The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Seth Rogen

Episode Date: August 16, 2026

Back in late 2019, Seth Rogen joined Questlove Supreme in-studio to trace his journey from Vancouver teen comic and Superbad writer to Hollywood multi-hyphenate, unpacking weed culture, comedy craft, and the struggles and rewards of making big, risky movies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I'm Maria Garcia. You may remember me from my podcast, Anything for Selena or My DiBel. I love pop culture. I think about stuff like, what did Mariah Carey and Luis Miguel's relationship mean?

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When Democrats are messing up, I say it. When Republicans are messing up, I say it. I'm S.E. Cup, a journalist and political commentator. And on my podcast, Off the Cup, I help you make sense of the often nonsensical news. I do this on cable news, too, but on my podcast, I can really let loose and be my honest, unfiltered self. I just want to talk about something that happened this week because it's so bonkers, so stupid. Such incredibly bad politics. We have to talk about it.

Come for the hot takes. Stay for the sanity. Listen to Off the Cup on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You gave everything you could give, and now it's time to take the next step. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman, and this season, On She Pivots,

the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points. I sit down with culture-shifting women who share their pivots like Elizabeth Smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make. make a difference, so I'm going to keep going. And feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying to express women's real lives.

Listen to She Pivots on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed. There should not be a single law enforcement agency. It does not have body cameras. It's real. Black farmers have been under attack. This is just the latest example of them just slapping DEI on anything.

It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing y'all for fools. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts. Wherever you get your podcasts. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. Hey, what's up, y'all? You know, I love the QLS episodes with comedians.

And right before the pandemic, we had Seth Rogen on. We laugh, we talked Hollywood shop, we talk hip-hop, stand-up. Listen back as Laia, Sugar Steve, Boss Bill and I spoke with Seth, who was so fun to hang out with and listen to this and let us know some of the comedians you would like on the show. All right. Wait, what? Wait, wait, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop the theme, stop the theme. Keep it going, stop the theme. Wait, you said that if you sit next to Seth Rogen, you're going to be rich Laiya.

On the first of January? Yes, if I start the year sitting next to Seth Rogen, shit. Shit. I'm gonna be rich and funny. Okay. Here we go. All right. Suprema. Suprema, sub, sub, subprima roll car. Suprema, sub, sub, subprima, roll call.

Suprema, sub, subprima, roll call. Suprema, sub, subprima, roll call. Now, Questlove here thinking, yeah. Which is which? Yeah. Maybe I need to switch my seat. Yeah. So I too can get rich.

Roll car. Supreme. I'm just saying. Supraima Roll Call Supraima Roll Call My name is Sugar Yeah Yeah, I'm a mess

Yeah Been smoking way too much Yeah Pineapple Express Roll Kong Supra Suprama Suprara

Suprara Roll Call Supra Suprara Roll Call This is Boss Bill Yeah Back again my friends Yeah This is the third line

Yeah Suprema, Subra, Subt, Suprema, Rollca. Suprima, Subra, Supraima, Roca. It's Laia. Yeah. With Seth, of course. Yeah. I don't know what to tell you.

Yeah. This will be better than fucking a horse. Roca. Suprema. You went to a dark place. Supraima Roca. Supraima, Submira Roca. My name is Seth.

Yeah. I'm feeling old. Yeah. And in New York. Yeah. fucking cold. Roll call. Suprema.

Subrema. Roca. Suprema. Subrema. Subrema. Roca. Suprema. Suprema.

Roca. Suprima. Supriva. So, Superma. They're excited too. This is how we're going to start. This is how we're going to start on the new year of 2020.

This is a bad omen. All right. Well, that's cool. The God saw to it that we should have no more theme. Get to it. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the newly rich, Nouveau-Riche, Questlove.

Another episode, Happy New Year. This is January 1st, 2020. Everybody. How do you feel? Good. Old and cold. Old and cold. How was your holiday? Your festivities?

It was... Old and cold? No, we had a great time, of course. Okay. So great, we can't remember. Did the checks come through? Yeah, the Hanukkah check's clear. Cool. I'm all as well. I'm actually shocked because whenever

any of your brother come on on the show, your, you always, your roll call is usually geared towards. You do Jewel calls? Yeah. Yeah, I thought of about incorporating the Jewelie part, but I just left it with the stoner part. It was a stoner first. I think, yeah, I was about to say, I think...

Stonerness and Jewiness are pretty, like, there's a lot overlap. Unpaid Bill would not approve. Anyway, I'm your host, Questlove, joined a day by Mike Cruny's Laia boss Bill, Sugar Steve. Unpaid Bill surprisingly isn't here. Yeah.

Wait, is he not coming, or is he? No. Did we call him? Did we let him know? You know, he does plays, Sesame Street and stuff. Oh, okay. So he's going to show him with some puppets. Enough bagel jokes we can make it out on it.

Anyway, not to stall anymore, ladies and gentlemen, we have comedian, director, producer, actor, writer, a leading man, cannabis connoisseur, also an advocate for sleeping in the bedroom under 67 degrees. Yes. It's true. We will get into that. We'll discuss that later.

I guess Philadelphia music culture fan, boys to men in the roots. Ladies and gentlemen, and hip-hop head and Canadian, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show, Seth Rogen. Yay. Yes. We'd have made it. I made it. Wait, I got a...

All right. We... This is the show of rabbit-holling. Yes. Let's start at the beginning. Let's get in the first one. All right. I'm a little...

I'm miffed. All right. So, I have to explain that... A lot of backstory. I was very fortunate... I was very fortunate to attend Seth's hilarity for charity. Yeah.

Shout out to a... Anish and Mary Ellis Museum of Ice cream. Is your Alzheimer's event? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I went there and the discussion of how much sleep does a person need to

have that healthy brain. Yeah, have a healthy brain. The theme was brain health. Yes. Yes. No, I learned a lot.

I learned that as of lately, I'll say in the last two months, I've been back into the eight-hour range of sleeping. That's good. I feel for that. Right, because people were always like, when do you sleep? When do you sleep? Because you didn't used to sleep.

Right. I was three to five hour guy. And I was told that you don't even reach REM state until six hours and 47 minutes. And for your body to heal and, you know, I'm adjusting my lifestyle right now. I'm trying to get back to a healthier place. I got to do somewhere between eight to ten hours for the magic to begin. So, but then you guys left me with this gym of. The room has to be cold.

Yeah, you sleep best if the room is freezing cold. I've heard that before. Like 60 in the 60s. Well, yeah, my girlfriend took that to heart, and now every night. Yeah, it's cold as hell. It's been 65 degrees in the bedroom. Are you sleeping better? No.

Then you need another blanket. No. You need another blanket. I'm sleeping well, but it's not, like, I needed to be Africa hot. My wife, well, that's why you, my wife likes it much colder than me, and that's why they have heating pad. That's what we were talking about. There's pads from mattress where you can set the temperature so you can keep your side hot and her side cold.

And it's something that throughout... It's like a DLT? Yeah, exactly. Oh, deep cut. It's perfect. That is a deep cut. I'm sorry. It's exactly right. But no, it's fun. And I think as men get older, they get colder. And as women get

hotter, they get hotter. Yeah, they're hotter. I was about to say. Me and my wife have kind of we were just talking about how we like crossed over. Like when we first started dating I was always hot and she was always cold and now I'm always cold and she's always hot and we probably had like three years where we were both the same temperature and we didn't realize

how good that time was until it was gone. No, it could be really problematic because I'll get up, I'll reach my limit at exactly like 4.17 a.m. You're freezing. Are you shivering? I'll sneak up. Wait, here's another good time. Don't you're tired, don't you put your head on that thermostat. Do it. All right, you remember on Sesame City.

Street, the green guy in the, in the trench coat that used to always sell Ernie, like, a letter, hey, bud. Yeah. He was the illicit letter dealer. Right. So, like, his little creep music. The creeping tiptoe music. Yes, exactly.

So I'm in my own house that I pay for. Creeping, putting that shit back to, like, something normal. like 68, 69. See, yeah, I don't go below 60s. That's where we've landed. My wife, Lauren, would go to the, like, low 60s. Over 35, you got to go to 66, bray. For a woman, you just, you got to.

Why? Just put on another blanket and then make it hot underneath it. You know what I'm saying? That's the goal. Think about it. What's the logic behind keeping it cold, or what's the physics of your body? The thing is that your brain is divided into two parts. There's the conscious brain

and like the concert band is like, hey, I'm going to go to work. I'm going to go to work later today. I'm going to take the subway home. I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to ask that girl out. And then it's the subconscious, which does stuff like, I'm going to make sure your heart's beating.

I'm going to make sure your waist. So it's the part of the brain. The medulla oblongata. Whoa. Yeah. You're a god of the beat. What do you say? And so.

It's actually a fish song. Of course. And so. And so your body has to be totally knocked out. So you get to that R.E.M. state at exactly six hours and 45 minutes. When you're that sleep, then your right side of the brain's waking up like, all right, he's asleep. Let's get to work. And so then that's where the fat burns.

That's where, like, all the things that you want to help have happen for your life to be good, your brain's like, all right, they're knocked out now. Now we can get to work. But the thing is that most of us don't get that much sleep. So... No, it's fucked up. We're doing ourselves a disservice by only sleeping six to seven hours. It's terrible for you. You didn't answer my question.

Why is it have to be cold? Probably because people... Probably because it was cold at night. You mean like before we had houses? Yeah, like it's probably like we're conditioned to sleep in colder environments. So that's... So listen, so listen. I know I am.

So at this event, okay, can we just agree that this entire hour is going to be about this? Radholt? No, no. No. I'm kind of on your side of the fence. Why does it have to be so damn cold? No, I mean, I'm just asking. No, no, I'm asking.

What's the scientific part of how coldness helps? I don't know. That's where I want to know. That's where we change the subject. That's all like professionals. I'm just going to suggest everybody hop on Google.com. Okay, tighter. Why do you sleep better when it's cold?

Anyway, let's talk about movies. Where are you born? But you do sleep better when it's cold. And that's a fact. We don't need whys. Are we giving whys? We're just giving answers here. It's been said that.

