Franco struggling with soap role

James Franco is shocked at the workload for his surprise stint on long-running US soap General Hospital.

The Pineapple Express star plays a mysterious character on the soap, but he admits he is shocked by how many lines he has to remember because of the fast paced schedule.

He explained, "It's been a blast so far. It was kind of mind-blowing. I've worked one day on it. It's one day of a few, but I think we packed seven episodes of my material in. They gave me a script for the day that was as thick as a film script and that's what we planned to shoot in a single day. No ad-libbing.

"If I needed it, they said they had a teleprompter, but the regulars didn't use it so I didn't want to use it, either."

He added, "Anyway, I'm pretty good at remembering lines."

His first episode will air in the US on November 20.