Seth Rogen on how he convinced Martin Scorsese to cameo in ‘The Studio’: “All anyone wants is a good joke”
Seth Rogen has explained how he successfully convinced legendary director Martin Scorsese to play himself in Apple TV+’s The Studio.
The series’ premise sees Rogan star as Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of embattled Continental Studios, a dream he’s been pursuing all of his life. However, once he manages to climb to the top of the ladder, Remick soon discovers that his lifelong ambition isn’t everything he thought it would be.
Many Hollywood icons play themselves in the series, the first two episodes of which landed on Apple TV+ on March 26th, including Scorsese, Steve Buscemi, Paul Dano, Zac Efron, Olivia Wilde, Anthony Mackie, Zoë Kravitz, and Ron Howard.
In The Studio, Remick accidentally thwarts plans for Scorsese’s final movie, Kool-Aid, about Jonestown which causes the Oscar-winning director to cry.
Recently speaking at the premiere at SXSW to an audience, Rogen revealed that he had no prior relationship with Scorsese but the comical nature of the pitch was enough to persuade the auteur to come on board.
“The set of this show was the first time I met Martin Scorsese, and we couldn’t believe he did it,” Rogen shared, via USA Today. “But we worked hard to write roles we hoped were funny and that we hoped people would respond to, and all anyone wants is a good joke. That’s what we really learned. It’s very enticing to people to feel like they get to be funny,” he continued.
Rogen also said this is the same way they managed to recruit Charlize Theron, who he previously worked with on Long Shot, to agree to a tiny part, adding, “Even Charlize (Theron): We’re like, ‘You have one line, but it’ll kill. We promise.’”
The Studio’s first two episodes are currently streaming on Apple TV+ with the next eight episodes of the first series set to arrive on the platform on a weekly basis every Wednesday.
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