Completely unsubstantiated information. No, scientists have gone on our record and said so. We had a doctor. He substantiated it. Yeah. I kind of believe you. Me and my curiosity. Exactly.

Don't ask why, man. So you were born in Vancouver. Vancouver, British Columbia. Uh-huh. Home of the hip-hop national anthem. Wait, who else was... Sophia Chang. I was going to ask him if he knew Soviet Chang because he's a Wu-Tang hit.

Yeah, Sophia. Is that a manager? Yeah, you know, Sophia? I think I've met her over the years, actually. She's like a badass Korean chick. She'll be on the future episode. Thank you all this. Anyway, yeah.

No, the Rascals are a hip-hop group from Vancouver that were. The Wascles. The Rascals. They were called like, uh, Northern Touch. Northern Touch. Yeah, Rascals checkmate, Cardinal and Thrust. Did you say Cardinal Fisle? And Chalklair.

How do you know this? How do you know that? Very, no American knows that song. I do my research before I come in this room. Well, maybe you can help. I felt like you knew it naturally. Did DMX straight up steal the beat of that song for a song? I think he may have.

Yeah. There is a DMX song with the exact same beat. as Northern Touch. And I think if you're Canadian, it's very jarring. But if you're like, oh, that's just a good beat. Oh, they stole it. Darn it. I can't.

Oh, I know. The BT Express, the BT Express sample that EPMD used. Ah, yeah, for a headbanger. EB, well, no, no, no, for, uh, uh, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was Northern Touch first? Get the Bozac. No, EBMD was first.

And then Northern Touch. Yes. Maybe. And then DMX came and just took it. Wow. Third generation sample. Did you know that your hometown is also what I consider the national anthem of hip hop? Did you know that Apache was created in Vancouver?

Apache? Yes. Apache was recorded and created in Vancouver. Really? Yes. I did not know that. Yes. That's one of my favorite factoid's about it.

That is a very good factoid. Vancouver. And the other, and Nardwar's from Vancouver is the other. I love Nardwar. Yeah, your interviews with him are great. Have you interviewed Nardwar? I've been interviewed by him once. Have you ever seen a non-savory Nardware interview?

Like a lot of the earlier ones where they don't know if he's trolling them or not? Oh, yes. I mean, I grew up watching him. So I've seen like so many. Wait, how long has he been doing this? Like 30 years? Wait, how old is Nardwar? Like 50-something.

Nard war is 50-something? Yes. How about he's younger than me? No. There's actually an amazing Nardwar interview with Nirvana, like backstage at the P&E forum, which is the like place in Vancouver from like 1990, like three or something. Like Courtney Love is there. And it's like a very long interview that's filled. And throughout, it's like 40 minutes or something like throughout the course of it.

You see Kurt Cobain like slowly realize he's a genius. And like at first it's this thing where it's just like, why is this fucking guy here bothering me? And then he slowly like clues into how amazing it is. Yeah, he totally does. No, but I've seen, because now people know who he is. but for years I would watch interviews where famous musicians would just get interviewed by him and be like

who the fuck is this guy and even still some people don't I feel like don't get it I feel like people all right so that Jay Z interview the Jay Z didn't seem to appreciate Norr more I warned him about it I begged him to do it and then Farrell doubled down yeah so he did it

because if we say it's a thing then Jay Z's just one of them FOMO I don't want to out. Yeah, he's got to do it. He don't know Questmas Supreme is a thing. You're well, you know. Yeah, well. Anyway. 2020. Um, and so, but I'll say that the first time he interviewed me, I was paranoid because he just knew way. Oh, it's weird. Too much information. Yes. He knew shit about me that was. He brought out your high school yearbooks. Yeah, he had my high school yearbooks. Literally. He like, knew people. He, he knew names that I hadn't heard in, like, yeah, I'm 25 years.

Brought a bag from a shop at your mommy store? Yes, literally. It's totally crazy. It would freak me out, too. It was super fucking freaky. But his knowledge is bizarre. He's always trying to get to Kanye. He's like, that's his holy grail.

He, like, emails me and texts me all the time. Oh, you too? I'm not alone? Not at all. Yes. I can see that going very bad. He somehow thinks that I have the magic touch to get him to the Obama's. Wow.

That's a bad thing. I would say. I'm so honored. He's coming to me for Kanye. So that's a big step in a much better direction. I read somewhere, somebody said online that when you get to the pearly gates of heaven, it's Nardwar. He's telling me everything. He's the one that's reviewing your entire life.

So speaking of your hometown, are you, is every time I ask anybody from Vancouver, are you knowledgeable of the Lacasa, Gila, Or is that just for tourist suckers like me? It's the place that has... They didn't pay for that plug. Like hundreds of flavors of gelato. Yeah, it's near... It's on like the north end of kind of the east side of Vancouver.

It's my favorite place ever. I might... It's not somewhere I grew up going, but it's somewhere that I've heard of it. So, again, it's made for tourist. I think it might be kind of a tourist thing. You never try, like, basalmic vinegar, ice cream. Yeah, that's right. I've heard.

Yeah, it was one of the first places to start doing, like, weird flavors or shit like that. Yeah. It's like jenny. No, basically jettis ice cream, man. Made like a tobacco one or something like that, I think, for a while. Well, I mean, some of the weird ones I liked, like they have black pepper vanilla. That's weird. How is cheddar cheese?

I bet that's good. Well, that's the thing. You basically, you sample all the weird ones, and you get the Rocky Road that you came in for. You know, that's a purely, like, North American thing is sampling ice cream. Like, what I was considered rude? Well, I was in Italy, and, uh, and, uh, you know, that's a purely, like, you know, it's considered rude? Well, I was in Italy, and not to brag. I was in Italy in a gelato shop, and there was a rush of Americans left,

and me and my wife were the only people in the restaurant, and the woman behind the counter very quietly looked at us and goes, can I ask you a question? We're like, yeah. He goes, how come American always ask to taste everything? And she's like, what is this? Like, nowhere else you ask to taste everything. And I was like, you're right.

When you put it like that, it is pretty fucking weird. Like nowhere else you'd be like, can I try that sandwich? Can I have a piece of that thing? Baskin-Robbins. That's what I said. I said, I think it all roots back to this one place, Baster Robbins, where they encouraged people to do it. And that ruined ice cream all over the fucking.

Are they still a thing? Yeah. Because I know that the son inherited. You are so cute. What? Are they still a thing? I'm like, yeah, they combined with Dunkin' Donuts. No, no, yeah.

They're in the subways. Yeah, they're in the same though. Are they just. I know that the sun inherited the empire. And because, you know, like, generations are the opposites of what their parents were. Right. The son wasn't like, you know, he didn't, he was concerned about the cows they were using. And, no, wanted free range.

Oh, wow. And so instead, he took the family money and did this expose on how, like, ice cream companies are ruining cows and the environment and all this thing. It's like ice cream succession. So they, yes, exactly. Not Ben and Jerry. That's crazy. No, no, no, not better terrieries. Basketin-Robics.

I know. I was just saying the ice cream industry. Which probably explains why they had to partner with KFC. Yeah, Dunkin' Donuts. KFC Basket Robbins. But that margarita flavor still there is good. Margarita ice cream? They have a margarita flavor.

They've had it forever. Wow. Good to condition children at a young age to develop a taste for margaritas. So 20 minutes into this interview, let's start. Seth. So you being born in the early 80s in Vancouver, what was your environment like in your household? My household? I lived on the east side of Vancouver, which in like a 100% like East Indian neighborhood.

So it was great. It was like I would walk around a lot. I was just arguing with my parents. their memory was that I never walked around alone and I definitively did all the time and would take the bus all around the city but yeah but I went to school in the west side

I grew up I started doing stand-up when I was young like 12 or 13 and I would start writing around then too and I smoked weed a lot and so the not much has changed in my life since I was 12 I hate to so jealous

so the myth the myth of super bad and you crafting this as such a young age is actual factual? Yes, for sure. Yeah. Me and my partner, Evan, who I still work with, met in bar mitzvah class when we were 12, and then

started writing together not long after that. And we had, yeah, we probably finished a draft to Superbad when we were like 14 or 15. You did a complete draft? Yeah, by then. But we started, we were like 13, and there is some, and it's like, it's one of those things where it's almost sad that, like, I'm not

that much smarter or funnier than I was when I was 13 years old, because there are some jokes in the movie that, like, we wrote when we were 13 that are still in the movie, or that are in the movie, that, like, that held up and that are still, yeah, you'd like to think you got better in that amount of time. So at 14, your script looked like a professional, I'm trying to figure how you guys knew. I asked my mom to buy me final draft, which was the script writing software, and she did. My parents were, like, super supportive, because I also did stand up, so they saw that, like,

I would work hard, you know what I mean? So this is 96? Yeah, this is probably 95 or 96. or something like that. Yeah, 95, I would say, 96. Yeah. Like, all right, I'm curious. And this leads back to the conscience, subconscious.

Yeah. When your subconscious is convinced of something. Yeah. Then your body does it. Which explains why, you know, Kanye uses outward affirmations. I am the greatest. Yes. I am the, and then everything happens for him.

The same way with Trump. The same way with Diddy. The same way with Jay. Remember they remixed it and called it a secret? I have $6 million in my bank account right now. I have $6 million in my bank account right now. I have $6 million in my bank account right now. Right now.

So I'm curious what inside you gave you the balls to even be like, yo, let's write a movie now. It didn't even start with like, let's start with community theater. Hey, how do you do this? Or did you see a movie one day and is like, I could do better than this? I could do better than this shit. Literally, that's what happened. Like, what movie did you see that set you off?

I can't remember. And we argued over and all the, we loved Paul Fiction, and that was like, no, like, that was something. I had a Pulp Fiction Poster on my bedroom door, like, throughout. If you were a teenager in the 90s, you had a Pulp Fiction poster. That came out in 94, maybe, I was 12, so we saw it around then. And it was, it was also the era of, like, independent, it was like the resurgence of this independent film, like, Clarks came out around then, and Rushmore.

and Wes Anderson had Bottle Rocket. So there was... You saw all this films? Oh yeah, we were obsessed with them. And it's also one of those things that was... My parents loved movies. And they were just huge movie fans, so they would, like, watch a lot of movies and collect movies.

