Seth Rogen Biography

Summary

"Seth Rogen" (born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer and film producer. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy for four years during his teens, coming in second place in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest when he was 16. While still living in his native Canada, he auditioned for (and ultimately landed) a supporting role in "Freaks and Geeks". After he moved to Los Angeles for the role, "Freaks and Geeks" was canceled after one season. He then got a part on the equally short-lived "Undeclared", which also hired him as a staff writer.

After landing a job as a staff writer on the final season of "Da Ali G Show", for which Rogen and the other writers received an Emmy nomination, he was guided by director Judd Apatow toward a film career. He was cast in a major supporting role and credited as a co-producer in Apatow's directorial debut, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin". After receiving critical praise for that performance, Universal Pictures agreed to cast him as the lead in Apatow's next directorial feature, "Knocked Up".

Rogen has appeared in the films "Donnie Darko", "You, Me and Dupree", "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", "Fanboys", and "Observe and Report", in addition to the Apatow-produced comedies "Anchorman", "Knocked Up", "Superbad" (a semi-autobiographical comedy he originally intended to headline years ago, co-written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg), "Pineapple Express", "Step Brothers", and "Funny People". He also co-wrote the screenplay for another comedy that Apatow helped co-produce, Owen Wilson's "Drillbit Taylor". He has also provided voiceovers in the family-oriented films "Shrek the Third", "The Spiderwick Chronicles", "Horton Hears a Who!", "Kung Fu Panda", and "Monsters vs. Aliens".

Early life

Rogen was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia to Sandy, a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who works for non-profit organizations and as an assistant director of a Workmen's Circle. He has described his parents, who met at an Israeli kibbutz, as 'radical Jewish socialists.' He has one older sister, Danya, who is a social worker. Rogen attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School school and Point Grey Secondary School (although he never graduated), incorporating many of his classmates into his writing. He was also known for the stand-up comedy he performed at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp. Rogen got his start in show business at age 13, after signing up for a comedy class. With his trademark deadpan humour, he placed second in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest at 16 years old, then headed south of the border to continue stand-up and acting.

Career

Early career

Rogen's first exposure to the entertainment field began with commercial work in Canada at the age of 13. After trying his hand as a standup comic for a few years, Rogen obtained his first starring role in the series "Freaks and Geeks" with only two auditions. He played cynical, acerbic 'freak' Ken Miller. Judd Apatow, the show's co-producer, was very impressed with Rogen's improvisational skills. After the show was cancelled in the middle of its first season, Rogen was cast in a similar role in Apatow's second, also short-lived series, "Undeclared", and went on to write several episodes. In 2001, Rogen also a had minor role in "Donnie Darko" (playing Ricky Danforth) and in 2003 on an episode of "Dawson's Creek" called 'Rock Bottom' as 'Bob' in their last season, that he also claims he never saw. Following the cancellation of his second series in 2002, Rogen developed a soured attitude toward television, not wanting to act on another show unless Apatow was involved.

Writing career

Rogen's first major writing job was for Apatow's second short-lived television series, "Undeclared", for which he was hired as a writer before he was offered an acting role. During the show's run, Rogen wrote one episode by himself and co-wrote four others.

Rogen's experience with "Undeclared" paid off when he and his writing partner, Evan Goldberg, joined the writing staff of "Da Ali G Show" for its second and ultimately final season. In 2005, the "Ali G Show" writing staff, including Rogen and Goldberg, received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program category. Rogen's association with the show's star, Sacha Baron Cohen, who had belonged to the same Jewish youth group, was not over, however; in a recent interview with "Tokion" (#55), Rogen claimed to have made uncredited contributions to Cohen's film version of "Borat".

In 2008 Rogen won the Best Writing (Film) Canadian Comedy Award for "Superbad". He had written the script for this 2007 comedy years earlier, as a starring vehicle for himself. The "Superbad" team then looked for 'an 18-year-old version' of Rogen and chose frequent Rogen collaborator Jonah Hill (who is slightly less than two years younger). Rogen also wrote the screenplay for the Owen Wilson vehicle "Drillbit Taylor", which is based on a 70-page scriptment written by John Hughes.

Recent projects

Rogen returned to the big screen in 2005 with a major supporting role in Apatow's directorial debut "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" alongside Steve Carell. The film was a massive success, grossing $109,449,237 domestically ($177,358,395 worldwide). Apatow then cast Rogen as the lead in the 2007 film "Knocked Up". Upon completing "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", Apatow had approached Rogen about potential starring roles, but the actor suggested many high concept science fiction ideas. After Apatow insisted that Rogen would work better in real life situations, the two agreed on the accidental pregnancy concept that became "Knocked Up", for which Rogen was nominated for Best Actor at the 2008 Canadian Comedy Dundies, losing to Michael Cera for his role in "Superbad" which was co-written by Rogen.

