Post Academic

"James Franco discussing the film Milk" by David Shankbone (Creative Commons)

We know that this is the celebrity news you’ve been waiting for: According to People, actor James Franco has ended weeks of speculation and will be attending Yale’s Ph.D. English program.  And get this, he wants to start TAing as soon as he starts!  The Yale Herald pops this balloon by explaining what’s at least obvious to us, that first-year Ph.D. students don’t teach at Yale–and anyway, can you trust a grad student wants to teach right from the beginning?  If he wants to teach so much, maybe Mr. Franco could attend one of the equally well-reputed UC grad programs–like at his alma mater, UCLA–which would be happy to get as much cheap labor out of him as possible teaching intro-level comp!

But really, that’s pretty cool that Franco seems so enthusiastic about starting grad school that he’s champing at the bit to teach.  Here’s what he had to say about being a student to People:

“I love school,” Franco told PEOPLE at the Tribeca Film Festival screening of his directorial debut, the documentary Saturday Night, in New York Sunday. “I go to school because I love being around people who are interested in what I’m interested in and I’m having a great experience.”

Seriously, that sounds like a good enough reason to pursue your Ph.D., especially if you don’t have to worry about the worst job market ever.  And hey, we’ve got our lead when we start to cast, Post Academic: The Movie!

(h/t to reader Patty for the breaking celeb gossip)