Jonathan Levine’s new movie Warm Bodies asks audiences to believe that an attractive, able-bodied young woman could fall in love with a zombie – as in a real-deal, brains-eating dead guy. Who kills and eats her still-living boyfriend, no less.

But Teresa Palmer, who plays young crush object Julie Grigio, says that it was an easy prospect for her to imagine, thanks to the appeal of the actor she was starring opposite.

“It’s kind of easy when you’re acting opposite Nicholas Hoult,” she tells Celebuzz. “He’s so endearing.”

Hoult’s character R does indeed devour Julie’s boyfriend, played by Dave Franco (21 Jump Street). But even Palmer says that the character’s post-meal demeanor is too pleasant to resist.

“R, the character, is charming and sweet and nurturing and gentle and wants to take care of me,” she says. “One of the lines he keeps saying in the movie is ‘safe – keep you safe,’ and that is just so sweet!”

What do you think of Palmer’s assessment of her co-star, Nicholas Hoult? Is he a hunk, even in undead form? Watch Celebuzz’ exclusive video interview with Palmer and then let us know in the comments below – could you fall for a guy whose diet consists entirely of brains?

Young Adult fiction isn’t just a literary subgenre, it’s a cultural phenomenon. Since Twilight changed the moviemaking landscape, Hollywood has been hungry to get in on the action, trying to bring countless best-sellers to the screen in search of box office glory.

But while the stars of the upcoming zombie-themed romance Warm Bodies would love to see their film become the next big thing in teen entertainment, they also insist that they’re not trying to ride any of their successful predecessors’ coattails.

Teresa Palmer, who plays reluctant “girlfriend” to zombie R (Nicholas Hoult) who’s regaining his humanity via his interest in her, said, “We are embracing comparisons to these big franchises like Twilight and Hunger Games – because they’re hugely successful! But I think Warm Bodies does stand alone.”

“I’m really excited and it’s overwhelming, and at the same time I’m trying not to have huge expectations.”

Co-star Dave Franco explained that the film will certainly appeal to fans of those series, but it should also capture the interest of moviegoers outside their target demographic.

“I don’t think anyone expects anything else to have the success of something like Twilight,” he confessed. “If it does, that’s amazing, but I think what sets it apart is that it will take that audience, but then it takes a whole separate demographic that would never go to a Twilight movie.”

“This feels like it’s definitely going more towards guys and girls rather than just young girls in the sense that it feels more like a coming of age story.”

Watch the video above for more details from Palmer and Franco, as well as comments from co-stars Analeigh Tipton and Rob Corddry. And then let us know – how eager are you to see the film? Is it your next big fantasy-romance obsession? Discuss it in the comments below!

While James Franco is off getting in touch with his inner-Kevin Federline, his little brother, Dave, has taken over duties as the hottest Franco in Hollywood.

In fact, Dave, 26, showed a lot of skin – too much, perhaps? – in this new child safety video, in which he warns parents dealing with celebrity-obsessed children. So, just how much skin does he reveal? You’ll have to watch the video to find out …

Okay. Once you do, you’ll see that the whole thing is just a joke for Complex magazine, allowing the 21 Jump Street star to show off his comedic timing, in addition to his, um, other stuff. Clearly, comedy and good looks run well in the Franco family!

Check out the hilarious PSA in the video above!

James Franco‘s little bro is all grown up!

Dave Franco, who currently stars as a hipster, drug-dealing high schooler in 21 Jump Street, recently opened up to GQ about his past endeavors before diving into acting. Like his brother James, the 26-year-old tried his hand at poetry. However, unlike his famous sibling, he wasn’t too fond of what he was penning.

“My God, it was really pretentious sh-t,” he laughed.

He added, “I would write a poem out in the most simple terms, and then I would go through the thesaurus and find these elite replacements for them.”

Also unlike James, Dave was not all that into acting at first. In fact, he told the magazine that he was pushed into a theater class by his brother’s manager to see if acting “runs in the family.” 

“I remember thinking ‘F-ck this,’ but I stuck it out, and in a cheesy way I think it was good for me,” he said. “It opened me up a bit.”

Good thing too as his role in 21 Jump Street has already got audiences laughing everywhere!

Catch more of Dave interview in the newest issue of GQ. It hits newsstands on Tuesday, March 20, 2012. 

As Oscar night approaches this weekend, James Franco will be front-and-center as he hosts the big show with Anne Hathaway. Also in attendance will be James’ little brother Dave, who himself has been making some headlines lately. And because we’re Franco-philes (get it?), celebrating both brothers Franco just seemed right on this Friday.

