The brother of American actor James Franco, Dave Franco wanted to become a high school teacher. It was his brother`s manager who urged him to take up acting and guided him to a theatre class. It was in 2006 that Franco made his acting debut with the TV show 7th Heaven. However, his breakthrough performance came with the ninth season of the TV series Scrubs where he essayed the role of Cole Aaronson.

Franco`s role in the film 21 Jump Street (2012) gained him further recognition. He has since then appeared in several movies such as Now You See Me (2013), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Now You See Me 2 (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017). Franco has also voiced the character of Lloyd Garmadon in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017). In 2020, he made his directorial debut with the horror film The Rental. His other movies include Zola, Love Lies Bleeding, Together, Regretting You and Now You See Me: Now You Don't.