David John Franco was born in Palo Alto, California. His mother, author Betsy Franco, is Jewish, and his father, Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco, was of Portuguese and Swedish descent, and ran a Silicon Valley business. He has two older brothers, actor James Franco and Tom. Dave made his first television appearance at the age of 21, in 2006, in an episode of 7 à la maison (1996). A string of high-profile TV work followed, interspersed with roles in some moderately successful movies, including Le secret de Charlie (2010) and Fright Night (2011), and he came to bigger prominence when he played Eric Molson in the hit movie version of the cult TV series 21 Jump Street (2012). He subsequently co-starred in the zombie romance Warm Bodies - Renaissance (2013) and the thriller Insaisissables (2013), and provided a voice role for La grande aventure Lego (2014). His upcoming films include Nos pires voisins (2014), 22 Jump Street (2014), and Jet Lag (2015).
