Palo Alto native James Franco just told the story of his California upbringing for an animated piece from Google Play. He reveals that his dad, like him, kind of had attention deficit disorder when it came to his work. "I think he was a lot like I am. Like, he had five billion projects going on all the time."

Also, he tells the story about how he and his friends got into petty theft as teens, each of them stowing about 30 bottles of cologne apiece in their lockers which they would then sell at school dances. He talks about how he watched River Phoenix movies a lot as a kid, watching My Own Private Idaho over and over again on VHS, and about how he got his big break on Freaks & Geeks.

Meanwhile, Franco has been on the Peninsula teaching at his alma mater, Palo Alto High, this semester.