Vancouver, they made some stuff there. So it's not like Hollywood, but like you would see movie sets around. And so there was like... It wasn't this, like, completely unobtainable thing. And then in high school, our high school was right across the street. from two video stores, like giant video stores, and we would rent movies like, we watch, all

we would do is like smoke weed and watch movies basically, and when you watch enough movies, you start to think maybe we could do this. And if we write something that's like cheap, then maybe that was always the thought was like, it was set in high school super bad, and we were like, worse comes to worse. Like, this becomes something we like,

we made movies with like our, you know, we had a video camera. We were like, we could technically make this ourselves if we wanted to. you know. What was your North Star in terms of, okay, so now it's just hitting me that, because I had family that worked at an independent movie theater back in 91, 92.

So always have free tickets. But, you know, we're seeing El Marachi. We're seeing like all these indie films, which, I mean, at the time I didn't realize it, but it was grooming me to gear towards art house stuff as opposed to mainstream stuff. But for you, what were your... Were you a film snob or were you just like,

you know, I got porgies and hot dog. Yeah. No, we know hot dog, the ski movie? Yeah, of course. I saw hot dog. I liked all those... Did you remember hamburger the motion picture? Yeah, hamburger.

Hamburger. Put those cookies back, motherfucker. Was there a hamburger movie? Yes. Yes. I got to see it. Oh, it was amazing. On Shal TV, there's a specific, like, C-movie.

Yeah. VHS section. Anything that was on HBO late night in like the mid-80s? Oh, we would just rent movies based on what the cover of the box looked like. The garbage pale kids. If anybody can find the garbage pill kids movie. Well, it's funny, this Dolemyte movie just came out. I haven't watched it yet.

But we were obsessed with Dolomite because, like, it was one of those movies that, like, purely based on the cover. We were like, what is this? We did the same thing. Every Friday night, we would all meet up at this Mexican restaurant in town. And then we would all, like, caravan over to the video store, argue for about a half an hour about what video we're going to pick out. Oh, we would argue for hours. We'd spend more time in the video store than we would watching the movies we rented at the video.

Like, that was the activity. It was going to the video store and deciding to argue over a movie. We called it tasteless movie night. We would try to find the most tasteless movie we could find in the video store. Perfect. Yeah. And we would just go to my friend Darren's basement and watch it and just like, it was commentary.

It was perfect. Commentary. No weed involved. I'm sure if there had been, well, his mom was a teacher's that would never happen. So what were your go-to films? Well, I think it's like, one thing I look at is like the, The movies, it's obviously something I've thought about, you know, is like the movies my parents owned, like, they owned like 40 movies on, like, VHS that they would like, there was like three movies to a VHS. They would, like, tape them off TV. Yes.

When they came on and like. Would you ever watch them? I did all the time. And those movies are like cemented in my brain. I know every word to every one of them. And I also bet that if I, like, made a list of all those movies, they like directly correlate to the movies that I. have made since then basically. Like,

one, one, one. It's like Ghostbusters and movies like that. My dad loved Bill Murray. They also loved like Woody Allen and like independent. Like they had like Hannah and her sisters and like Annie Hall and movies like that. And I would watch those movies a lot. And then they had like Albert Brooks movies and my dad loved Billy Crystal. And so like it was a lot of that stuff.

My mom though loved action movies. And so we had like die hard and total recall. And like under siege I remember we had. like when it came out. And lethal weapon was like, is like one of my mom's favorite movies. And so I would watch these like emotionally driven kind of comedy drama movies

and like the most violent, insane action movies. And that's kind of a lot of the stuff we make now. I see. I see. Yeah. And so all those movies like we loved. And then when, yeah, and then when Pulp Fiction and those movies started to come out,

we became obsessed in Reservoir. dogs we loved and like um and then we got really in a sam ramy and peter jackson's early movies like army of darkness we watched over and over again and dead alive we watched we watched a lot and like uh yeah and then to see those guys go on that was another thing is like you'd see like oh like sam ramey's directing spider man and like these guys who like we were already fans of for making like the weirdest shit ever now doing were then crossing over and becoming really successful and I think making big things. And that was also, I think, something we always liked.

And that was interesting to us. But, no, we just, like, devoured. Did Vancouver have much of a social or nightlife? Because I'm almost thinking. Sort of. I'm thinking that Vancouver is almost like, all right, what Minneapolis was to print. Yeah. And how there was a scene there, but because there's not much to do,

yes. He had a lot of time to hone his craft and just do music. A lot. Yes. And the weather also determines you're staying in. Vancouver is a city where people sit, like, go to someone's house and smoke weed. That's, like, the activity. Wow, clearly that was your experience.

It doesn't mean that. No, that is, like, what people do there. Or, and when it's nice out, you go to a nature place and smoke weed. It's, like, a very, like, weed was, like, super prevalent. And, like, it's a huge, it's, like, one of the most progressive cities in the world when it comes to weed. Even in your chout in the 90s? Yes, 100%. So you never been arrested for you?

right when I moved to L.A., I got arrested because I didn't understand how much more strict it was than it was in Vancouver. Like all throughout high school, if we got caught with weed, the cops wouldn't, would just take it. They wouldn't even always take it. They would just be like, go away. Like, it was such low on priorities because Vancouver had like a terrible heroin problem. And it was like, had a really rough drug problem. And so weed very early on became deprioritized and decriminalized. And from when I was a kid, there was a coffee shop you could go smoke weed in.

And there was like, like places you go inside and smoke weed. So, Seth, you never known weed with seeds, huh? I have. But, yeah, when I first moved to L.A., we'd buy pounds of Mexican weed. Okay. Wait. Virgin here. What does that mean?

It means lots of seeds in the weed. Yeah. Only you have some seeds. It's Reggie. So it's reg. We call it Reggie. regular weed, but to me, if Vancouver's been in the hierarchy of the weed

game, I would just assume that, like, and you're at a certain age. We always had good, like, hydroponic. You don't want to smoke the seeds because you don't. It takes your, it takes, that's a sterile part, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if that's true. Wait, time out. Time out. Time out. Time out. I don't know if they're science behind. Steve, where are you? Wait,

that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Why is it taking three years for me to real? Wait, how are you just going to let Lyia come here and drink your milkshake. Right? All of our parents smoked weed with seeds in them. We stole them, we had to pick them out. And it pops and it burns the seeds.

It burns the seeds. It's leather. It's true. It falls out of the joints sometimes. My dad's a culprit all the time. Like, God damn, Daddy, you're always smoking in your car. Look at them holes. I'm sorry, Daddy.

I did not know that. Stop snitching. It's everybody's favorite time of year. Girls all over America are spending thousands of dollars at Love Shack. Fancy, Kendris Scott, Lulu Lemon, and going crazy on Revolve. Is your hair perfect? Is your makeup just right? Even if your feet are killing you, it doesn't matter.

Your shoes have to look good. No, seriously, guys. It is time for sorority rush. Join Daisy Kent, Gia Judice, and Jennifer Fessler and the sorority girls with the inside dirt. This is the only place you get the truth about sorority life because we are telling it like it really is. Before you hit the game day and frat parties, you better listen up. Don't miss Dirty Rush every Saturday. You'll learn about the sex lives of sorority girls,

confidential bid day rituals, the secrets of initiation, and will be live from Sorority Rush all over the country. Plus, we'll reveal what frat boys really think about sorority girls. Dirty Rush is back and better than ever. Let's get dirty. Download the free Iheart radio app. Search Dirty Rush and listen now. I am talking to a felon right now with face tattoos,

and I cannot decide if I'm. I like him or not? That was a caller from my podcast, Therapy Gecko, where I speak with anonymous callers about their problems, relationships, and anything else in the depths of their mind. It all happens on my show, Therapy Gecko, where we have real conversations just like this. Sometimes I'll have my girlfriend preach to it spicy food and kind of baby bird it into my mouth. Is that weird? This week is Human Connection Week.

We're taking a peek into the lives of various strengths. strangers who found my phone number online. We'll hear their funny moments, their difficult ones, and their unexpectedly profound ones. These are real conversations with real people figuring out life one call at a time. So if you're trying to get out of your own head and into someone else's, this is the podcast for you. Listen to Therapy Gecko on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed.

And the argument is, do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no power. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interest and they complain about the very thing to receive. It's raw. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men. Roland Martin unfiltered.

I went off, I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Y'all going to scream as your name. But you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same vein. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. 12 seats. Those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground going hard in the south now. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the IHart radio app, Apple Podcasts.

Wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munga shit together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble.

I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. To make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You started standing up at a young age. 14?

Yeah, 13 or 14. Okay, so the only person I know they had that experience was Chappelle. Yeah. How... I think Eddie Murphy started around that age also. Yeah, so how do you... They're much better than that. How do you...

How do you even negotiate your way into... A club? Yeah. My mom helped. She would talk to... She drove me to every show, literally, because I couldn't drive. And, yeah, and what's funny is very early on, it's one of those, like, Happy coincidence is I did a show that I did a fundraiser when I was like 14, a small one,

that the premier who's like the governor kind of of British Columbia was at. And my mother cornered him and was like, if my son's performing at a bar, can he be in the bar? And the guy was like, legally yes. And she got his office to send a letter saying that as long as I was performing, it is legal for me to be in the premises. And I would have to leave right after. So, like, I would sit backstage and I would show it to the club. There was only four clubs anyway, but once they had all seen it, they would let me perform there.

And then I performed, like, regularly. And I was, like, I was, like, pretty good. Like, I wasn't. What was the check like at that age? Did you get a check? Every once in a while, I would, like, open for a comic, and I'd get, like, $150 or something like that, which when you're fucking... Did you use your kiddom? Did you use your youth?

I tried not to. I tried to. I would... Well, at first, I did. at all. And I, because I was so self-conscious about being, like, gimmicky that I would try to tell jokes. I know. Things like a neurotic adult. I was very neurotic. And I didn't want to be like the kid comic. So I tried to write jokes that, that any comic would write that were like, more like observational humor. But it was. Were you blue? I wasn't. I always wanted to ask a

comic. Yeah, exactly. You work blue. I didn't actually at first at all. also, but then I remember this comic, Daryl Lennox, who still does stand up and he's great. He was like, I was telling just like, all the comics would make fun to me because I had a joke about like, crazy glue, what's so crazy about it? And it was like the dumbest like observational humor of all time. And then and then Daryl, I remember, like sat me down and I was like 15 and he was like, dude, like you are the only one of us who is like experiencing all these things. in real time. Like, you're trying to kiss girls for the first time. You're trying to get your driver's license.

