Seth Rogenis a man of many occupations: actor, writer, director,freelance ceramicist.
“What grabbed you about it?
SETH ROGEN: I knew Simon fromSaturday Night Live, that was how I first met him.
Mike Marsland/WireImage
And I could not relate to that more.
My grandfather was in World War II, he was a professional football player.
He was a tough guy.
Hopper Stone/HBO
Did you picture yourself in both parts from the beginning?
It took me a long time to decide whether I wanted to play both.
We actually did a table read many years ago where another actor played the other role.
[Laughs]
Are you a fan of movies where actors play against themselves?
For some reason watching this, I kept thinking ofBig Business.
Oh I love that movie!
Honestly though,Adaptationis probably one of the more successful versions of that in my head.
One of my few tools as an actor, yes.
[Laughs]
How did you work that out, shooting-wise?
You also deal with Herschel’s 100-year time jump pretty efficiently early on.
Was that a deliberate way to address the sort of pickled elephant in the room?
Otherwise it plays by rules that we understand, you know?
So you pretty much just have to establish the rules, and then stick to your own eternal logic.
And in this world you’re able to be pickled.
but he’s blown away that Ben has 25 pairs of socks.
So its a very similar thing.
‘Oh, you have a whole drawer full of napkins, wow!
Thats what I like to see!”
Herschel eventually starts expressing some old-timey opinions about social issues that don’t exactly float in 2020.
But even movies from 10 or 15 years ago can sometimes come off that way now.
Do you feel that way about any of your earlier films?
Some for reasons we do, and some we dont.
Did you still get to see some audience reactions early on before the lockdown?
But I could see that people very much understood the direction it was going.
They got that its maybe not yourEncino Man.
[Laughs] Not to say I dont one day hope to make anEncino Man.
If someone was judging you fromyour Instagram, they might think your life is approximately 8o percent ceramics…
I just picture you and Brad Pitt sharing a kiln, I know hesbig on potterytoo.
Me and my wife actually named our kiln Brad Pitt.
I just enjoy producing tangible work.
[Laughs]
Youve also been outspoken about weed legalization for a long time.
Are you glad that that fight is effectively over?
Im happy, but its not over at all.
You’refamously Canadian, though your dad grew up in the U.S.
I just come here to work and make comedies!
I am an American citizen and this is America and I make money in America.
So I no longer feel that way.
I mean personally, I think I am just actively trying to make less things starring white people.
Has quarantine given you a chance to get much done?
For some people it seems to kind of push their creative buttons, and other people not at all.
Are you ready for that wave, and is it something you might even contribute to?
Its interesting, I wonder.
That answer really went in an unexpected direction.
It all comes back toJulie & Julia.
[Laughs]
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