What's Tat? James Franco Shows Off Inking

James Franco arrived at Venice Film Festival looking almost unrecognisable with a bald head and bizarre inking on the back of his head.

The star was attending a screening of The Sound And The Fury when he flashed the fake tattoo showing Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift on the back of his head.

Franco's new look is for a different film called Zeroville, where he plays a man who travels to Hollywood and becomes obsessed with film.

In the Steve Erickson novel the character Ike Jerome, also known as Vikar, gets a tattoo of Taylor and Clift from the 1951 film A Place In The Sun on the back of his head.

Franco has been updating his fans on his transformation by regularly uploading photos to his Instagram account.

One photo appeared to show a make-up artist painting the tattoo onto his scalp.

Franco was in Venice to promote his new film, which he directed and stars in, based on the William Faulkner novel, The Sound And The Fury.

Jon Hamm and Seth Rogen are among the other cast members in the film which is set in Mississippi at the turn of the 20th century and follows the decline and fall of an aristocratic Southern family over three decades.

It is the second adaptation of the novel following the 1959 film starring Yul Brynner.

It is being shown out of the main competition at the festival.