Usually, soap operas provide the gateway to bigger gigs. One could go on and on about the big-time names that popped up in the overly dramatic worlds of the soaps. Brad Pitt was in Another World; Kevin Bacon drank a lot on Guiding Light; Leonardo DiCaprio spent time on Santa Barbara; and Meg Ryan dealt with life As the World Turns. General Hospital alone let loose Demi Moore, Rick Springfield, John Stamos, Jack Wagner, and Mark Hamill. The thing is, all of these people were on soaps generally BEFORE they were huge talents.

But the other day, the world of Hollywood was in complete awe as it was released that James Franco would be picking up a guest spot on the popular ABC soap General Hospital. We're not talking a 1-off appearance. SoapNet reports that he'll start on November 20 and be there for a number of weeks, making life difficult for Jason Morgan. But that's not the kicker. They claim Franco was the one who came up with the idea. (Although that could just be misinterpreting a quote expressing the surprise that someone of his "caliber would choose to spend some of his valuable time" on the soap.)

First of all, this news strikes me as awesome, and confusing. I absolutely LOVE James Franco and I am very interested in what he may be able to bring to the soaps. I have never WANTED to watch a soap opera more than now and starting November 20 I will be setting my DVR to record General Hospital.

My thoughts aside - I am confused as to WHY he would do something like this. I have come up with a few possible thoughts as to what might be making this happen. First, maybe Franco is strapped for cash and needs to pick up the extra funds - although this seems unlikely. Second, maybe he is ready to prove he is an amazing actor by joining the show and completely destroying EVERYONE in terms of their acting ability - a possible reason. Maybe he wants to pose himself a challenge and thinks this may be just the challenge he needs - I expect this is a highly probable reason. Or lastly maybe this is some sort of art project the he is working on. Coming from an fine arts background myself, and specifically one interested in performance art. Is it possible this is part of some larger schemed art project? That's what I hope.

What do you think?