I must be the last person in America...

...to hear of James Franco, the movie star. (I don't get out much.) Oh sure, I was vaguely aware that he and Anne Hathaway hosted the Oscars this past Sunday, but who watches that anymore?

(By the way, I think Anne Hathaway and Natalie Portman -- like Lady Di -- will get even better looking with age. I know what you're thinking: they're already good-looking. Stick around.)

But this morning I read a piece in the Times about Franco that said that besides acting, he is also:

...a film director, screenwriter, painter, author, performance artist and actor, with several film projects under way. In addition to [pursuing a Ph.D. in English at Yale], which could take several years, he is on track to earn a master’s degree in film from New York University this spring. (“It’s a full-time program,” an N.Y.U. spokesman said. “You can’t do it any other way.”)

Last year, Mr. Franco received a master’s degree in writing from Brooklyn College, and this semester he is co-teaching a course on film editing at Columbia College Hollywood, a private school in Los Angeles. It is called “Master Class: Editing James Franco — With James Franco.”

Me? I'm thinking of taking an art class this summer. I hope I have the time.