Editor’s Note: Spoilers ahead for The Studio, Season 1.

Summary

Dave Franco has an extended cameo in The Studio, acting in Ron Howard’s fictional movie and attending Matt’s party at CinemaCon.

In an interview with Collider, Franco breaks down the most challenging part of filming the last two episodes and talks about working with Zoë Kravitz.

Franco also discusses those Now You See Me references and teases what audiences can expect from the third film.

The Studio is one of the sharpest, smartest comedies on TV right now. Satirizing the film industry, the series centers around a new studio head named Matt (Seth Rogen), who struggles to balance his goal of making meaningful, artistic films and the pressure to make as much money for the company as possible by any means necessary. Rogen is joined by an all-star cast that includes Ike Barinholtz, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, and Chase Sui Wonders, as well as a plethora of cameos that range from acclaimed directors like Martin Scorsese and Sarah Polley to A-listers like Zac Efron and Olivia Wilde.
One of the best cameos is undoubtedly Dave Franco, who stars alongside Anthony Mackie in Ron Howard’s fictional Alphabet City and heavily partakes in Matt’s old-school Hollywood buffet. This is far from Franco’s first time acting alongside Rogen, having previously collaborated with him in projects like Neighbors and The Disaster Artist. Franco will next be seen in the Sundance horror movie Together with his wife, Alison Brie, which currently holds an impressive 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the third film in the popular magic heist-thriller franchise.
Collider got a chance to speak to Franco about his hilarious cameo in The Studio, the challenge of maintaining that intense energy for over a dozen takes, working with Zoë Kravitz, those hilarious Now You See Me references, and more.
Dave Franco Filmed His ‘The Studio’ Scenes 15+ Times

“When I come in with this toxic positivity, it just drives them crazy.”

COLLIDER: You are obviously under the influence in many of your scenes. What is the biggest challenge, as an actor, of pulling that off? And what do you think is the biggest mistake actors make when trying to play high like that?
DAVE FRANCO: It’s a difficult thing to do, especially when you’re trying to be subtle about it. It’s so hard to play subtly drunk. You don’t want to overdo it, because people who are drunk typically are trying to pretend like they’re not as drunk as they are. But with this specific scenario, my character is on multiple drugs, and so that’s much easier to play, in a certain way, because there really is no limit, and there’s nothing I could do that was wrong. They told me just to go nuts. The main thing to think about was to try to come in with as much positivity and optimism as possible, no matter what is going on around me, because they thought it would be funny to juxtapose that energy against what everyone else is going through, where they are all extremely stressed. So when I come in with this toxic positivity, it just drives them crazy.
Branching off of that, you have to get to and then maintain this very loud, intense energy. I’m curious how you managed that, especially when you are doing multiple takes over and over, getting there and staying there.
FRANCO: It’s exhausting. Basically, as you know, every scene in this show is shot in a oner. Seth and Evan talked about how the sweet spot for getting the scene to the best possible place was take 16 to 18. I remember doing a scene where I came in with this high, high energy, and after two takes, Evan Goldberg came up to me and told me that I needed to calm down because we were gonna do this many, many more times. So I kind of approached every scene in that way, where I knew that I would have roughly 15 takes to kind of hone in my performance and then really bring it in those later takes, but it was tough. It was tough because, throughout these two episodes, yeah, my energy is at an 11 at all times. I remember when they would call cut, my body would just shut down, and I would need to kind of catch my breath and recharge in between takes.
Dave Franco Talks Working With Zoë Kravitz in ‘The Studio’

“Zoë is so funny in these episodes.”

Image via Apple TV+

Seeing you play off Zoë Kravitz was hilarious. What was it like to act opposite her in this?
FRANCO: Zoë is so funny in these episodes. I think about the moment where her character realizes that she just consumed a ton of mushroom chocolate, and she is terrified and freaking out, and I couldn’t be happier about it because I know that she’s about to be on the same level as me. For me, I’m just happy to have another partner in crime for the night, and I’m not thinking about the repercussions of what this means for her.
It’s also hilarious because you and Zoë are both playing “yourselves” in this. What are the differences between preparing to play a version of yourself and preparing to play a completely different character?
FRANCO: In a way, when I’m playing myself, I feel like it gives me leeway to go as crazy as I want. I think there’s something fun about people playing themselves and making themselves look like idiots, so I just fully lean in — the sillier the better for me. And playing a version of myself that’s so far from who I am is liberating. In my real life, I don’t party very often, if ever — I don’t ever go to Vegas — and so it was nice to play a version of myself who does all of that to the most extreme degree.
Dave Franco Teases ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’

Now You See Me became a cult classic following its 2013 debut.

Image via Lionsgate

All of the Now You See Me references had me cracking up, and it’s great timing because that third one is coming out in just a couple of months now. Can you tease what you are most excited for people to see in that third movie?
FRANCO: I’ve known this cast for nearly 15 years now, and we all genuinely love each other. There’s no set that I laugh on more. I just adore these people, and I think the natural camaraderie that we have kind of bleeds through onto the screen, and people can feel how much fun we’re having. And so with this one, there’s more of that. We got some new fun characters — we got an incredible villain with Rosamund Pike, who’s just an absolute pro. It’s everything you want.
Do you think knowing magic would actually make you better at gambling? I was like, “I wonder if that’s a real thing.”
FRANCO: It’s a good question. I don’t think it could hurt. I’m not condoning that anyone should ever cheat in Vegas, because you will get caught, but I feel like some of these magicians who are very proficient when it comes to playing cards probably could find ways to cheat if they wanted. Again, I’m not condoning it, but maybe in a low-stakes, private home gambling situation. Yeah, they could probably do some damage there.
Dave Franco Wants to Be in ‘The Studio’ Season 2

“I genuinely feel just so happy and honored to be the tiniest part of it.”

Image via Apple TV+

Speaking of sequels, The Studio has been picked up for Season 2. What would you like to see happen as you keep promoting Alphabet City?
FRANCO: I would love to come back as much as they want me on this show. I remember I filmed my first episode where I’m in the fake Ron Howard movie, and I had such a great time that I literally begged them to bring me back. Luckily, there was a way to do it for these final episodes, but they really tapped into something special, and I genuinely feel just so happy and honored to be the tiniest part of it. If I could come back and be in more films for Continental Studios, I’ll do it. I’ll do it for 10 seasons if they want me.
Other cast members have spoken about some improv moments that they did. Were there any lines or even just actions or elements that you remember improvising for this character?
FRANCO: Going back to the Now You See Me references, there’s a moment where I say something like, “I’m gonna go win some money at the tables.” I remember, on the first take, I changed the line to, “I’m gonna win some more money at the tables Now You See Me-style,” and no one said anything, so I was like, “I guess I’m gonna keep saying this every time.” And that moment kind of found its way into the recap for Episode 9, where they had me come in and recap the episode, and incorporated another Now You See Me reference.
I love it. It’s so funny to see how those things snowball out of control. Thank you so much, and I very much hope that I see you in Season 2 of this.
FRANCO: I appreciate that!
The Studio is streaming on Apple TV+.

The Studio

Release Date

March 25, 2025

Network

Apple TV+

Writers

Peter Huck

Watch on Apple TV+