Friday October 2, 2009

James Franco has a new gig — he’s set to guest star on ABC’s General Hospital, it was confirmed Thursday.

The actor, 31, will play a lengthy, recurring role on the long-running ABC daytime series. His two-month run will begin Nov. 20 — coinciding with November sweeps.

James — who got his start on the small screen in the late ’90s series Freaks and Geeks — will play a mysterious man who comes to the soap opera’s town of Port Charles and wreaks havoc on the life of character.

“[It is] an honor that an actor of Franco’s caliber would choose to spend some of his valuable time in Port Charles,” executive producer Jill Farren Phelps said.

So why is the Pineapple Express actor going back to TV?

“It was actually Franco who approached television exec Jill Farren Phelps about working on the show,” a source told RadarOnline.

“He was interested in exploring all aspects of his craft and wanted to work on a soap opera because of its intense shooting schedule.”

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