You're trying to buy beer. You're trying to go to parties. You're trying to sneak into strip clubs. Like, write jokes about that. Like, that's something that, like, everyone's gone through in some way. And you're living it, like, right now. And I was like, okay. And then that was also one of the things that really influenced Superbad, where at first

it was more like, let's write a high school movie. And then we were like, no, that's right. Like, whenever something happens to us, let's put it. in the movie and let's make us the characters in the movie and let's like structure it around that. So those things happened to you guys in Superbet? Not all in one night but almost

a lot of the stuff in the movie happened. Yeah. Like in some form or another. Like and every... So you grind it up against the girl and... That happened at a school dance. Yeah, that actually... And in real life, I was one of the guys

like it played out almost verbatim as it did in the movie except one of our friends was the Jodah character in real life and I was one of the guys who was like, what is that? Like what's on your leg there? And that's what happened. And so, yeah, it was a school dance and we all

put our stuff in like the locker room, in like the gym locker room like before and we were getting it after the dance. And yeah, and like one of our friends was like, did you spill on yourself? I think we were there like looking at it. And then what happened, and we kind of allude to this in the movie is we noticed

on the other side of the locker room, there was another group of guys having the exact same conversation. And they were all, like, looking at their friend's leg, poking at him, being like, what is that? Did you spill? Did someone cut themselves? And then, like, the two groups, like, locked eyes from across the room. And it was, like, this Kaiser-Sose moment where it was like, oh, no. I think we have a situation on our hands.

And then there was a lot of, like, cross-referencing who they had danced with. Right. Wait, I got a preface for it. Two people who haven't seen it. Who have not seen super bad. Yes. There's a crucial scene where there's a dance, sort of grindy dance moment which a girl rubs her crotch on Jonah Hill's...

I think it's pronounced cooch. Yeah. Cooch. Oh, I forgot. The cooch is inside, the crotch. It's inside. Anyway. Umbino's that Jonah Hill is,

His thighs or his jeans are now marooned five. Yes. They got perioded blood. They're bloody. They're period blood. It happens. Oh, wait, you're just getting that now? I just remember.

I couldn't remember if he came on himself or he had been period. So now, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Also on the table. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The way I was talking about it, it could be in. No, that was in long shot. Yeah, he's not almost in a long time. You know, my favorite, my favorite thing about, I'd visit a lot of,

of local comedy houses in New York. Yeah. My favorite thing is actually watching people bomb. Yeah. No, no, no, only because, like, now I'm entering the stage of my life where I'm going to to give a lot more public addressing. Yeah. And it's always how you handle yourself in that moment.

Yeah. That separates the men from the boys. Yeah. So a lot of times, like, if you watch, if you go to, like, I love going to, uh, the store in LA when it's the, like, the 1 a.m. show, the very last show. And usually, like, the last three people are always, like, the doorman. Yeah. The bell guy, like, okay, I'll let you go up and do five minutes. Like, everyone's left the room. Yeah. I've performed there at that time when I was, like, 16 years old. Right. Because I feel in my mind that whenever I'm watching them,

then I believe at one point either, not Gerard Car, Michael, who's the guy that I liked? Jamar Neighbors. Jamar Neighbors. Yeah, Jamar Neighbors was one of those guys, and he's hilarious. Like, he's one of Gerard Car Michaels dudes. But, like, it's always the last three people on the late, the graveyard shift that I love watching them the most to see how they adjust to it. Yeah. Have you, when you were in sort of developing your skills or whatnot, have you ever had to resort to what they would call the, what's the syndrome, like, aristocrats? syndrome or when you know that you've done a bad set and you're just performing for your

buds like okay i fucked up in always did everyone do the aristocrats or was it another thing where i never did that specifically but there was i mean yeah shit would go bad and there was and there would be times yeah where you would just kind of throw it all out and it was like uh yeah like i think managing the audience's discomfort is something that is a lesson that I learned at a young age and that like you can carry with you across many different avenues of life. And I think that that's something that is very valuable. And I did it. Yeah, I remember doing my friends could never come watch me though because I was a kid and

they weren't allowed into the club. So it was always strangers. But I had times when just grew tables full of adults would get up and leave. It was terrible. And I remember performing the Improv. I remember coming to L.A. to audition for the Just for Last Festival when I was like 15 and going to the improv. And Jerry Seinfeld decided to drop in at the Just for Laugh stand-up comedy showcase, went on right before me.

Fucking annihilated. Do you guys hate when that happened? Yes. When the big star comes in and it's like, hey, I want to practice a 30 minutes. For a comedy show? Yes. on a fucking showcase. Did you ever get to tell Jerry what he did to you?

Yes, he could not have been more indifferent. And then I went up after him and I literally like to this day remember standing on the stage and it being so quiet I could hear the electric hum of the speakers. And I had been doing stand up for years at that point and I had never heard that sound. I remember like thinking to myself like, wow, like have the speakers always been making that sound? and I just haven't heard it, or do these ones have, like, a particularly loud honed to them? But I just remember hearing, like, blez.

I was like, oh, that's a new one. Yeah, it was brutal. So at the time... I didn't get into the Just for Last Festival. Oh, thanks. Damn it, Jerry. Yes. Could you explain how you got inside of the,

I guess, the mafia of the, what I call the aptile mafia? The Apatow Mafia. Yeah, I mean, it was all I was doing stand-up and I got an agent through stand-up and I was like 16 or 17 until high school was like going to end and I like was not going to go to college. So I was like I should, I need money. So I should start trying to audition for things. And my like plan, if you asked me at that point what my plan was, I'll be like, oh, I'll move to LA after high school and I'll try to do stand-up. So you wanted to be a straight-up stand-up coming. Yeah, and then I thought maybe I'll get on like a sitcom.

That was kind of like the only precedent of that. In that time, that was like the thing that seemed the most achievable because it was like Seinfeld was on and like everybody loves Raymond and Martin. At the time it seemed like if you were a successful stand-up, you got a sitcom. And I always liked movies more. And so that was always something that I like wanted. But it wasn't as like it didn't seem, it seemed like the types of movies I wanted to make at that time especially were like very small independent movies.

And at that time, Superbad seemed like it would be like Rushmore. You know what I mean? Like not in its artfulness, but just in its scope, you know. And I think that then I moved. So I audition for Freaks and Geeks. It was the second audition I got sent out on. And they auditioned kids out of Vancouver. Like they did international.

Wait, oh, you all were from Vancouver? No, they did international searching. So they auditioned in New York and Chicago and Boston and Toronto and Vancouver. And I like, I went in for an audition. audition one morning in Vancouver and then I got it and then I moved to L.A. And I like, I worked with the same people. I watched that show

in the first one. Don't let people, I know people now like to revision it like, yo man, freaks and geeks with my shit, man. You're like, oh yeah. Well, if it was, then why why didn't we get a second season? Well, I watched it because during the time of us recording do you want more? Yeah.

There was always a TV on the break room. So that's how I remember freaks and geeks. That was my favorite. I thought, oh, man, this is way better than my so-called life or wonder. Damn, I was just thinking about that as he was talking. This is some shit I can get with. Like, were you excited of the critical claim it got, and did you? I had no, like, I was like a 17-year-old pothead from Vancouver who, like, I had no concept of any of that shit.

Like, I remember people being like, the show? businessman yet. I just didn't. I think I was so, um, I was, I was, I was really confident and I felt like everything, like when someone's like, everyone loves your show, like it has 100% good reviews. I was like, yeah, it's fucking great. Like, like, it wasn't like, really? It was like, of course, we're putting out great shit. Like, there's nothing like this on TV. Like, of course everyone. Like, and if anything, that made it more frustrating that no one was watching it. Because like, We knew it was good. And that's something I look back on and think, like,

I didn't even think of the quality of the show when I went and did it. Like, it could have been the, like, I was just like, a job, I'll take it. And then I remember getting to L.A. and to shoot the pilot. And it wasn't even until then that I got the full script, like, the day before we started filming. And then I remember reading it and being like, oh, there's like jokes about shrooms in here and shit like that. And then we rehearsed for one day. And they were like, what would you say here? And then all of a sudden, we were improvising.

and they were letting us add jokes about Hitler and all this stuff. And we were like, this is really different. And then when we started shooting it, we were like, again, like the director was from the independent film world. Jake Kasden had just made Zero Effect, which was a movie I was a big fan of. So it was like, oh, yeah, we have like these writers and directors who are like doing the exact stuff that I liked. So when it turned out great, it was like, again, I was so, I was really like spoiled. at that time because I was just like, yeah, you make something as perfect. So glad you know.

So you weren't putting like two and two together like, oh, the creator of the Larry Sanders show has this new empire. I knew that, but I didn't, again, I didn't realize, I think, how, like, I didn't realize, A, how just because you did something good before, doesn't mean you'll keep doing things that everyone appreciates. Like, I was a fan of the Larry Sanders show, a huge fan, and grew up watching it. And, but I didn't, like, I think when I took, when I first got cast in the show, I had no idea Judd had even, I didn't know Judd, what a Judd was, right.

I don't know Judd worked on the Larry Sanders show. There was no IMDB at this time. Like, there was no way to look up. Oh, you did that? Who you were working with even? Yeah, like, I had no idea. The internet, yeah, there was no, like, maybe there was IMD, but I didn't know to use it.

