Dave Franco is a good supporting actor who is too often given too little to do. His quieter work is worth seeking out; the familiar cockiness is only part of what he offers.
Fi1m perspective
Tommy has somebody to impress in The Disaster Artist (2017), and Dave Franco makes Greg's approval seem worth having. James Franco directs and plays the would-be filmmaker, while Dave gives him a sympathetic companion whose reactions matter. We felt relieved by his quietness, which gave us a rest from Tommy's abrupt changes of mood. It is the performance we would choose to make the case for him.
His breakthrough came with 21 Jump Street (2012), followed by ensemble parts in Now You See Me (2013) and Neighbors (2014). Youthful cockiness became a familiar requirement, so Greg is a useful reminder that he need not play the nuisance. The frustration is that Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber's screenplay leaves him reacting when it ought to explain why the friendship lasts. We believe in Greg's sympathy for Tommy; we need a clearer sense of what keeps him there when the friendship becomes hard work.
He made his directing debut with The Rental (2020). Rose Glass's Love Lies Bleeding (2024) gives him a harsher supporting part as JJ. He makes resentment easy to read, though the part gives him little beyond cruelty. The character is bluntly drawn, and the performance does the job Glass needs it to do.
Returning as Jack Wilder in Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025), he settles back into the company of Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher easily enough. Ruben Fleischer's film assembles eight magicians and cannot find work for all of them. Familiarity helps the reunion along, but the crowded writing leaves several performers standing at the back, reacting.
In Hoppers (2026), he voices the Insect King among a collection of animal monarchs. Bryn Imagire's soft-edged designs help make their self-importance funny, and the ensemble serves a stronger comic idea than the crowded magician reunion. For Franco rather than the ensemble, start with The Disaster Artist.
Biography
Dave Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He began his career with small roles in films such as Superbad (2007) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010). Following a starring role in the final season of the comedy series Scrubs (2009–2010), he had a breakthrough with a supporting part in 21 Jump Street (2012).
Franco has appeared in Fright Night (2011), Now You See Me (2013) and its sequels Now You See Me 2 (2016) and Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025), Neighbors (2014) and its sequel, Nerve (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017). He made his directorial debut with The Rental (2020), which starred his wife Alison Brie. His recent credits include the role of JJ in Love Lies Bleeding (2024) and voicing the Insect King in Hoppers (2026).
