Seth Rogen (born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, voice artist, screenwriter 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 landed a supporting role in Freaks and Geeks. After Rogen 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 film producer Judd 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 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, Observe and Report, and The Green Hornet, and also in the Apatow-produced comedies Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express, and Funny People. He co-wrote the comedy film Superbad, for which he originally intended to headline years ago, with his comedy partner Evan Goldberg, and co-developed the story and screenplay for Pineapple Express. He also co-wrote the screenplay for another comedy film that Apatow helped co-produce, Drillbit Taylor. Rogen has provided voice talents in the animated films Horton Hears a Who!, Kung Fu Panda,
Early life
Rogen was born 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 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. At the age of 14, with his friend Evan Goldberg, he co-wrote Superbad, reflecting pieces from their childhood and dad. With his deadpan humor, 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 had a 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.[6] 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, Habonim Dror, 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, and he is credited with providing additional material for Brüno.
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 role 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 movie Drillbit Taylor, which is based on a 70-page scriptment written by John Hughes.
Acting roles
Rogen (far right) at Comic-Con in 2010.
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 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 would write an episode for the animated television series The Simpsons. He also voiced a character in the episode. The episode was titled Homer the Whopper and was the season premiere.
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 January 2011. To prepare for his role, Rogen's physical appearance has been 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 Live With It, from Mandate Pictures. The film is based on an autobiographical comedy script by screenwriter Will Reiser.
In June 2010, Executive Producer of Entourage, Doug Ellin, admitted that he once considered casting Rogen for the program.Now he is working with Raul Ballesteros and Azek in an upcoming movie in 2013.
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 it 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, 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." Also, when first moving to Hollywood he said that his goal was to be in a Kevin Smith Movie. People had said "Well, that probably isn't that hard to do".
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, who met in 2004. She has had minor on-screen roles in a few of Rogen's films. She has also produced, written, and directed for unrelated films.Rogen and Miller became engaged in September 2010.
Rogen 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 latter being a semi-autobiographical take on their longtime friendship.
He is a big fan of The Simpsons and has always wanted to work with Matt Groening on a movie.[citation needed] Rogen has claimed his five favorite films to be The Big Lebowski, Ghostbusters, The Last Detail, Total Recall and Goodfellas.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Freaks and Geeks Ken Miller TV Series: 18 Episodes
2001 Undeclared Ron Garner TV Series: 17 Episodes
Writer
Donnie Darko Ricky Danforth
2003 Dawson's Creek Bob TV Series: 1 Episode
2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Scottie
2005 The 40-Year-Old Virgin Cal Co-Producer
2006 You, Me and Dupree Neil
2007 Knocked Up Benjamin Stone Executive Producer
Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse Seth Writer
Superbad Officer Michaels Writer/Executive Producer
2008 The Spiderwick Chronicles Hogsqueal Voice only
Horton Hears a Who! Morton the Mouse Voice Only
Strange Wilderness Ranger In The Helicopter Voice Only
Drillbit Taylor Writer Only
Kung Fu Panda Master Mantis Voice only
Step Brothers Sporting Goods Manager
Pineapple Express Dale Denton Writer/Executive Producer
Zack and Miri Make a Porno Zack Brown
2009 Fanboys Admiral Seasholtz
Mr Roach "The Pimp"
Star trek alien
Monsters vs. Aliens B.O.B. Voice Only
Observe and Report Ronnie Barnhardt
Funny People Ira Wright Executive Producer
Paper Heart Himself Interview
Family Guy Himself TV Series: 2 Episodes
Voice Only
The Simpsons Lyle McCarthy TV Series:One episode
Voice Only
Writer
2010 Live With It Kyle Producer
Post-Production
2011 Paul Paul Voice Only
Post-Production
Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom Master Mantis Voice Only
Post-production
The Green Hornet Britt Reid/The Green Hornet Writer/Executive Producer
Post-Production
Take This Waltz Lou Post-Production
Awards
Year Award Category Film Result Notes
2000 Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Series - Young Ensemble Freaks and Geeks Nominated Shared with cast
2005 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program Da Ali G Show Nominated Shared with writing staff
2006 MTV Movie Award Best On-Screen Team The 40-Year-Old Virgin Nominated Shared with Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and Romany Malco
2008 High Times Stony Award 2008 Stoner of the year Pineapple Express Won
Canadian Comedy Award Best Writing (Film) Superbad Won
Canadian Comedy Award Best Actor (Film) Knocked Up Nominated
MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance, Breakthrough Performance Knocked Up Nominated
2009 MTV Movie Award Best Fight Pineapple Express Nominated
Shared with James Franco, and Danny McBride
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Observe and Report, Pineapple Express Nominated
2010 Kids Choice Awards Best Voice From an Animated Movie Monsters vs. Aliens Nominated
(source:wikipedia)
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