Yeah, there was no, like, organized way of checking any of that shit. This is like, and James Franco didn't even hit the soap shit, right? Like, this is. No, it was like, no one had done anything. Right. And so, yeah, it was, but then it started air, as we were shooting, and then they just were like, no one's watching this shit. And it was on Saturday

night at 8 or some shit like that against cops. I remember Judge, like, joking, like, cops beats us, we're fucked. And he was like, oh, no. So were you gun-shy about undeclared? No, because, again, I was 18. Or did you feel like, okay, well, we'll do a better version of the show? I was like,

oh, this time we'll do like a more commercial version and we kind of work out the kinks. And, like, again, it was like the exact same thing happened. where it was very critically acclaimed and then no one watched it. But that, but I was thrilled, honestly. Like, I was a writer and an actor on Undeclared. I was

18 years old. Like, it was you know, it was like a very exciting thing for me to be doing. So, uh, yeah. How hard is it living hands of mouth in that period? Because I always, were you? Well, no, I was feel like, because he never had a, did you ever

ever have a regular job or anything? Well, no, I after Undeclared, I didn't work for like, three or four years basically. What did you do? I fucking spent very little money. But you still never had to work at Pizza Hut or be a server. No, I would help. Judd was very nice and he would get these super high-priced rewriting jobs and then he would

give me a little money to help him do it. So like I helped rewrite Bad Boys too as an example. Whoa, whoa, wait, time out. First of all, that happened. out. Yes. So it was like a secret thing. We wrote that joke that was in the trailer where they're singing the song and they

forget the word. They like don't know the words. Bad, but what you gotta do? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I,

yeah, it was like, yeah, that was one of the many things we did. So maintenance work. Yeah, maintenance work. What else did you do? Wait.

Little things here and there, like, one of the big mama's house movies I helped on for a few days. Stop, stuff, stuff, Step, step, step, step. Wait, so stop, in this moment,

because I was fighting saying this, because I know my whole family going to get mad at me. But in this moment, are you understanding your white, funny man privilege? Because you know that you are like, seriously, this is a serious question.

Like, nobody else, if you hear the struggles of other comedians and things of other colors, women, da-da-da-da. There is never a moment where they haven't had to, like, serve or do something that they didn't want to do, but it seems like since you were 14 years old.

You was on it. You needed final draft. You had it. You needed the camera. You had it. Any moment, did you realize this? I was super. Yes. I was very, yeah, I was never felt particularly downtrodden. I was very, I felt lucky. I was very, I always felt lucky and was very fortunate and like, and got that. Yeah, I mean, there was a time when I was maybe going to, like, but there was a moment where I was like, I might have to move back to Vancouver because I was just running out of money. and couldn't afford to live in LA anymore. And that's when I got hired on the LAG show. And that, like, continue, that like...

Shut it down. Yeah, it was, like, a great... It was, like, a great job to have, because, like, it was, even... It was, like, it sounded great in a room. Like, it was, like, when we went on meetings and we were like, oh, we got nominated for... Yeah, we got nominated for Emmys.

That was great. Like, it was something that, like... Basically, I haven't stopped working since that. It was like, that was like the thing that kind of kept me going. Because his brand of comedy, Sasha Baron-Coron, because he's such a rogue, kind of artsy comedian, how do you find his voice? It was kind of, it was hard. And I think he liked, and I think it was good that we were so young and malleable at this time when we were working for him. Like, we were like 22 or something like that.

And so, like, he could really, I think, without some of. of like the kid gloves you would use with older people being like, here's what you have to do, here's what we do, do exactly fucking this and nothing else. Wow. Forget everything you know, just do this. So he likes young energy and... Yeah, and he would literally lock us in a room and be like, write 200 interview questions for me to be interviewing like an environmentalist in a tree. Like, and like, don't come out of that room until you've written me 200 questions.

For all of his character. For both of it. Well, he did a few characters. We came on for Bruno. And then we went on the road with him. We went to spring break. We did all the spring break stuff with Bruno. What was that like?

It was insane. He almost got killed many times. Yeah, I was going to say, like, what happens when you go to... Like, Daytona Beach. Yeah. It was crazy. What's funny is I had to kind of hide because I was not famous, but I was like, one in every hundred people knew me from freaks and geeks.

Right. And so I was kind of had to, like, I was like relegated to the hotel room because like they were, he was just like the chance that someone sees you and puts two and two together is like two great. So like we would travel from city to city and me and Evan would literally just sit in a hotel room in whatever city we were in. And like, and pray they'd come back a lot. Yeah, exactly. And they would come back and they would show us the footage of what they had done that day and we would all just laugh hysterically and be amazed that they hadn't gotten killed. And like it was, uh, it was fun. Yeah, it was great.

Wow. Um, all right. So I have so many questions about your movies, but I'm afraid we'll just get stuck in one of them. Pick one. In the end, this is it. I mean, yeah, that's the one. Well, I mean, there's so many. But I'll say that for, you know, 40-year-old virgin was, to me,

like, how much input are you given for scripts or how open is Judd to having you guys adjust the comedy? Because the way that it looked, it almost seemed like, oh, this got to be on the spot. And he just said, keep the cameras rolling. A lot of it was improvised. Yeah, I would say, like, because Superbad had been written, and no one would make it.

And same with Pineapple Express. So you were still shopping it actively? And me and Evan, especially, Evan was in college at the time and wasn't there all the time. I was always like, people want to see a movie where people talk like this. Like more than anything, that's what I had a strong feeling of, was like they want a comedy where people, where it's conversational and not so like plucky and jokey. And it just feels like people talking. They're swearing a lot.

And, and like it's like taking like, again, because we grew up loving Pulp Fiction and clerks. And we were just like, if you can really gear that towards like comedy and like a great way. and since no one would make super bad, Judd, like, and me and him together thought that if we could make these, the guys who work in the store, kind of be almost like a, it was almost like a weird testing ground for like that type of conversational comedy. Whereas Corel's character was this like sweet kind of like island in the middle of the movie. We were like, if we can make these guys, like, why don't we try this,

where we improvise and have it be very conversational? and you guys can swear a lot and say all the sick shit you say to each other that makes each other laugh behind the scenes, but we never say it on camera because it's like, that's too much or that's too crazy, or people won't like that. But we were like, what if we do that on camera,

you know? And that was really like the first time that any of us had done that. I think like it was, they had done Anchorman where it was different though, because the movie is tonally not real. Like, it's not, they improvised a lot, but it wasn't like actual conversations because it's like under this umbrella of like a false reality, you know? But this was the first time where it was literally like, you can just say whatever you think you would say in this situation and there's no rating. Like, and we had never played in that environment before.

And it was really the first time where we were all like, oh, we can really let it rip. And I remember the, I, I had improvised that thing about going to Tijuana and like seeing a woman fucking a horse. And it's like, he comes into the, or he comes, it's like, Karel comes into work and he explains making an egg salad sandwich. And he's like, what did you do this weekend? And I'm like, oh, I went to Tijuana. We went to see this woman fuck a horse. And like, it was not that cool. Like, it was kind of gross.

And I remember like, and it was like pretty, it was like on the scale of like the types of things. people were saying in movies of that time on like the very far end of the spectrum which is why I asked you about the aristocrats thing how often do you aristocrat it? Yeah we and so that and we were just making each other laugh and I remember before the first screening we were like if people like if that works

then like then we're fine like then all these instincts we have of like what people want might be right and I remember like it was like on that moment was like a life-changing moment in many ways, like sitting in the theater when that part came on for the first time and seeing the audience just like explode in laughter.

And like you could see it was just like shocking to them, but also funny and also felt kind of real. And I remember so many people come up to me after the movie came out and be like, you remind me so much of a guy I used to work with. You remind me so much of this weirdo who was in the back room at this place I would go to. And like you could see that we were kind of like tapping into this like relatable

form of comedy that people you know at that time it was like dumb and dumber which I love like it's one of my favorite movies ever but it is not relatable naturalistic conversational comedy you know it's huge crazy gags and very specifically like written and staged bits

right and very smart can I just give you credit too for putting an actor in there lesser known name heaven heart Oh, yeah, Kevin Hart was in four-year-old version. And then the dude, I want to say his name right, Jerry Bednaw. Oh, the East Indian guy who just stopped everything. Is he okay? He is okay.

The other guy is not okay. Okay. Wait, I was like, wait, no, I didn't know. Jerry's fine. Jerry's the one that was working in the store that was like saying nasty shit. Yes. Yeah. What's funny about him?

I got him mixed up with the other guy. The other guy who might still be in jail? I think he is in jail. Oh. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Making sure.

He making sure. Murder. Yeah. Kevin Hart was great. Attempted. Oh, attempted. He didn't succeed? No.

Damn. Well, not damn. I just, damn. It's a shame that happened. Because murder is bad and I do not like murder. You know the conversation's on South when you have to explain that you're feeling is murderous bad. Let me just clarify. Murder's bad.

So, okay. He didn't succeed. What I want to ask is when you got the pitch for Knocked Up. Yes. How is it pitched to you so that you wouldn't take it personally? Because the thing is, because the underhand tone of what knocked up really is, is we're going to pair this hot girl with like you. I told, it's something, it's a joke I was. But I appreciate you.

because you... I was in on the joke. Right, that's the thing. How do you not take a person? I think... And what I always... I was actually thinking of, like, one of the first other pieces of advice,

a stand-up comic Amy, when I was like 13, was like, whatever... What's funny is this stand-up comic looked exactly like Garth from Wainsworld. Like, he was like a super skinny dude with long, blonde hair and glasses. And he was like, whatever...

He's like, you have to let the audience know that you are self-aware, or they'll be uncomfortable. And he's like, so if there's something about you that reads very obviously, like, don't ignore that thing. Like, let them know you are more aware of it than they could ever imagine. And he was like, he's like, my whole opening five minutes is about that I look like Garth. Like, I fucking get it. And so I was always aware

that I came across as like a schlubby kind of stonery loser. And I was not. I wasn't in any way self-conscious about representing myself like that because I knew I was not that. That's what I'm saying. You got super confidence to do that. I was highly productive. I could date women like that were well out of my league on a physical level. I had a job. I had a nice apartment. I had a nice car.

I was like at that point, like getting successful, you know? So it was not, it was funny to me. And I remember Judd, we kept pitching these like crazy movies. And we were trying to make Pineapple Express. We're like, want to make a big action movie. And he was like, he's like, you first just have to make something that like establishes who you are in the most like normal, relatable type of setting. And he just said it conversationally one day. It was literally like, like if you got a girl pregnant on the first date or something.