Dave showed off his acting skills in a new video with Emma Roberts for the band Cults, and just this week announced that his grandmother will be his Oscars date to watch James do his thing. So. Cute! As for James, well, he’s the same old charming, adorable and quirky-charismatic guy we’ve all come to love.

So, while James is (currently) the bigger star of the two, our question for you is: Who’s the hotter Franco brother? Answer in our poll, and check out our interview with Dave from a few months ago!

What happens when Hollywood royalty gets together? Well, if it is anything like the music video that Dave Franco and Emma Roberts made for MTV’s  Supervideo, it is bound to be pretty sexy!

Dave (the brother of Oscar-nominated actor and noted Twitter user James Franco) teamed up with the beautiful Emma (the niece of A-lister Julia Roberts) for a Nouvelle Vague-inspired music video that follows a man who is given the chance to hang out with his favorite ’60s French actress. The mini-movie plays over the tune of Cult’s “Go Outside” but don’t get confused – this isn’t an official music video for “Go Outside,” Cults rep exclusively tells Celebuss that the band merely lent out their music to play over Dave and Emma’s scenes.

Watch the sparks fly between Dave and Emma after the jump.

This isn’t the first Franco-Roberts on-screen hook-up: James played Julia’s boyfriend in Eat Pray Love in 2010.

What do you think of Dave and Emma’s turn as ’60s music video stars? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Twilight fan and dreamboat-on-the-rise Dave Franco wouldn’t have any problem getting all the ladies he wanted if it weren’t for one four-legged little furball.

The Charlie St. Cloud actor filmed a hilarious new short for Funny or Die in which Dave’s feline friend Arturo kills the mood during a sexy make out session with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. While Dave and Jamie go at it, Arturo tries his very best to run interference and distract Dave with his cuteness. Will it work? Watch the (perhaps NSFW) video below.

The short was directed by Where the Wild Things Are screenwriter (and literary darling) Dave Eggers‘ brother Toph. Perhaps Toph and Dave had plenty to talk about since they are both the younger brothers of two famous dudes (Dave, of course, is the younger brother of James Franco).

Would you storm out on Dave because of his cat? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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America, meet Dave Franco, your newest dreamboat.

Who is Dave? Well, he’s the talented and handsome younger brother of another dreamboat actor, James Franco. Celebuzz got an exclusive interview with the 25-year-old rising star to talk about what it’s like to be in a movie with Zac Efron, three things he’s better at than James and why the Franco boys love Twilight.

You may recognize him from Greenberg, Scrubs, Charlie St. Cloud, Funny or Die, and–lest we forget–the dimple and smile-filled double Franco rainbow of amazingness that was the behind-the-scenes video for James’ Esquire shoot. Here’s our chat with Dave:

Celebuzz: What was it like co-starring with Zac Efron in Charlie St. Cloud? Did he share any dreamboat tips with you?

Dave: [Laughs.] I don’t know about that…but here is a funny story: At the after-party of the premiere for Charlie St. Cloud, this little 4-year-old girl and her mom come up to me and they were like, ‘Can we get your autograph?’ And I said, ‘Yeah of course!’…I sign the autograph and then [the mom] asks, ‘Can we take a picture too?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure!’ So, I put my arm around the little girl and right before the mom takes the picture she says, ‘Yeah we are both the biggest fans of the first High School Musical‘ and that’s when they clicked the picture. [Laughs]

The worst part about it is that my signature is so sloppy that I usually just print out my name when I sign autographs, so this little girl must be walking away crying, wondering who the hell this Dave Franco is and where the hell is her Zac Efron autograph.

Do people often think it was easy for you to come into Hollywood because you were James Franco’s brother?

It was interesting. First off, when I started getting serious about acting, I was enrolled in USC, so I was trying to balance school and acting classes outside of school and auditions. I was so tired, I was going nuts. But I really loved it. [...] Then, once I started working a lot people were like, ‘Where’d that come from?’ and I was like, ‘No, I’ve been working my ass off and I’ve been trying to balance with school and work for the past two years.’

James definitely helped me in the sense that he got me a manager, which was a huge step, and I don’t take that for granted. But from there I had to prove myself because no one was going to hire me just because I was James Franco’s little brother.

