James Franco: 'McDonald's was there for me when no one else was'
<img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/554b6cf1ecad04707dae6b4e-675-506/james-franco-8.png" border="0" alt="James Franco">
Actor James Franco has written a lengthy endorsement of his former employer, McDonald's.
The brand has been struggling with declining US sales and announced an extensive turnaround plan this week.
Franco writes in a Washington Post op-ed that in the late '90s he was a struggling actor living in Los Angeles. He was fired from a coffee shop and golf course and couldn't find acting jobs.
He became desperate after his parents cut him off financially.
"Someone asked me if I was too good to work at McDonald's," Franco writes. "Because I was following my acting dream despite all the pressure not to, I was definitely not too good to work at McDonald's."
Franco says he began working in the drive-thru and practicing foreign accents on customers.
<span>Despite that fact that he had been a vegetarian before he started working at McDonald's, he began eating the cheeseburgers that were headed for the trash after sitting for more than seven minutes. </span>
<span><span>"I hate to whistleblow, but </span>everyone<span> ate straight from the fry hopper. You'd walk by and snag a fry and pop it in your mouth. So easy," he writes. "I also put tons of salt on the fries because that's how </span>I <span>like them."</span></span>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/554b6dd26bb3f75609881fd1-1200-924/mcdonalds-food-7.jpg" border="0" alt="mcdonald's food">
Franco was eventually promoted to working behind the counter.
He was able to leave his job at McDonald's after booking a Super Bowl commercial with Pizza Hut. Since then, he's become one of t<span><span>he most successful actors in the industry, starring in The Interview, 127 Hours, and Spiderman.</span></span>
<span><span>But Franco says he still feels affection for the fast food chain. </span></span>
<span><span><span>"I was treated fairly well at McDonald's. If anything, they cut me slack," Franco writes. "And, just like their food, the job was more available there than anywhere else. When I was hungry for work, they fed the need."</span></span></span>
<span><span>It's estimated that one in eight Americans have worked for McDonald's at some point in their lives. The brand employs more than 1.8 million people around the world. </span></span>
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<b>See Also:</b>
<ul><li>The 10 least healthy items you can order at McDonald's</li><li>Starbucks is getting sued over alleged hot coffee burns</li><li>McDonald's invented a brilliant new takeout bag</li></ul>
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