Like that's the type of movie we should make. And it was one of those things where it was like, oh, we actually could. That's actually a really good idea. What would that be like? Like, and him and his wife got pregnant very early on in their relationship. and I think had to make some quick decisions as to whether or not they were going to kind of stay together and give it a go, you know. Oh. Or just what the dynamics of the relationship were going to be.

You know what I mean? I think they weren't planning on having a kid at that time from my understanding. Shout out to Leslie Mann. No, she's the shit. Yes, exactly. Leslie's great. She's the shit. Very funny.

And so it was, yeah, so it was personal to me because, and I think the way that we were able to represent my living. situation, especially was highly personal to me and all the roommates and all those guys were actually my friends and I actually had lived with almost all of them at one point or another and so like it did seem like a really yeah, I was totally

happy with it and thought I would be funny with it, you know, and there was a thing where I was just, I remember being like, oh, I can just make this guy like worse and worse and worse and like just dumber and dumber and dumber and it's almost like the more inappropriate like the worst thing I could say on a date almost is like the funnier of the whole movie

becomes. So, yeah. Wow. Okay. I am talking to a felon right now with face tattoos, and I cannot decide if I like him or not. That was a caller from my podcast, Therapy Gecko, where I speak with anonymous callers about their problems, relationships, and anything else in the depths of their mind. It all happens on my show, Therapy Gecko,

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I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five-year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble.

I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever, on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Well, I mean, okay, well, I guess I'll ask. You don't have to. No, no, no, it's not bad. I'm just saying that, is there ever a fear?

Okay, I go to 30 Rock University. Yeah. So, and all that entails. Mm-hmm. You know, so I'm in the eye of the storm. Yeah. 30 Rock really is. It's a university.

Cessonnell. It's a big giant campus. It's the cathedral to which entertainment is built. So when you're, how hard is it, in your opinion, how hard is it for women to get a seat at the table? Insanely hard. Way harder. And in light of what's happening now and how comedy sort of has to reexamine itself and what was cool. in 2006 might get a raised eyebrow now.

Yeah. How has that... I think what's cool in 2018 would get a raised eyebrow now. Yeah, I mean... So how does that affect... Not how does it affect your world, but how does it affect the creative process, the fraternity process?

Yeah, where's a woman in the team? We have women on our team. That we can see. That we can see. Sure, I know you do. But are you more... Or is it the climate right now in Hollywood? Are they super aware of it now? They say they are, but I don't think a lot has changed.

And if you look at the movies that come out, almost all of them are made by white dudes. Like, you know, like it's very, like not that. The actual, like, decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in a new social direction has not happened, I don't think. I think people are talking about it. And it's like a topic of conversation that's like fun for people to say. And I think they're like inching towards that.

But have I seen like, oh, all of a sudden, if you look at the slate of every major studio and they're all more equally distributed between men and women, no, that's not the case at all. I'm only asking women usually means white women, but that's the whole other thing. No, 100%. And I think that that. But I think for us, I think we're lucky with comedy for us because we never like peddled in that. I don't, like, we never peddled in something that I would have considered to be, like, you know, I think our comedy, like, I'm never complaining that, like, about, like, people being PC or, like, we can't say the stuff that we want to be able to say, like, to me, that is, like, not an issue. And, like, you're either the type of person that, like, you want your, you know, your work reflects who you are, no matter what.

And so if you have your sensibilities trying to be in the right place at any given moment, then your work will reflect that. And I've found myself not really having to defend that much of what I've done in the moment that it has come out. I acknowledge that, again, a week later you look back and you're like, whoa, that's aged poorly sometimes, you know? Like, yeah, I think there's jokes in Sausage Party that, like, 24 hours after it came out were inappropriate. maybe 24 hours before it came out. But I think that, you know, we try not to be offensive. We try not to exclude people in our work. We try to be inclusive as possible.

And we ourselves are those types of people. So it isn't this like chore to weave that into our work. And so- Well, I just know that people now are hyper-aware that has to happen. or that has to be a thing. Whereas, you know, before you don't think, like, okay, am I being inclusive? Am I fin in this group or that group?

I think it's something that we're trying to be aware of for the last few years. I think Neighbors is the first movie that we really made, really trying to go into it, acknowledging that traditionally, especially that type of relationship. I mean, Rose, like a husband-life relationship in a movie, is, like, always done a certain way. and we had to not do that.

And, like, it's always based on the fact that they hate each other and that they're not happy and that there's all this conflict in their relationship and that she's fucking lame most of the time and that, like, he's, like, the carefree fun one

and she's like... And he's... And, like... So that was, I think... And it was before all this, you know, all the current, you know, kind of revelations that are happening, but even then we were like,

just how do we not do this in a lame way, you know? And how do we... And also, like, we want the actors and the actors the movie to be proud and happy with their work. And I think as someone who is both an actor and a writer and a director and a producer, like, I, I understand what all those jobs entail. And I understand what it takes to make all the people doing those jobs feel like they're really doing

something that they can be proud of and happy with. And that's something that was just started to become very important when I started to realize, like, oh, like, if we cast Rose Byrne in this role, we have to make it good and funny. Right. And we have to make her excited. to come into work every day, and we have to make it that when she leaves work at the end of the day, she really felt like she was as funny as anyone else and given the opportunity to be as funny as anyone else. So wait. Not like she was told, like, you tell us to shut up as we say funny shit over here, you

know what I mean? How does that work? Okay, so how does that work? Like, break it down like we're in third grade. Yeah. All right. So if you're heading a project. Yeah.

And you have to write for a specific character that you might not. really put a lot of effort or, you know, like, what's their background? And first of all, when you write for a character or write for a movie, does each character have to have their own bio in your mind, like... To some degree, I think, like...

Backstory, yeah, I think to some degree. I think it's... It depends on how... Like, what's funny is, like, in this is the end, like, none of us really have any backstory. Like, we're kind of just who you assume we are. And you slowly, and the emotional conflicts are very of the moment. It's based on, you know, you're seeing it play out in real time, basically.

So, but in general, yes, like some sense of backstory is helpful. And the more you can think of, the more it's probably good. But for, I think for something like neighbors, the conversations were literally, like, how do we create a plot and a flow of events where that isn't contingent on these two characters having conflict with one another and instead is contingent on these two characters really being on the same team as one another. And right away, that allowed both characters

to be outrageous and silly and stupid and neither one was trying to control the other. If anything, they were always like encouraging the other to do stupider and stupider shit kind of. And so it's more understanding the dynamics going in and what the result that will produce. So it's like if we go into the movie with this type of dynamic, the result will be this. And if we go into it with this type of dynamic, the result will be this.

And so that's something we were aware of is like, if we want the result to be this, the dynamic has to be very specific going into it, you know, and that that's what we tried to do. So kind of a three-part question. Yeah. All right. Now in your career, what is your preference? would you rather lean towards directing a project or writing a project to give to someone else to direct? Or what I would just say, blind job as in doing a project that you neither had no directing or no hand in writing it?

I do that less and less. Like, I don't act in a lot of other people's movies. I don't get asked to act in a lot of other people's movies. But it happens to time to time. Oh, you got to create your vehicles. No, it's almost, at a weird thing we've also found is in some ways, the more control we have over something and the more jobs we are filling, the less stressful it ultimately is,

because most of our stress comes from fear that other people are going to fuck our shit up. And so as long as we are controlling it, I'm not that worried. I'm more worried, is the director going to ruin this thing? So that leads to, this leads to, what have you learned, what have you learned about, actually I want to do too, What have you learned about Greenhornet and The Simpsons, which I think for a comedy writer, is sort of like this honor of, wow, I'm doing this, I'm controlling a Simpsons episode. Yeah. So what lessons have you learned in those two instances that you would have changed now or made you wiser? Yeah, I mean, Greenhorn it was.

And I'm not a comic head. So, yeah, it's not really, like, I think a few things when I look back at that. What is I really overestimated, like, our control at that point in our careers? Like, I think that at that point, we had kind of always been able to do whatever we wanted, you know? And I didn't predict how much a bigger budget. Like, but all the movies we'd made at that point were, like, $20 million. And Green Hornet was, like, $120 million. And I didn't quite predict what that $100 million would do to the process and how before I would, we literally wouldn't talk to the studio ever.

All of a sudden we were having meetings where we go through like every page of the script basically and how like destructive that was to the process. And how money, more problems. Yeah. And like the biggest, the biggest thing was it was like we had an idea going into it that was slowly like completely, you know, deconstructed and built into something else. It's one of those things that happened so slowly that like... So they took your product and said, well, we need to change this to make this that. Exactly. What if we did this?

Oh, we need a big actor for this role. And what about this? And we need this. And like... But then we're Gondry directing. Yeah. Whom I thought... Would be good.

I think what he... And I've seen him since then, like, I think what he didn't predict also was the scope of it. And how... And that's what... Because I think with artists, and you probably can relate to this, like, I think the more you do your craft or whatever, the more you... realize it's not only what you are doing, but it is how you are doing it. Like, if you're a painter, you not only want to choose what to paint, you want to choose

what paint you use, and you want to make your own canvas maybe, and you want to choose where you painted and all this stuff, you know what I mean? But with film, it's sometimes that gets wrestled away from you, where it's like, here's the shot I want, and here's how I think we should do it. And they'll be like, nope, too expensive. Here's how you're going to do it. And that, and that ruins the process, especially when you have a director. like Gondry, and what I realize, I think what he realized, is like his whole magic is not only in what he's doing, it's how he's doing it.

Right. It's the materials used, literally. And that did not always apply to this scope of filmmaking, basically. And it was just like an inorganic combination of elements. And then there was a point, I think, where you're just kind of like, this seems like it's going poorly. terribly throughout the whole thing. You felt even doing the process like this might not turn out

good. For sure. They was like, because it was rocky for like the year leading up to it and there was a point and this was also something I would probably do differently now. Like we had just spent years working on it and there's a moment where you're like, do we stop or just keep going? Because like after years

it was, it felt weird to just stop. And it was just like, I think we just have to see this through. And that is something that I probably wouldn't do now. Honestly, I think after that experience, I would just be like, let's just pull the plug. And maybe we all wasted three years, but maybe we all learned a lot and not three years and have some good experiences. But I think, like, that's something at the time that I wasn't prepared to do, which was just say, like, you know what? Let's not fucking do this.

