Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen on Good Morning San Diego
Born	April 15 1982 (1982--) (age 25) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Seth Rogen (born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and Emmy-nominated writer.

Rogen began his career doing standup comedy for four years during his teens, coming in second place in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest when he was sixteen. After moving to Los Angeles, Rogen landed supporting roles in Judd Apatow's two critically acclaimed network television comedies, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared (the latter of which also hired Rogen as a staff writer). Both shows were cancelled after one season.

After landing a job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show, for which he and the other writers received an Emmy nomination, Rogen was guided by Apatow toward a film career. Rogen 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 Rogen as the lead in Apatow’s next directorial feature, Knocked Up.

Rogen has appeared in the films Donnie Darko, You, Me, and Dupree and Fanboys, in addition to the Apatow-produced comedies Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Superbad (a semi-autobiographical comedy Rogen originally intended to headline years ago, co-written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg). Rogen also wrote the screenplay for another comedy which Apatow helped co-produce, Owen Wilson's Drillbit Taylor.

Biography

Early life

Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Sandy, a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who works for non-profit organizations and as an assistant director of a Workmen's Circle.^[1][2] Rogen has described his parents, who met at an Israeli kibbutz, as "radical Jewish socialists".^[2] Rogen attended a Talmud Torah school,^[3] as well as Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp where he would perform stand-up comedy for fellow campers.^[1] 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, then headed south of the border to continue stand-up and acting.

Early career

Rogen's first exposure to the entertainment field began with commercial work in Canada at the age of 13.^[4] After trying his hand as a standup comic, Rogen snapped up his first starring role in the Judd Apatow/Paul Feig 1980s-set teen series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) with only two auditions. He played cynical, acerbic "freak" Ken Miller. Apatow was very impressed with Rogen's improvisational skills.^[5] 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 (2001-2002), and went on to write several episodes. In 2001, Rogen also had minor roles in Donnie Darko (playing Ricky Danforth) and Dawson's Creek, in an episode he claims he never saw.^[6] 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.^[7]

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. ^[8] During the show's run, Rogen wrote one episode by himself and co-wrote four others.^[7]

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 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. As it turned out, Rogen had signed on to the show for what became its final season; Da Ali G Show ended due to the creative decision that its mode of "surprise" comedy would become unsustainable if the show continued much longer. Rogen's association with the show's star, Sacha Baron Cohen, was not over, however; In a recent interview with Tokion Magazine(Issue 55), Rogen claimed to have made uncredited contributions to Cohen's film version of Borat.^[9]

Rogen credits much of his comedic style, as well as his success, to his second cousin, Oliver Davies, who encouraged him to keep working at his comedy even when times got tough and left him "always wanting more." The famous "you're gay" scene from the Forty-Year-Old Virgin, for instance, was written by Davies.^[10]

Rogen's most recent project is the 2007 comedy, Superbad, the script for which he wrote years ago 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.^[11] Rogen also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Owen Wilson vehicle, Drillbit Taylor, which is based on a 70-page scriptment written by John Hughes.^[12]

Current projects

Seth Rogen (left) and Paul Rudd from The 40 Year Old Virgin

Rogen returned to the big screen in 2005 with a major supporting role in Apatow's directorial debut The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The film was a massive success, grossing $109,449,237 domestically ($177,358,395 worldwide).^[13] Apatow then cast Rogen as the lead in the 2007 film Knocked Up.^[14] 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.^[15]

Spots in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and You, Me and Dupree have also ensured him a minor place in Hollywood's Frat Pack. In USA Today's recent profile of the group, they mention those actors' rising salaries makes it financially wiser to cast newcomers like Rogen, citing his roles in Virgin and Dupree as successful examples.^[16] When asked in an interview if he is in the group, Rogen has stated he is not sure.^{[6] [17]}

Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen from Knocked Up

Rogen and Apatow's latest project, as of summer 2007, is the teen comedy Superbad at Columbia Pictures. Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the film, with Apatow as one of the Producers. While Rogen did pen Owen Wilson's upcoming Drillbit Taylor, he does not expect to appear in it since the script mostly involves high school students. Freaks and Geeks co-star James Franco also revealed that he will reunite with Rogen for the Apatow-written comedy, Pineapple Express.^[18] According to a Bill Hader fansite, Rogen is set to host Saturday Night Live on October 6, 2007.^[19]

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.^[5] As with most Apatow projects, the dialogue in Rogen's films is usually not what was on paper.^[15] Rogen says he prefers improvised dialogue because it captures the essence of real friends spouting jokes.^[20] Because Apatow never stops rolling after takes, allowing his actors to improvise differently each time, Rogen's two largest film roles to date (The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) both achieved the rare milestone of shooting over a million feet of film, almost unprecedented for comedies.^[15]

Personal life

Rogen moved to Los Angeles at the age of 16, after Apatow discovered him in Vancouver.^[5] 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.^[7] Rogen still resides in Los Angeles. He continues to write and produce with longtime writing partner, Evan Goldberg, with whom he has worked with on Da Ali G Show, Knocked Up, and Superbad, the latter of which is a semi-autobiographical take on their longtime friendship. He lives with Lauren Miller, his girlfriend of two years.^[21] Rogen and Miller attended the film premieres of The 40 Year-Old Virgin, You, Me and Dupree and Knocked Up. ^[22][23]

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 Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, and Jim Carrey.^[10] Rogen cites the Adam Sandler album They're All Gonna Laugh at You! (which features Judd 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.^[10] Rogen was also a huge fan of the Da Ali G Show's first season, so it was a shock to suddenly work for Cohen. Rogen cites the films Porky's and Bachelor Party, in addition to films by Kevin Smith, as inspirations for writing sex comedies.^[24]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

• Patterson, J. "Comedy's new centre of gravity", Film, The Guardian, 2007-09-14. Retrieved on 2007-09-23. 

External links

• Seth Rogen at the Internet Movie Database
• Seth Rogen Fan Site
• The Education of A Comic Prodigyon Time.com (a division of Time Magazine)
• The Onion A.V. Club interview
• Is this the face of Hollywood's next A-lister? (Profile from The Globe and Mail)
• Seth Rogen Interview in Complex Magazine
• Interview with Seth Rogen about Knocked UP
• Interview with Seth Rogen about Knocked Up

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