James Franco tells EW why he's hosting the Academy Awards:

“When [producer Bruce Cohen] asked me to host, I was very, very surprised, and my initial reaction was ‘No.’ Then I thought about it and I thought, well, why not? Because I’ll look bad? Well, I don’t care....When we finally met and discussed it in person, all my representatives were saying, ‘No! Of course not!’ So that always sparks something in me. So I said, ‘Yes, of course!’ Because that reaction that they have is based on conventional wisdom of what makes a good career. And that can be boring — really boring.”