So my parallel question to you is, okay, now as a person that's been doing what I've been doing, at least what I'm known for, 25 plus years. You know, we kind of had this discussion, like, are we sabotaging ourselves by not, like, wanting to go to bigger houses? Yeah. Like, we're now in the place where it's like, hey, you guys do know that we could book a night at blah, blah, blah,

if you guys had the album in time, whatever. And my immediate thing was fear. Like, no, I don't want to play, you know, 17,000, da-da-da. Because I feel like my zone has always been in smaller theaters. Yeah. So for you, is, Is a nine-figure budget sort of like a dragnet horns? It's like...

Like, would you attempt to really go big, or do you feel that, you know, when you do lower budget stuff, then... I think now, in order, we're writing a movie now that would be expensive. Like a pretty expensive movie. Not quite greenhorn. But I mean like a popcorn film? Yes. But like a... Summer of 2020.

Yeah, but like, we're really trying to make it have all the stuff that we like out of movies, but we're trying to make like, it's a more, it's still like an R-rated, like action comedy, basically, but we're the types of movies that are in theaters have changed. And I think that's something that we're also aware of is we like a lot of what are, it's interesting, like, we work backwards to some degree from like audience reaction. and we go to movies and we sit in theaters and you know what makes people cheer and what makes people laugh and what makes people shocked and what makes people scared and that changes over the course of years you know um like the things you know there's some movies that have come out

that 10 years ago got a certain reaction in theaters and that same thing would not seem very exciting by today's standards that shocking by today's standards and so we are trying to evolve. We instinctually must evolve with the climate. And we like making movies for theaters. And we creatively think backwards a lot from what would make a theater full of people have like this experience. Like what would make a theater full of people be on edge and then excited and then laughing and then sad. And and and in or, but the theater part is the tricky part because a lot of movies like Super Bad Today, for example, probably wouldn't be

in theaters. It'd be hard to get it in theaters. You know what I mean? Knocked up even would more likely be a Netflix movie today. It's just people talking in rooms. Like, there's no, you know, there's no big action in it. There's no, like, it's literally people sitting and talking for two hours.

You know, like, we go to Cirque d'I. Well, I think organically it wouldn't happen, but, I mean, you've got to admit that you're coming from the canon of the Aptown Mafia. Yeah. So, even by six degrees of separation, like, you personally would have to release, like, you would, I would think you would have to release eight bonafide below 10 rotten tomato blocks in a row before I'm like, nah, I ain't seeing Seth Rogen, you know. Not all our movies do well. I mean, like, but even then

I'm aware of it. Like, there's still, yeah, there's still some thing where it's like, oh, you're in it. It's out there. It might be in a best. It might be good. Yeah, you know, it's out there, but it's still like, it's harder to get movies and theaters and it's harder to compete for the cultural attention. And that to us is very important also is we like it when we've seen that in the past we've made movies that like work their way into culture and they're referenced in rap songs

and in other movies and on TV shows and we like that. And that's not always a one-to-one thing with like success. It's just, you know, it's something that only happens though really with movies that are in theaters. Like, movies on Netflix are just streaming movies. It's much harder for them to capture a piece of the culture.

And a movie like mid-90s, which was seen probably by one iota, the amount of people that sees the average Netflix movie, capture the cultural attention in a way that very few Netflix movies do because it was in theaters. And when people saw it, they turned their phone off for two hours and they sat in a dark room and they actually watched it. And you don't do that with Netflix movies. And I think that is going to become, when I, I look at why I want movies and theaters, that is it. But that's not all the way true, though, Seth. I was going to tell you, like, some certain movies command you to turn off the lights,

watch, like when the Irishmen was one of those this season, Dolomite was one of those season. It just depends, I think. But for some people, they choose to watch that way. But not every friend is going to have De Niro, Petinos. No, no. And it's the same thing with Dolomite, but there are just like stranger things. And there's a million people watching the Irishman, like, as they're on Twitter. Yeah, that's true.

And if it's in the theater, you don't even have that option. Like, you have to watch it. I saw it in the theater. Me too. I didn't want to watch it. Me too. On Netflix. And I love it.

And I think when you put a movie in the theater, you're telling, culturally, you're saying, like, this is worth you putting your phone in your pocket for two hours. Right. Like, and you're asking people to do that. That's a big ask, though. It is a big ask. And I think that, to that end, that's why we're writing a very expensive, big fun action movie. Because Marvel movies demand that from you. Because we understand what we're asking is not a light ask.

We're asking you to give up your addiction for two hours. And in order to do that, we have to repay you with something that is worthy of that. So can I ask an Apetal Mafia question then? For that reason, I'm going to go back to something that I wanted to ask you guys when y'all were having the back and forth. Do y'all ever consider, because as a woman of color being a fan of what you guys do, I love it. Wouldn't change it. Blah, blah, blah. However, time to change it.

And not for nothing. I would be curious to see how a woman of color would be written into some of these situations. Right? Because when you look at the majority of the movies that you guys do, like you said, I know you introduced the Rose Byrne situation, but not really. So have y'all started considering maybe? Yes. Maybe the next thing. Maybe I don't know yet, but you're working on something.

Yes, very much. I mean, it is a prevalent topic of conversation. But not on purpose. I don't want y'all to do it just because, oh, my God, everybody's demanding that we have a woman and then we have to have a woman of color. But just because you see that, hey, wait a minute, that would be funny to get that perspective in this storyline. No, 100%. And, like, yeah, I mean, it's something that, yeah, I mean, the more perspectives and the more different people you have working on your material, the better it all is.

Yeah, I mean, we produce this show Black Monday with Don Cheedle and Regina. Oh, yeah, I love that show. Yeah, and it's great. And it's great. And the preacher. Yeah, and we've just seen, and it is and preacher. Exactly. And we've seen it's very rewarding.

And people get great, you know, the more representation, the better. I would never argue otherwise. But I want to see you. Like I love the Don Cheat on the Regina Hall, but I was like, man, I want to see. That'd be great. I'm in. Okay. So in hindsight, the, like I was paying attention to it, but I don't recall.

I remember the email fallouts with Sony. Yeah. Oh, the interview. Yeah. Did, was it worth it? Yeah, because it was crazy. And like, and was there much damage? And it was it really?

Damage? No. What didn't we see? Not to us. Like other people, I mean, talk about sexism, like the only real person to be horribly damaged by it was Amy Pascal. Her boss, Michael Linton, he wasn't damaged. But she was terribly damaged. Wait, just correct me if I'm wrong.

The Fallout, the fallout with the damage, what the interview was, if you guys released this, we'll hack into your emails. Kim Jong-Goo was coming. No, they eventually, they had her, they had already hacked into Sony. and they eventually threatened to, like, bomb movie theaters that played the movie, basically. And that's why they pulled. Okay, so it was released stream, right? Yes, Google Play. I've seen it.

I've just forgot where I saw it. Google released it, and then Netflix released it all within, like, Google released it actually the day it was supposed to come out in theaters, and the Netflix released it two weeks later. Wow. Okay. And, again, was it? Was it worth it? It was, I mean, yeah. It was like, all that publicity was good.

It was a really interesting exercise. Like, I don't. The result of which is still fascinating. And I don't even, when you say is it worth it, I don't even, I'm not even sure anyone knows what the fuck actually happened. Like, there was a big article in the Hollywood reporter the other day that was like, what really happened in the Sony hack? Can you read the article? And you're just like, there's no answers here. What happened?

I don't know what happened. people don't, they're not sure North Korea did it. They don't, like, no, people, some people think they did. Some people think they didn't. And so, like, it's hard to, it's hard to retrospectively gain a lot of insight from something where you honestly aren't even sure what the fuck happened. Like, as a movie, honestly, to me, the most, the biggest bummer is that the movie got pretty shitty reviews, and that doesn't happen to us that often and that bum me out.

Like, honestly, yeah, it was like for us. like pretty bad. And so that to me was the thing that if I look back and could change something, I'd be like, oh, I wish the second act had like a better set piece in it and I wish, like, we rounded out the third act more emotionally. But I, but like, because that was the stuff

that was in my control, you know what I mean? Like the actual product, the film was the thing we were in control of and what I'm, yeah, what I don't love is that it just wasn't received as well as other movies. It's just hit me and I know we're going to wind up pretty soon, but it just hit.

me that you're one of the cameos in one of Yauk's last pieces. Yes. Make some noise. I'm about to call it Fight for You Right, too. Make some noise was name of the song. That was the video. Yeah, there was an extended version that was called Fight for Your Right. Reviso.

So how did that, how was that pitched or come together or just? Oh, man. Were you guys aware at the time, what his condition was, and this was sort of like their swan song? We kind of got that sense as we were shooting it. Like, I knew he had been sick. But I, there was kind of like the public word on this, on the street was that he was getting better, you know? Right.

And then he just called me one day. I got a call from Adam. Oh, cold call. Yeah. And it was just like, oh, this is the greatest fucking phone call you could ever get. I was a huge BC boys fan my whole life. Like, I'd met him once or twice before at like South by Southwest, I think. And yeah, and he was just like, we're making a music video.

And I want you to be Mike D. and that was fucking great. And then we shot that video for three days, which is crazy for a music video. And every famous person ever was in. I think it was like halfway through day two where I was like, oh, this is like kind of like a big last huron. A swan song.

Yeah. And then it got kind of sad and bittersweet, but it was also fun. And like when I look back and think of was like, he was just telling, like, it was. Literally like we were all his like G.I. Joe toys and he was just playing with us. And it was like, for your birthday, here's all your favorite comedians and they'll do whatever the fuck you tell them to do for three days straight on this New York City back lot. And like that's literally like he would just be laughing.

Daddy, kick the store in. Seth, throw this beer at him. You guys, dance on the cop car. And like, and he would just be like laughing his ass off as we were just like, what, like there was no questions. It was never like, why would I do that? It was just like, sure, yeah, whatever. Whatever the fuck you want, we're in. And like, we, and it started to kind of imitate the video itself,

because we were there all the time. Me and Danny and Elijah, who were the Beastie Boys, and then other cameos would come in for, like, a couple hours, and we were, like, in this mindset, it was, like, crazy. We were just, like, so geared to just do whatever we were told to do it any, like, if they were just like, body slam, Laura Dern. I was like, all right. Like, there was like, no, like, I was just, like, in this, like, state of, like, I'll just do whatever the fuck this guy tells me.

