James Franco to make Broadway debut with Chris O'Dowd in Of Mice and Men James Franco will make his Broadway debut alongside Bridesmaids star Chris O'Dowd. Source: news.com.au JAMES Franco and Chris O'Dowd will make their Broadway debuts next year as unlikely friends in a stage adaptation of "Of Mice and Men." Producer David Binder said Milk star Franco will play George, and Irish actor and Bridesmaids star O'Dowd will play Lennie in the revival, which starts performances in March at the Longacre Theatre. Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro will direct. The story by John Steinbeck centers on two migrant field workers in California during the Great Depression - the big-dreaming George and the mentally challenged Lennie. It has not been seen on Broadway in 40 years.