In "USA Today"s recent profile of the so-called 'frat pack' group of contemporary actors, they mention those actors' rising salaries makes it financially wiser to cast newcomers like Rogen as supporting characters, citing his roles in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Dupree" as successful examples. When asked in an interview if he is in the group, Rogen has stated that he is not sure.

Rogen and Apatow were behind the 2007 teen comedy "Superbad" at Sony Pictures. Rogen and Goldberg wrote the film, with Apatow as one of the producers. While Rogen did pen Owen Wilson's "Drillbit Taylor", he did not appear in it since the script mostly involved high school students. "Freaks and Geeks" co-star James Franco reunited with Rogen for the Rogen/Goldberg-written comedy, "Pineapple Express". Rogen hosted "Saturday Night Live" on October 6, 2007 and again on April 4, 2009. Rogen's next release was Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", in which he co-starred with Elizabeth Banks. It was the first film Rogen has co-headlined in that grossed under $100 million at the domestic box-office. Rogen also appeared along-side Kevin Smith on the October 18th, 2008 episode of the movie review podcast Scene Unseen.

He starred in the Jody Hill-directed mall cop comedy "Observe and Report", which opened in theaters on April 10, 2009.

Later in 2009, Rogen starred in Apatow's third directorial feature, "Funny People", with Adam Sandler. Rogen played a young, inexperienced comic while Sandler played a mentor of sorts to Rogen's character; the film had more dramatic elements in it than Apatow's previous directorial efforts. Other co-stars included Eric Bana and Apatow's wife Leslie Mann.

In April 2008, "Empire" reported that Rogen and Evan Goldberg will write an episode for the animated television series "The Simpsons". He will also voice a character in the episode.

After years of speculation, a feature film adaptation of "The Green Hornet" will be handled by Rogen and Evan Goldberg with a theatrical release of 2010. To prepare his role, Rogen's physical appearance and attributes will be changed through fitness routines. In 2007, in a strategy to garner interest and funding, Rogen created a pre-pre-production trailer for "Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse", a film he is now working on with Goldberg, and is set to produce and take a supporting role in the film "I'm With Cancer", from Mandate Pictures. "Cancer" is based on an autobiographical comedy script by screenwriter Will Reiser.

In November 2008, Showtime picked up an untitled show executively produced by Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Matthew Bass about three twentysomethings who learn about life and love while running a pornography shop. It will air in 2009.

Improvisation

Though Rogen has penned scripts for both film and television, his comedic stylings tend to rely heavily on improvisational dialogue. Apatow noticed this improvisation talent on the set of "Freaks and Geeks", which influenced his decision to have Rogen write for "Undeclared" and pitch jokes for "The 40-Year-Old Virgin". As with most Apatow projects, the dialogue in Rogen's films is usually not what was on paper. Rogen says he prefers improvised dialogue because it captures the essence of real friends spouting jokes. Because Apatow never stops rolling after takes, allowing his actors to improvise differently each time, Rogen's three largest film roles to date ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin", "Knocked Up", and "Pineapple Express") all achieved the rare milestone of shooting over a million feet of film, almost unprecedented for comedies.

Influences

Rogen has described the shock of being thrust into an industry where he is now working alongside the comedic icons he grew up watching, such as Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, and Jim Carrey. Rogen cites the Sandler album "They're All Gonna Laugh at You!" (which features Apatow at certain points) as the funniest thing he has ever heard, stating that the track 'At A Medium Pace' was the seed for what became his comedic persona. Rogen was also a huge fan of the "Da Ali G Show"s first season, so it was a shock to suddenly work for Sacha Baron Cohen. Rogen cites the films "Porky's" and "Bachelor Party", in addition to films by Kevin Smith, as inspirations for writing sex comedies. In an interview with MTV, he said of Smith 'I feel like my strengths were always kind of ripping off a Kevin Smith movie anyway. It's not a far departure.' Of Smith and his films, Rogen has gone as far as to say (to Smith) 'I wouldn't be a writer if it wasn't for you and your movies.'

Personal life

Rogen moved to Los Angeles at the age of 16, after Apatow discovered him in Vancouver. During his late teens, Rogen's parents moved from Canada with him, but by the time he landed his second television series, his parents would live in both Canada and the United States. Rogen still resides in Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Lauren Miller. He continues to write and produce with longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg, with whom he has worked on "Da Ali G Show", "Knocked Up", "Pineapple Express", and "Superbad", the last of which is a semi-autobiographical take on their longtime friendship. He is also a naturalized citizen of Canada. He is a big "Simpsons" fan and has always wanted to work with Matt Groening on a movie. Rogen has claimed his five favorite films to be "The Big Lebowski", "Ghostbusters", "The Last Detail", "Total Recall" and "Goodfellas".