The ''Spider-Man'' baddie soars to new heights in the WWI saga ''Flyboys''

10 things you don't know about James Franco

1 The 28-year-old actor has his pilot’s license, thanks to Flyboys (out now), in which he plays a renegade aviator. ”Ten more hours and I can fly a plane with a turbo propeller,” he boasts.

2 Last time we saw his Spidey character, Harry Osborn had discovered his father’s Green Goblin mask. So what’s next? ”He’s related to Bruce Wayne, and we go fight the Joker.” That’s what we get for asking…

3 For his breakout role as James Dean in TNT’s 2001 biopic, Franco started smoking (he’s since quit). ”If you look at pictures of [Dean], he’s so expressive with his cigarettes.”

4 It paid off: He won a Golden Globe. ”I gave the statue to my mother.”

5 His family calls him Ted, short for his middle name, Edward. ”Everyone called me Teddy Bear. When I got older, it was like, ‘Enough!”’

6 The California native won ”Best Smile” at Palo Alto HS, despite braces. ”In the yearbook, I’m frowning.”

7 At 19, Franco left UCLA to be an actor and worked the late shift at McDonald’s. ”I was vegetarian until [then].”

8 He recently reenrolled in UCLA to take creative-writing classes. ”I did always regret leaving school.”

9 His ”bad cartoon” paintings have been bought by blink-182’s Tom DeLonge and Sharon Stone. ”People say my stuff reminds them of [Jean-Michel] Basquiat.”