James Franco Explains What The Hell He's Doing On Daytime TV (Sort Of)

In what seems like a giant step backwards, James Franco has begun his guest appearance on General Hospital. He’s only a few days into the shooting, but the big question still bugging everyone is WHY???
The man has a lucrative film career and most soap actors spend their lives dreaming of when they will get the hell out of Springfield or Port Charles or wherever the hell this one takes place!
Trying to get to the bottom of the mystery, a reporter caught up with James at a gala event in NYC and cut right to the chase:

“And you’re also doing General Hospital. Why?
I really don’t know the difference between [soap operas]. The one difference is that General Hospital has developed this whole organized-crime thread.
But why a soap opera at all?
Well … I’ve got other ideas for my participation in this soap opera beyond just being in this soap opera. But it’s been a blast so far. It was kind of mind-blowing. I’ve worked one day on it. It’s one day of a few. But I think we packed seven episodes of my material in. They gave me a script for the day that was as thick as a film script and that’s what we planned to shoot in a single day. No ad-libbing. If I needed it, they said they had a TelePrompTer, but the regulars didn’t use it so I didn’t want to use it, either. Anyway, I’m pretty good at remembering lines.
Is it different acting for film than it is for a daytime soap?
One big difference is that you do one take. They’re going for one take because they have about four cameras for each setup It’s one take: You do the whole scene and then you’re on to the next. That’s three or four pages in a moment.
What’s your character like? It’s not another James Franco, is it?
I don’t know how much they want you to reveal.
Do you wear an eyepatch?
I haven’t worn one yet.
Do you die?
I haven’t died yet. But they only gave me the pages for the day that we shot. I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s all open.”