That's what we're here for. And you could see people would come in and be like, this is crazy. Like, what are you guys doing in here? Like, you've gone nuts. And that really, like, we were just spraying beer, a fake beer on everyone's faces and, like, throwing. Like, we, yeah, it was a mad house. Danny McBride must be, like, he writes, too, correct? Yeah, he writes, Eastbound and Down and the righteous gem.

Right. So he must be like awesome to work. In my mind, everybody who was in this at the end in a way to do their own writing. But who is like awesome to write with that blows your mind? And you just like, fuck you come up with that shit. They're all great in their own ways. Like, yeah, like Danny. Jonah is truly the one like on set is like, it's pretty remarkable to watch.

Like he's like, he gets like very locked in and is like a pretty miraculous. thing from time to time. Danny is very loose and biting and like he's the comedian that kind of the other comedians are a little afraid to improvise with. Because he hurts. Yeah. So he is who he is

in that movie. But he's very sweet and nice, but it was like... I saw him once and opted not to say what's up to him. Because I just felt like, oh, he don't know me. I'm out. He's very sweet. He's such a nice dude and like not and what's, it is one of those funny things

were like he created those characters as a way to make fun of the guys he didn't like growing up basically. And now that is who he is synonymous with. And his biggest fan base is probably. Wow. Yes. Which is a bummer for him. Wait, speaking of videos, how did Kanye contact you to do Bound? No.

Or you did it on your own? We just did it on our own. And then he did. Wait. Really? Yes. And then he did ask us. So he just released it. It was a starting night last it, right?

He did it. No, we just did it. He released his video and literally, within an hour of seeing it, I was like, we're recreating this. And we had ours up like 24 hours later. Like, it was so fast. I've never seen Kanye's version. Oh, that's funny.

You just saw ours. Fun fact. I never seen a Kanye West video. Yo! Wait, wait, wait, time out. It's okay. I've never seen Fowl all the way. I saw.

Don't say that. Wait, wait, that's so much worse. Wait a minute. I didn't mean, it was a joke. Wait, wait, what's that Pacino film? Okay, I'm re-loaded. What's a film? Not Donnie, Orozco.

Scarfin's. Carlito's Way. You remember the end of Carlito's Way when you think they're going to get away with it? It's like, hey, you go over here. No, you go over here. And then Benny, you just, Benio Blanco from the Bronx. Thank you. I'm sorry.

He stabbed you in the life. I'm so sorry. No, I'm sorry. I've seen the college dropout ones, but I haven't seen post that. No, but he did ask us to come do it at his wedding. Wow. I'm sorry, what? I don't understand how you would do that.

He called us and was like, will you come do that at my wedding? Did you do it? Well, no, like, it was one of those things were like throughout the conversation. I, like, wield him to realize how uncomfortable it would be, which he slowly did. He was missed to show me off. And I was just like, so we're just up there. And he's just like, he's like, as I say this, I realize how fucking uncomfortable it would be funny for 10 seconds. But he's like, I'm asking you to fly to Versailles for like literally 10 seconds of shit.

He's like, we shouldn't do it. So, I mean, I mean, you lived a charmed sort of bucket listy life. Yeah. I want to know. did a project ever get away from you that you had your eyes on that you wish you did? That I wish we did? Like you had a chance to write or direct blah, blah, blah, blah. But there are things like, no.

I mean, yeah. Did a Lynn Manuel come up to you? Yeah, I have this project called Hamilton. Yeah, exactly. Get away from you, kid. No, there are things that like that we, that came across. our desk that then became very successful, but I don't think when I look like, oh, like, should we have really like spent like two years making like, you know, like Hobbs and Shaw or something like.

No. Like I don't know. Like maybe it would have been fun. Wait, that was offered to you or? Like, yeah. I mean, I don't know if it was like outwardly offered, but there was a point where it's like, come in, you want to meet on the Hobbs and Shaw? Movies like, like, Deadpool baby years ago.

Like very long time ago. I want to see you around. But like, I think that it's not, it just wasn't. our thing, you know what I mean? Like, what we weren't, like, uh, the idea of like plugging in, I think that's what Greenhorn had scared us off of more than anything was like plugging into this like, saying yes to everything. Yeah, exactly. And plugging into like an IP that is like already established. Yeah, already established and having to like work within that. So like, like, like, and working with like a big company is like just scary. Like working with like a

Marvel or, you know, like, and not to say we wouldn't do it, it's just, it's just scary, you know. And I think, and making like a friend, yeah, like making like a hobby. and Shaw type movie where it's just like, this movie's going to get made no matter what were just the people like, you know, serving you the dish. Well, the silver lining of Green Hornet is that you got your health in check. Yes, I started working out. Yeah, no, that was great. And you maintained it. I did pretty well.

Yeah, no, it was a lot of good. And we learned, like, so much. Like, we, that movie was made in a way movies aren't made anymore. Like, we built everything. It was practical effects. It was visual effects. there was huge stunt teams. There was like literally the stunt team that did Indiana Jones did the movie.

Like we got to learn from these like amazing people and Gondry himself was someone who was amazing to learn from. And even though the result was debatable, like I think very few experiences made us understand the production process and filmmaking in general more than that movie. Because it was as logistically complicated a movie as exists in the world. And we had like a front row seat to every step of the process. So that was really interesting. Wow. Which made a better movie. Hey, Seth, can I ask you a stoner question real quick?

Because I remember famously listening to you on Stern one day, and he was asking you about working out and working out why you were smoking. And you were like, yeah, I take a couple totes. Do you do that? Yeah. I've done it in this little weird. I eat stokeed when I do everything. So this is what I want to know.

So number one, I want you to give advice to young stonters because I think you you have to graduate to that level. Yeah. And I wanted to know when you got to the point where you knew that you could do everything stone. Yeah. Because that's like next level. It takes a while. Yeah.

Tell the babies. I try to tell him, like, don't go to school. And by babies, you mean mean. Yeah, exactly. Don't push it. Like getting high as an event for me. I think the thing most people, I'm always telling people to smoke a little bit of wheat, like to take one hit of wheat.

That's what, like, I was just with David Chegg on his Netflix show. We went around smoked weed all day And I just, the whole time was like One little tiny hit And that'll get you going for You'll be fine And like, like, or set a timer Take one hit and then see how you feel in 20 minutes

And then maybe have another hit But like most people just smoke way too much weed And who don't smoke a lot of weed And weed is super strong And one hit is enough literally And Got any strange preferences? I'm also a late reactor

Yeah, did you? Amar, do you smoke the TV? I'm a yeah I well I prefer what is it hybrid I'm like so new I'm literally like seven months into yeah so we've been trying for 30 years yeah but but the thing is when I do it it always hits me at the most

inopportune moment like I'll do it all right one time I did it at night yeah and it felt a little weird like oh god let me just sit down and relax I fell asleep right and I woke up in the morning it was like oh damn I didn't get high that was a waste and then 20 minutes and then 20 minutes into my day

right when I got on the drum set of Fallon you feel hot? Oh shit From the night before? That's weird. Yeah, that is weird. I have a five hour

Well, see, I do edibles. I don't smoke. So that's why. Edibles are edible. You want to do edible? I do edibles very sparingly because they're wildly

unpredictable like that. Like they're hard to it's hard to gauge. Time them. Yeah, it's hard to get the dosage right. Yeah, it's hard to get the dosage right. It's hard to time them. Sometimes it depends on what.

Sometimes they take an hour to kick in. Sometimes they take two hours to kick in. It takes five hours to kick in. You need to take note if the stoners around you. Do you ever see Steve eating his weed? If you eat your weed, there's nothing left to smoke. There's my theme song. I'm sorry.

Forgive me. I'll do it again. My final question is, oftentimes, like right now I'm watching the morning show, which is notably everyone, I've knew them, I knew them from the funny world, the comedy world, but yeah, they're doing drama, like, would you consider, because you did Steve Jobs,

correct? Uh-huh. The movie. Yep. No, I did Steve Jobs. What was that like? What was that experience? Technical. Would you want to further explore into the world of drama? Yeah. And what role are you, what is your like, your fantasy thing that you haven't done yet that you really want to do? We're writing that. I mean, that's what's nice about being able to write your own movies is like, I've no one to blame but myself for if my career seems limited in scope as an actor.

Like, yeah, I mean, what? The thing we're working on now, I'm obsessed with like Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan. And so like I've always wanted to make like a highly physical like action movie, like our action comedy. Like something that is almost entirely predicated on action and not a lot of talking at all. And that has just always been something that I always enjoy shooting that type of stuff. And so that's something that we want to do. And that's what we're working on right now. Is that like something?

Yeah. Kind of like a really violent. Mr. Bean. All right, well, you know, Seth, we really thank you. Damn, we didn't even get to your hip-hop. It's okay. I'll come back. We'll just assume that you like hip-hop.

I love it. Anyway. No, we really want to thank you for coming here, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you for a preacher too. Thank you. I love that show. Yes, on behalf of Sugar Steve and Unpaid Bill and Boss Bill and Laiya and Fonte.

This is Questlove. You've been listening to Questlove Supreme. Thank you very much, Seth. We will see you on the next go round. Peace, y'all. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. A little bit of weed.

Just a little. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. I'm Maria Garcia. You may remember me from my podcast, Anything for Selena or My The Bowl.

I love pop culture. I think about stuff like what did Mariah Carey and Luis Miguel's relationship mean? Why was the world so unfair to our girl, Britney Spears? And why do some women yearn for Shakita's black hair to make a comeback? I'm always trying to find the meaning behind pop culture and beyond. And now I'm back to unpack more divas, more drama, more stories from the present and the past that I'm very excited to tell you about.

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you get your podcasts. You gave everything you could give, and now it's time to take the next step. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman, and this season on She Pivotts, the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points. I sit down with culture-shifting women who share their pivots like Elizabeth Smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference, so I'm going to keep going. And feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying to express women's real lives. Listen to She Pivots on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin.

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