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Seth Rogen on going from onscreen slacker to studio boss: ‘People really do scream at each other in Hollywood’

He might be known for his stoner vibe and roles in comedies such as Superbad and Knocked Up, but behind the scenes the actor, writer, weed-lover and pottery fan has also become a producing power player. Has it changed him?

I suspect Rogen, who is 42, can get away with a great deal more whining than most people in Hollywood purely by virtue of the firm and affectionate idea of him we have from his movies: funny, nerdy, beardy, affable, Canadian, for God’s sake, a man whose side hustle is running a weed business and making ceramics. He is speaking via video call from the LA production office of Point Grey Pictures, the company he runs with Evan Goldberg, his writing and business partner of 30 years, which, according to IMDb, has a whopping 16 projects in the works – though, Rogen says, with assiduous self-ridicule, “a lot of that may not be real”. Knocked Up, the 2007 comedy in which he co-starred with Katherine Heigl, tried to persuade us a twentysomething babyman is not, by today’s standards, a shirking nightmare but a cute creature, and the film, along with Pineapple Express and Superbad, succeedsin large part thanks to Rogen’s persona.

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