Matthew Brookes photographs James Franco for the September/October 2017 cover of GQ Australia. Embracing relaxed style for the photo shoot, Franco connects with stylist Olivia Harding. She pulls together essentials from the likes of Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren Purple Label.
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Talking to GQ Australia, Franco opens up about being a workaholic. The American actor explains, “I’ve never done heroin in my life, but I imagine if you get off heroin, people talk about facing reality, all these feelings coming back. Whether you know it or not, you want to bury them with the drug. Being a workaholic means you’re addicted to something.”
Franco continues, “And what’s underneath addiction? It’s about hiding from fear, from pain, it’s doing something to make yourself feel better. That’s exactly what I was doing and I had to really adjust my relationship to work. It’s really hard. I’m sure, like anything you’re addicted to, letting that go is difficult because it’s a coping mechanism to make you feel good.”
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Opening up more, Franco adds, “It is so hard to wake up
 to [addiction]. It’s so hard to see it. I thought I was living the life I always wanted to live. When I finally did wake up, I was completely isolated, emotionally, from everyone around me. The thing about work addiction is our culture supports it. We reward hard work and success. But it can really mask addictive, escapist behavior.”
James Franco GQ Australia Photo Shoot
