Players4Change

Franco: I remember, even when I was in college auditions, I was told by, like, some admissions counselor from a from a random school, being like, "Oh, like, you're gonna have like, a really good experience, because they're looking for people like you." And–

Turkomani: Oh, they said "people, like you?!"

Franco: People like me. And it was me, and there was, there was like one white girl, and then there's the white guy. And the admissions counselor looked at me – mind you, my mom is sitting next to me; it was like a group admissions meeting, and my mom was sitting next to me. And I remember in that moment, my mom kind of like, looked at me. And I looked at her and we were like, "Yeah, no, this, isn't it. This is not for us." Because it was a full on way that that this admissions counselor was like, "Yeah, they're looking for, like, diverse voices, and they're looking to include you" and stuff. And I find it really ironic, because that was the very first school that rejected me."

Excerpted from an interview conducted by Rayan Afif.