Why Is James Franco Wearing This New Piece of Body Art?

It’s never a dull moment with James Franco. The actor and pop-culture provocateur showed up to the Venice Film Festival this week sporting a very unusual tattoo — a large image of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor — drawn on the back of his newly shaved head. So, what’s Franco up to this time?

As you may have guessed, the (temporary) tattoo is related to one of Franco’s artistic endeavors. He’s presumably getting ready to film Zeroville, based on Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel of the same name. The book follows a violent, obsessive cineaste, Vikar, who arrives in Hollywood in 1969 and throws himself into the movie industry, just as independent-film movement is beginning to gain a foothold. The character has a head tattoo just like the one seen on Franco: an ear-to-ear portrait of Taylor and Clift, described in the book as “ the two most beautiful people in the history of the movies, she the female version of him, and he the male version of her.”

This iconic image comes from the 1951 melodrama A Place in the Sun, in which Clift plays a striving factory worker, and Taylor a wealthy society girl, caught up in a relationship doomed from the start. In the film’s most famous scene (see below), the two stars breathlessly confess their love for one another outside an elegant party, in extreme close-up.

Franco purchased the film rights to Zeroville in 2011, at which time he was reportedly planning to direct (but not star in) the movie. Judging from his new look, perhaps his plans have changed? The actor has yet to make a formal announcement, though he did document his head-shaving process on Instagram, along with the caption “Get ready for ZEROVILLE.” We’re ready, James — ready and waiting.

Photo credits: Dominique Charriau/WireImage, Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, @jamesfrancotv/Instagram