James Franco stars in Oz the Great & Powerful - released tomorrow - and he’s been chatting about playing the titular character, and mimicking Justin Bieber in a recent interview.

Franco says he identifies with the character of Oz – full name Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs – because of his goals and ideals in life. “He dreams about becoming great, becoming recognised, and when I was younger those were things I dreamed about too,” explained Franco to The Telegraph. “My parents weren’t happy; they wouldn’t pay my rent any more so I worked at McDonald’s.” The 127 Hours Star also opened up on his spoof of Justin Bieber’s song Boyfriend, after it appeared as though the bratty teen star wasn’t happy with his portrayal. “To me that wasn’t a criticism of Bieber as such, it was just having fun and reflecting a bit of pop culture,” explained Franco. “The thing is, when I do something like that, the response is very positive, people say ‘He did Bieber, that’s genius’, but if I do something that has the slightest bit of pretension or inclination towards something deeper, people just go crazy. It drives them cr-aaaaaaaa-zy that an actor would dare write a poem or a book or make a piece of art.”

A jam session in cinematic form - TAR is a short film collection inspired by the work of poet C.K. Williams, winner of the Pulitzer PrizeHappy man - James Franco

Oz the Great & Powerful, which also stars Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis is out tomorrow, March 8 in the both America and the U.K.