Seth Rogen 'pushed' James Franco to focus on The Disaster Artist

Seth Rogen pushed his co-star James Franco to channel all his energy into making The Disaster Artist.

The actor and filmmaker tends to have several projects on the go at all times, most recently appearing in Alien: Covenant, The Vault, and comedy Why Him?

So when Franco set about making biographical comedy-drama The Disaster Artist, his co-star and longtime collaborator Rogen, encouraged him to solely focus on making the one movie.

"He knows how to work with a studio and still make very personal movies; the kind of movies he wants to make," Franco told The Guardian. "He really pushed me to be more responsible, to slow down, to focus on one thing at a time. And that was a really big lesson to me."

The film is based on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell's non-fiction book of the same name that chronicles the production of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 cult film The Room, which is widely considered to be one of the worst movies ever made. Franco takes on the role of Wiseau, and stayed in character for the duration of the shoot - which proved to be an interesting experience for the performer.

"The whole thing did start to feel really autobiographical," the 39-year-old shared. "One of the other lessons I learned from the movie is I'm a bit like Tommy. He thought he was making this big dramatic movie and it turned out to be a comedy. I think there's a bit of that in me."

The Disaster Artist also features a supporting cast of A-listers, including Alison Brie and her husband Dave Franco, Josh Hutcherson, Jacki Weaver, Zac Efron, and Ari Graynor. It is due to hit cinemas from early December (17).