James Franco’s personal life has been a topic of debate for the last few years and his recent film projects are fueling the discussion again. The actor addressed the rumors of him being gay and how he was bullied in high school at the Sundance Film Festival to MTV News.

"In high school these girls got mad at me and so they spread this rumor that I was having a gay relationship with one of my closest friends," he told MTV. He talked about people's fascination with him and his sexual orientation. "And they even made up a little dance they would do in the girl's locker room about me being gay. I still don't know what the dance was."

Despite futile attempts at convincing his inquisitors of his true orientation, Franco ignores the furor. "It wasn't like it was anything new,” he said. 

Franco said people should be more open and proud about sex and sexuality. “Sex and sexuality are such big parts of our lives — the ways that we define ourselves, the ways that we interact with each other," he added. "Everyone thinks about it. Everyone knows about it. Even if you insist on living an incredibly chaste life and you're chaste in your thoughts, that's a conscious and concerted effort to keep sex from your thoughts. So you're still engaging with sex even if it's in a negative capacity. ... It's a huge part of our lives. It's part of being human."

The former NYU student is currently in Utah promoting three movie projects all related to the sex industry.

“Kink” is a documentary produced by Franco chronicling the story of the largest BSMN pornography producer as well as “Interior. Leather Bar”, a rendition of the 1980 Al Pacino flick “Cruising” which centered on gay culture.

Tags: James Franco