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Dave Franco says he initially didn’t “believe” he was nominated for an Emmy for his appearance on The Studio — and even feared he was going to “ruin” the hit show with his cameo.
The actor and director recently caught up with PEOPLE alongside his wife, Allison Brie, and during the exclusive conversation, Franco recalled the moment he found out he was nominated for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
“I always saw that coming,” Franco, 40, jokes, before quickly adding, “No, it’s insane.”
“And the truth of it all is I truly did not think this nomination was even a possibility,” he continues. “I remember when they first sent me all of the episodes [of the show after filming], I started watching through it, and I was like, ‘Oh no. This is my favorite show, and I’m about to come in and ruin it.’ ”
“[Allison and I] also didn’t know when the nominations were being announced, and so we were in our kitchen, and I got a text from my publicist, and it just said ‘EMMY NOMINATION.’ And I go, ‘Oh my God. […] I think I just got nominated for an Emmy.’ “
“I had to Google it. I didn’t believe it,” he adds.
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In the fan-favorite cameo, Franco plays himself on a psychedelic trip — while his character is also supposed to be presenting at a high-profile awards show. However, The Disaster Artist actor has since made it clear that he doesn’t have much in common with the comedic version of himself he played in the episode.
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“I think that’s part of the fun of it is […] playing a version of yourself that is so far from reality that it just gives you a lot of leeway to have fun and be as insane as possible,” he said in a May interview with Entertainment Weekly.
He added, “And I’m someone who doesn’t generally get very f—– up ever, or go to Vegas very much or do literally anything that I’m doing in this episode. And so that’s the fun of it all: Trying things that I don’t generally do.”
During their exclusive sit-down with PEOPLE, Franco and Brie also opened up about what it was like working together on their new film, Together — which is their fifth creative collaboration — as well as how they navigate constant questions about how they manage to both work and live together.
“Ultimately, it says more about their relationships than ours,” Brie says of those who question their working partnership.
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“Exactly,” Franco agrees. “They’re projecting something onto us because they’re thinking about how difficult it would be to work with their own partner, and we’re like, ‘Don’t put that on us! We love this!’ “ he adds with a laugh.
“I think everyone in our lives recognizes how well we work together [and] how much we like to work together,” Franco says at another point in the interview.
As to how they feel about working on the supernatural thriller specifically?
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“It’s just felt like we keep upping the ante, and I don’t know how we will top this one in terms of the insanity of it all,” Franco tells PEOPLE.
And while the couple say they love working together, they previously told PEOPLE that they also recognize the need to take on solo jobs as well.
“It’s important for our independence,” Brie, who stars as Evil-Lyn in the live-action He-Man movie Masters of the Universe, due out next year, told PEOPLE.
“We also don’t want to burn people out on us, where they’re just like, ‘Go away,’ “ Franco, who is set to appear in the upcoming heist thriller Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, added.
Together is currently playing in theaters.
