Dave Franco explained why he chose another actor to play wife Alison Brie’s boyfriend in his movie

Dave Franco opens up about why he chose not to cast himself as his real-life wife’s love interest in his latest directorial project.

Franco and wife Alison Brie have been together for twelve years now, first meeting in 2011 before eventually getting married in 2017.

And the couple do like to occasionally partner with each other for movies, like The Disaster Artist and The Little Hours.

In their new project, Somebody I Used to Know, available on Amazon Prime, some have been left wondering, however, why the youngest Franco brother wasn't on-screen and why he wasn’t playing Brie’s co-star.

Well, apparently it was all for a good reason, according to the actor, and rest assured it has nothing to do with not wanting to act with his wife.

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The 38-year-old spoke to TheWrap in February about the movie, explaining why he chose to direct instead of act.

He said: “I learned from the first movie I directed that it’s actually really nice to just be behind the camera.”

“You know, there’s so much going on already. And so, if I didn’t have to be in a place where I needed to run back and forth from being in front of and behind the camera, like, I wanted to avoid that at all costs.”

As both Franco and Brie co-wrote the movie, the casting decision was partly down to themselves with the Bad Neighbours star sharing that when Jay Ellis came out for the part, the pair were set on him taking the role of Sean instead.

“On top of that, it’s like, there are so many great actors that you don’t need me,” he added.

“It’s like, we can find someone else. And when Jay Ellis showed interest we were like yes, he’s better for this part than me anyway.

"And if we can get Jay, this is incredible.”

In the film, Brie plays a workaholic TV producer called Ally, who goes soul searching for her old self after finding out that her ex-boyfriend, Sean is getting married.

Amazon Prime

Unlike the movie premise, however, the acting couple have had what seems to be a smooth sailing and mutually respectful relationship.

After meeting each other in 2011 at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the couple have kept their relationship pretty private.

Hopefully Franco, who’ll be celebrating his 38th birthday today, enjoys as much success with this new film as he had with The Rental, which also featured him behind the camera.