Watch Dave and James’ “Acting with James Franco” short for Funny or Die below:

When I went to these auditions, people almost expected more out of me because of who my brother was, but in reality I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just like any other kid who was starting out and falling flat on his face. Most of these kids who are starting out are failing miserably in these auditions and no one will ever remember it, but because of who my brother is, people were paying almost more attention to me to see how bad I really was at first. So, he definitely helped in ways, but in other ways it almost presented new challenges.

What are three things you’re better at than James?

[Laughs] Ok, 1. I’m a much better athlete, 2. I’m better at Guitar Hero, and 3. I’m better at sleeping.

After your Funny or Die videos and your Esquire short, are there any other collaborations you are working on with James?

I’m actually going off to Vancouver to do a test shoot for a book that my brother and I have adapted called Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski. We’re taking a couple scenes from the screenplay that we wrote and we’re going to film them just to get a feeling for the movie and use it as a pitching tool to try and get money for it.

We’re also working on…let’s just say that we’re working on a show about college life. Let’s just say that.

Watch James and Dave in the Dave-directed Esquire short below.

You’re currently in New Mexico filming a remake of ‘Fright Night’ with Colin Farrell–can you tell us a little bit more about the project?

It’s about a kid living next door to a vampire because every movie involves a vampire these days. This one is going to stand apart because it’s a comedic horror movie and I don’t think anyone’s approached that angle with the vampire movies yet. It’s an incredible cast: [Colin], Toni Colette, Anton Yelchin, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Really great cast and great director, this guy Craig Gillespie who directed Lars and the Real Girl.

It’s been incredible, I play…I keep getting cast as this ass**** bully [Laughs] which is comical to me because I’ve never been in a fight in my life.

Is this going to be competing against Twilight?

It’s definitely a different audience than Twilight. It’s a very hard ‘R,’ very bloody, but it happens to be very funny too.

Have you seen any of the Twilight films?

I have seen Twilight. It’s turned into a strange family tradition, we see the movies as a family now. I’m not quite sure why it’s turned into a family tradition but…that’s just how it is now.

You’ve previously mentioned that you enjoy writing. Is it a big part of your life?

I’ve actually been writing a lot longer than I’ve been acting. It started out in high school, I took an independent study class for poetry. I would write throughout the week and then I would meet up with this incredible teacher who would read through my work once a week at lunch. All my buddies were like, ‘So, uh, you write poetry…and then meet up with the teacher…and discuss it at lunch?’ [Laughs] They weren’t quite sure what was going on. No, but I just love to write.

Do you have any favorite writers?

Definitely Bukowski. This book [Ham on Rye] is one of my favorite books. That’s what makes this process so exciting is getting to adapt something that you are so passionate about. As for playwrights, Kenneth Lonergan [who wrote] This Is Our Youth and Lobby Hero. I also love reading Roald Dahl, who is just one of my favorites because he’s technically writing these children’s books, but they’re so dark and then you look back and you can’t believe that these are geared towards a younger audience. He was definitely my favorite growing up.

What do you think of Dave? Is he awesome or super awesome? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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James Franco is reading Twilight - but only as research for the children’s book he plans to write “someday.” The actor/grad student/artist/poet/occasional soap opera star reveals his choice of reading material – and trims his facial stubble – to grace the cover of the September issue of Esquire magazine. Francophiles will find some of the photos from the shoot to be quite nice. Click here to see a couple of the shots.

Franco also chuckles his way through a video “interview” with his younger brother, actor and vague Zac Efron lookalike Dave Franco. Check it out here:

What should James Franco write a children’s book about? Give him some suggestions in the comments.

• Bachelor winner Vienna Giradi is reportedly getting plastic surgery so she can get famous “like Heidi Montag.” Apparently Vienna’s interpretation of “famous” is a little lower on the success scale than we suspected. (Wonderwall)

• Zach Braff has announced via Facebook that Scrubs (a.k.a., that show he isn’t really a part of anymore) is dead. Does this mean no more gorgeous Dave Franco? (PopEater)

• Jesse James‘ alleged mistress, Michelle McGee, lost a fashion job we never knew she had with some company called Angry White Girl. It’s sad, really, because she sounds like she’d be perfect for the job. (Starpulse)

• Actor-director Dennis Hopper is reportedly very ill with cancer and nearly broke. Out of respect for Hopper we will willingly forget about his stint in horrible “conservative comedy,” An American Carol. We hope he feels better! (Huffington Post)

• The nation breathed a big sigh of relief when Gwyneth Paltrow announced that she has no plans to move back to the United States. (Limelife)