What If James Franco Had Been a Backstreet Boy?

If you're like to me, you avoid James Franco's Instagram as much as possible knowing, as I do, that it's usually a haven of risqué selfies and nude paintings of Seth Rogen. However, Monday is the kind of day where avoiding Franco's Instagram would have caused you to miss out on the latest Best Thing Ever. Apparently, Franco is rocking bleached blond locks that he either dyed or found in wig form. Either way, the picture is captioned with "That Late 90s bleached look" and there's nothing that has been more accurate ever in life. Between this picture and the joke Franco made about Dave Franco and Zac Efron's relationship, it might actually be safe to start following James Franco on Instagram again.

As per usual, Franco offered no explanation for this inexplicable picture of his new look. Did he get bored? Is it for a movie role? Did he lose a bet? What's going on with your hair, James Franco? The world may never know. Then again, it doesn't matter because just the fact that this photo is out there making its rounds on the Internet is all we really need to know. The late '90s were a much simpler time with such horrific fashion choices — like this hairstyle.

The fact that Franco now looks like a lost member of any '90s boy band for the unforeseeable future is something that we all need to celebrate. After all, boy bands are a way of life. If Franco hadn't decided that being an actor was more his thing, then apparently he would have had a long and healthy career in the boy band game during the '90s. If Marky Mark can go from being Marky Mark to being Mark Wahlberg, then certainly James Franco could have found his place among our favorite '90s boy bands before becoming James Franco.

So in tribute to the history that never was, how would the line-up of boy bands have looked with James Franco as a member?

98 Degrees

Backstreet Boys

O-Town

'N Sync

On second thought, maybe it's a good thing Franco stuck with acting.

Image: jamesfrancotv/Instagram