Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, or known by her stage name as Lana Del Ray is officially back on the market after splitting from fiancé Barrie-James O'Neill. Now that she's single again, rumours have spread that she is dating actor James Franco. However, prior to the rumours, the actor had already shown his admiraton for the singer through a series of cryptic photos posted on his Instagram account.

James Franco and the "Ride" singer have been spending time together. According to Bustle, the pair has been hanging out ever since Lana Del Ray attended a Broadway production of "Of Mice and Men," where James also stars in. But before the pair got together, James had been posting a series of photos on his Instagram account, showing how he adores the singer.

Handbag reported that the "Pineapple Express" actor used his Instagram account to show how smitten he was with Lana Del Ray. It started three weeks ago, on June 22, when James posted a photo of the singer in her music video and captioned it "HAPPY BDAY LANA DEL REY!! I'm OBSESSED with the RIDE video! @lanadelrey" (Check photo from jamesfrancotv).

Then the following day, he posted a follow up photo to show how obsessed he was with Lana's "Ride" video. James revealed his artistic side by temporarily inking his neck with Lana's face and her name on his forehead. Then for an added show of admiration, the actor captioned it with some of the lyrics from "Ride." "I'm tryin' hard not to get into trouble/ But I got a war in my mind." The photo was liked 92,000 times on his Instagram account (check photo from handbag).

Then "Fourth of July" came. James and a friend post for a picture with a blowup poster of Lana Del Ray's face on the background. It was captioned "HAPPY 4th, y'all!!!! Urban Hikers: ULTRAVIOLENCE, @lanadelrey @klausbiesenbach" (check photo from jamesfrancotv).

Then on July 10, James Franco posted a photo on his Instagram account where it shows him, Lana and her sister. This was probably after the sisters watched him get literary during a Broadway performance on "Of Mice and Men." The actor said the singer "loved" the show, as what he captioned on the photo. "LANA DEL REY and CHICKEN came to the show AND LOVED! Of Mice and Men, baby!

After all the cryptic photos, the actor finally had the opportunity to post for a picture with the object of his admiration. He later shared the photo on his Instagram account where he captioned it "LANA LANA LANA (My new friend)."

On July 14, James Franco's Instagram account showed two shots where it clearly showed he's now "hanging out" with Lana Del Ray, as Bustle suggested. The first photo was captioned "Tour of the ROCKAWAYS with Lana and Klaus @lanadelrey @klausbiesenbach." Then the pair was snapped together with the caption "Photos on the Beach @lanadelrey @klausbiesenbach."

This last photo of the singer and James is probably the weirdest according to Bustle. Meanwile, Lana Del Ray, whom according to Bustle rarely uses her Instagram, also posted the same photo taken after they watched James' Broadway show. She commended "Of Mice and Men" for being "such a good show."