By Fred Topel Aug 8, 2008, 16:49 GMT
When I started journalism, I got to meet all the stars I grew up watching. Now that I've been in it for eight years, I've had the chance to watch some new stars rise. Just a few years ago, I was on the set of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" when he was just some former TV star in the Steve Carell ensemble (actually, Carell was still "That Daily Show guy.")
Even on the set of "Knocked Up," which was Rogen's vehicle, the mood was that it was his chance, but we'll see. The summer both "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" came out could have turned Rogen into a diva, but he still gives us supporters as much time as he always did. On the set of his upcoming movie, "Observe and Report," he spent an entire hour chatting between takes.
This is the year of "Pineapple Express" though. Rogen's second produced script with partner Evan Goldberg casts him as a pot smoker on the run from bad guys with his drug dealer (James Franco). The action packed romp may be good preparation for "The Green Hornet," which the duo also wrote and will begin shooting soon.
Rogen in action still contains the same salty dialogue as his straight comedies. "Pineapple Express" employed the improvisational style of previous Judd Apatow projects, which warrant some of the most memorable, and dirtiest, lines. As does this interview, which has been edited for publication. Even with the asterisks it's clear when he's saying f*ck and sh*t, so reader discretion is advised. Question: Okay, once and for all, when you're filming the smoking scenes, what were you actually smoking?
Seth Rogen: It's this sh*t called Wizard Smoke. I didn't like it. Franco didn't have that hard of a time with it. Franco will smoke anything. If you put it in front of him he'll smoke it. It's like non-alcoholic weed. It's like the O'Doul's of weed.
Q: Your character in "Knocked Up" liked to toke too. Is this method acting for you?
SR: I guess so. I mean, no. I don't smoke weed on set all day. I just want to say that, not all day. After lunch you get tired. What can you do? To me the fact that a character smokes weed isn't really what I hang my hat on necessarily. To me Arthur and James Bond aren't the same because they both drink. So I would kind of equate it to that. They're different guys who both have a similar habit. To me they're very different guys though.
Q: How do you feel that your job in a movie drives the comedy, like going from a cop to 'Pineapple Express?'
SR: Process Server. At this point, in this movie it's very specific. In "Pineapple Express" it was just kind of what's a weird job we haven't seen a lot of that you could fathomably smoke weed all day while doing. We didn't know. I honestly have no f*cking clue what a process server does in real life. We could be completely off the mark. We could be 100% wrong but in the writing of the movie, it seemed to work. It seemed to make sense. It was a somewhat organic way of getting me outside Gary Cole's house to witness the murder. That's really all we were [thinking] and then we just thought it would be a funny joke that Franco never really got what I did. We thought that was also kind of funny. I guess it serves a different role in every movie you're doing.
Q: How challenging was it to write action scenes?
SR: It's really fun for us. We try to be innovative with it. I see every single action movie that comes out so we're constantly thinking what do we like, what do we not like, what have we just never seen before? "Pineapple" obviously had budgetary restraints but with "Green Hornet," it's really our goal to show people action that they've never quite seen before.
Q: How would you have written "Pineapple" if you could have had all the money you needed?
SR: We don't think about the money at all. When we're writing a script, the only way we can do it is to just write exactly what it is we would want to see if we went to a movie. When we wrote "Pineapple Express," we did not know whether it would be a $100 million movie or a $27 million. Ultimately it was a $27 million movie but that didn't affect the way we wrote it. It was more going in after and kind of taking things out but ultimately, we did all the action that we wanted in that. That being said, "Green Hornet" seems like it would be more in the $70-100 million world but again, we just write these things thinking what movie do we want to go see? What would we throw down our money for? What trailer would we watch and say, "That's the f*cking movie I'm running to! That's the movie I'm standing in line for right now." Those are the movies we want to make.
Q: What was the most enjoyable action scene to shoot?
SR: The fight in the house was a lot of fun. It's always fun to do something that you really think is funny and that fight, as we were doing it, we thought could actually really be funny. It goes on and on and we just destroyed that house.
Q: How long does it last in the film?
SR: 27 and a half minutes. No. I don't know. It's probably around four and a half, five minutes, something like that, which is a lot of time to spend on a fight, but we just do it. "Deer Hunter" has a two hour wedding. So what the f*ck?
Q: The foot in the windshield gets a great reaction in the trailer because nobody knows it's not blood.
SR: Yeah, exactly. Nobody knows. I like to hear people say, "How can they show all that blood in the f*ckin' movie trailer?" It's funny how that works. I didn’t even think about that until I overheard someone say that actually. Yeah, it's slushy.
Q: Are you intimidated by high school guys in real life and have you ever dated an 18-year-old high school girl?
SR: I would only date a 15-year-old high school girl. 18? Come on. I'm an actor. No. I actually live right near a high school and I always walk by. I live in a high school. I actually live in the boiler room of a high school at night. When I see high school guys now I'm actually like, "Thank f*cking God I'm not in high school anymore because they look like they could get the living sh*t out of me." I'm soft compared to these guys. Maybe it's just L.A., but they look like men, like they would have kids and sh*t.
Q: What is your concept for "The Green Hornet?"
SR: I would say in a way it's your quintessential story about a hero and his sidekick. That's what really initially drew us to it is we always thought that was kind of a funny dynamic and a funny relationship. No movies really did that except "Batman and Robin." No movies did that well. So it's something that for years, me and Evan had actually kind of been toying with this notion of a movie that really explores the hero/sidekick relationship and what is a hero without a sidekick. What is a sidekick without a hero? It's actually a dynamic that applies to many real life situations, a lot of working dynamics, a lot of boss and their underlings. That's what really initially drew us to it because the one thing people say when you say The Green Hornet is Bruce Lee, Kato. He's the only sidekick who's way more known than he is.
Q: Who even knows who played the Hornet?
SR: Exactly. Van Williams. I know but exactly. That is definitely part of what the movie is ultimately.
Q: Are you going back to standup this summer?
SR: Oy vey, I think I'm supposed to. Yeah, I was actually just talking to Adam Sandler about that. I saw him over the weekend. We were just both like, "What the f*ck are we going to write jokes about now? Our lives are awesome." It sucks any and all humor out. All my jokes are about not being able to get laid and having no money. Now I have a girlfriend and a good job. I literally don't know what the f*ck to write about. I've got all these 'Hills' jokes and sh*t. Just like is this funny? Jokes about Spencer? Can I do that? Does anyone give a sh*t? It's removed me from my insecure base which is where all my jokes came from."
Q: That's for the next Judd Apatow movie. Is that a dramedy?
SR: Yeah, it definitely has more dramatic elements than any of the other movies do but in my head is just as funny as any of the other ones. Yeah, I think that's fair. That term I always found weird. I always thought realistic was a better way to explain things that were "Dramedies" because life is like that. It's funny, it's dramatic and to me that's how I see it.
Q: Have you been rehearsing all summer?
SR: No, I'm not shooting anything between now and then. I've got a lot of f*ckin' "Pineapple Express" promotion to do. Gotta smoke weed at the Juno Awards and the Tonys. Gotta smoke weed at the Blockbuster Awards. Do they still do that? No, I'm just promoting the movie basically and then we start rehearsals I think around the end of August or something like that.
Your Talkback on this Story