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During his all-too-short career (three starring roles in two years), James Dean helped to radically redefine the way teenagers were portrayed onscreen (and in popular culture in general), and the expressive naturalism of his performances did more to establish the "method" school of acting in the public mind than any other actor outside of Marlon Brando. James Dean is a made-for-cable biography that looks at the star's short but troubled life, his years of struggle before his sudden rise to fame, and the car crash that took his life at the age of 24. James Franco stars as James Dean, with Michael Moriarty as Winton Dean and Valentina Cervi as Pier Angeli, the actress Dean loved. Produced for the TNT cable network, James Dean first aired on August 4, 2001.