Yahoo News Dave Franco on Luigi Mangione Comparisons: “I’ve Never Received More Texts in My Life”
Yes, Dave Franco knows you think he looks like Luigi Mangione.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Franco at the Sundance Film Festival, who is on the ground with two films, including the horror Together which co-stars his real-life partner Alison Brie. When asked if anyone has reached out about the comparisons many have made between him and Mangione, Brie responded, “Anyone? Do you mean everyone?” Franco added, “I have never received more texts in my life about anything.”
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He continued, “Anyone who has my phone number has reached out about it.”
Mangione has dominated headlines since Dec. 4, when it was reported that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan by a person later alleged to be the 26-year-old. A multiday manhunt followed for Mangione, who was arrested on Dec. 9 in Pennsylvania and has been charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently awaiting his next court appearance in February.
Shortly after Mangione was revealed to be the killer, social media quickly identified Franco as the actor who should play him in a would-be movie. While a scripted movie has not yet been announced, several documentary projects about the murder are currently in production, including one from Oscar winner Alex Gibney.
“But I don’t think there have been any official offers,” Brie joked, with Franco saying, “No, no official offers.”
Franco and Brie’s Together, from writer-director Michael Shanks, follows a couple who move to the countryside where they encounter a supernatural force. It is set to debut at the festival on Jan 26.
Brie says of playing an onscreen couple with her real-life husband, “I do think we could relate to the themes of intimacy. Couples who are together for a long time are breathing the same air and eating the same food, we have a joke language we can speak to one another. Those are the good sides of intimacy but what does it look like when you lose your individuality?”
Says Franco of filming, “We would get there at 6 a.m., and from the very first take our energy had to be at one hundred [percent] and it had to stay there all days. There were certain mornings when I would wake up and go, ‘I don’t know how I am going to do this!’ But then you get into it and you feel like you are getting away with something.”
"I've never received more texts in my life about anything," – #Together star Dave Franco on the flood of messages he's received from people wanting him to play Luigi Mangione pic.twitter.com/s9A9pcPRJN
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 25, 2025
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