Betsy Franco has plenty of reasons to be a proud mom. The mother of three can boast about any of her sons: Dave, her youngest, is an actor whose roles have included medical student Cole Aaronson on Season 9 of the sitcom Scrubs. Tom, the middle child, is a successful artist, sculptor and illustrator. And James, her first-born, is nominated for a Best Actor Oscar® for his role Aron Ralston, the real-life hiker who took extreme measures to save himself after getting his arm stuck underneath a boulder. As if that's not enough, James is also gearing up for his first stint as Oscar co-host this Sunday.

On Oscar night, Betsy will join nine other "Mominees" (eight mothers of nominees, as well as James's grandma) in live Tweeting of the awards show ceremony. Oprah.com caught up with Mrs. Franco—otherwise known as @FrancosMom on Twitter—a successful author and actress in her own right, to get her take on raising three artistic sons and find out how she's prepping for Hollywood's biggest night.
Kari Forsee: We're a few days away. How are you feeling about Sunday?

Betsy Franco: I'm trying to stay calm. Camilla Olson is making me a custom-made dress. She's a designer in Northern California. It's gorgeous, so that's helping to calm me down. I have to go to her house every day for fittings because she's outfitting me for every event I’m going to this weekend. It's so wonderful, and it’s nice to share it with someone. I went down to L.A. for a trial run, and I had an interview and that helped also. I saw what folks were up to. I'm in a really good mood about it.

KF: How is James faring?

BF: He's in New Haven going to school.

KF: Really?

BF: Yes, he's getting a PhD from Yale.

KF: He's not taking a week off before the Oscars?

BF: No [laughter].

KF: Has he practiced any of his jokes on you? Told you about his opening bit with co-host Anne Hathaway?

BF: Actually, he told us he couldn’t tell us a darn thing. It's top secret. We’re used to that though because he's not allowed to tell us things about movies he's in.

NEXT STORY

Next Story