was an active member in the National Council of Jewish Women.[12][13][14] Franco grew up in California with his two older brothers, James and Tom, both of whom are also actors.[15]
He studied at the University of Southern California, and originally envisioned himself as a high school teacher teaching creative writing, until his brother James Franco's manager guided him to a theater class when he was a sophomore, where he started learning acting skills.[16]
Career[edit]
2000s[edit]
In 2006, Franco made his acting debut on The CW drama television series 7th Heaven. He appeared in television shows such as Do Not Disturb and Young Justice. Franco also had noticeable roles in films such as Superbad and The Shortcut. In May 2008, he was cast in The CW teen drama television series Privileged.[17] The series centered on a live-in tutor for two spoiled heiresses in Palm Beach. Franco was cast in an initial major recurring role. The series premiered on September 9, 2008, to 3.1 million viewers. Ratings continued to slip each week, with the series sixth episode reaching 1.837 million viewers. The CW did not renew the series for a second season due to low ratings.[18][19]
In August 2009, Variety announced Franco was cast in a regular role for the ninth season of the ABC sitcom series Scrubs. Portraying the role of Cole Aaronson; Franco went on to appear in all thirteen episodes of the ninth season and received praise from critics for his performance; however, the ninth was the final season of the series.[20]