Ben Stiller and James Franco’s Arcade Fire Debut

By Anne Cohen October 1, 2013

James Franco can now add “appeared in an Arcade Fire video” to ever expanding resume. The James-of-all-trades opens the Canadian band’s promotional spot touting their new album “Reflektor” — directed by Roman Coppola no less — in a blazer slightly reminiscent of “A Night at the Roxbury.”

Fellow member of the tribe Ben Stiller also makes a cameo, along with Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifanakis, Bill Hader, Michael Cera and Bono.

It seems Arcade Fire has tapped into the only way to get an attention-span impaired generation to watch a 22-minute music video: throw in some appearances by instantly recognizable famous people.

Mission accomplished.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.