--- description: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, and Charlie Carver will share a sex scene in the movie "Michael." title: James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver Will Share a Sex Scene in the Upcoming Drama "Michael" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfdf1d60e2af463f2/69876b4aa988caff406ab05b/franco-quinto-carver.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver Will Share a Sex Scene in the Upcoming Drama _Michael_  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Nov 26, 2014 7:12 PM CUT  From left: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Carver From left: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Charlie CarverGetty Images (3)  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Nov 26, 2014 7:12 PM CUT A forthcoming movie starring James Franco is making headlines today because, according to [_The Wrap_](http://www.thewrap.com/james-franco-zachary-quinto-and-charlie-carver-set-for-steamy-m%c3%a9nage-%c3%a0-trois-in-gay-drama-michael/ "undefined"), it will feature a sex scene between Franco and co-stars Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver. The film, called _Michael_, is directed by Justin Kelly, a protégé of Gus Van Sant’s, with Van Sant executive producing. The movie is, of course, about much more than a sex scene. The story derives from a 2011 _New York Times_ [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/magazine/my-ex-gay-friend.html?pagewanted=all&%5Fr=1& "undefined") by Benoit Denizet-Lewis called “My Ex-Gay Friend,” about a gay activist turned fundamentalist anti-gay Christian. Franco plays the title character, Quinto his boyfriend Ben, and Carver, an acquaintance with whom the pair ends up in bed. Van Sant, who is gay and has directed several films about gay characters (_Mala Noche_, _My Own Private Idaho_, _Elephant_, _Milk_), said in a 1993 [interview](http://bombmagazine.org/article/1699/gus-van-sant "undefined") that when he was getting his start in the early ‘80s, gay audiences “would see anything that related to them” because there was so little in the way of gay cinema. Since the overwhelming popularity of _Brokeback Mountain_, movies about gay characters are seen more and more by wider audiences, and images of gay people in love — and in lust — are transitioning from niche to mainstream. Perhaps one day they won’t even be newsworthy — beyond the usual salaciousness of seeing a famous actor’s backside, that is. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3607675/james-franco-zachary-quinto-charlie-carver-sex-scene/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3607675/james-franco-zachary-quinto-charlie-carver-sex-scene/"},"headline":"James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver Will Share a Sex Scene in the Upcoming Drama Michael","datePublished":"2014-11-26T19:12:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:24:45.156Z","description":"Franco will play a gay rights activist turned anti-gay activist","url":"https://time.com/3607675/james-franco-zachary-quinto-charlie-carver-sex-scene/","keywords":["movies","gay","james franco"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfdf1d60e2af463f2/69876b4aa988caff406ab05b/franco-quinto-carver.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfdf1d60e2af463f2/69876b4aa988caff406ab05b/franco-quinto-carver.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"franco-quinto-carver","caption":"From left: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Carver","creditText":"Getty Images (3)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3607675/james-franco-zachary-quinto-charlie-carver-sex-scene/","name":"James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver Will Share a Sex Scene in the Upcoming Drama Michael"}}]}] ```