The movie Seth Rogen calls “unbelievably funny”
For the last 20 years, Seth Rogen has been one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood comedy, although he’s also segued into becoming a powerhouse producer and accomplished filmmaker when he’s not required to be on-screen.
His first two roles came in short-lived TV shows Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, both of which were cancelled after one season before gifting cinema with a cavalcade of future stars, including Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Ben Foster, Lizzy Caplan, Jay Baruchel, and Charlie Hunnam to name just a small few.
Rogen’s feature-length debut arrived when he lent scene-stealing support in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, before becoming one of the many regular collaborators of Judd Apatow as the writer, director, and producer began establishing dominance over studio comedies in the mid-to-late 2000s.
These days, the multi-talented performer is regarded as one of the most consistent producers in the industry in terms of the success the majority of his projects tend to find on screens, either big or small, while forays into drama have outlined Rogen’s career has plenty of longevity once he decides that distinctive laugh of his is no longer required in movies designed to have audiences rolling in the aisles.
A five-time Primetime Emmy and three-time Golden Globe nominee, Rogen’s portfolio has seen him expand into producing Prime Video hits Preacher and The Boys, executive producing and starring in miniseries Pam & Tommy, directing two features alongside long-time creative partner Evan Goldberg, backing horror as the executive producer of the underrated Cobweb, and co-writing recent reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
It’s an impressive filmography, with Rogen even finding the time to step into one of his dream roles when he filled Jeff Bridge’s shoes as The Dude, His Dudeness, or Duder, or El Duderino if you’re not into the whole brevity thing for Jason Reitman’s live reading of The Big Lebowski.
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Rogen had called the Coen brothers’ classic “amazing” and “hilarious”, describing it as a movie he can watch “over and over”. For someone who finds the drug-addled descent into criminal ineptitude “unbelievably funny”, he would have been overjoyed at being asked to make such an important contribution to Reitman’s recreation.
The Big Lebowski is a favourite for a lot of people, and it makes perfect sense that it would be high up on Rogen’s list, considering his own well-known affinity for certain herbal remedies also enjoyed by Jeffrey Lebowski.
In fact, there arguably wasn’t a better-equipped candidate to take on the daunting challenge for a live reading, which also gave him the added benefit of paying tribute to a film he’s loved ever since it first came to cinemas in 1988 when he was only 16 years old.
