“There’s always an existential crisis in Hollywood because, at its core, it is a conflicted industry. It’s art and commerce trying to coexist. Different things are winning at different times, basically. When you look back to the ‘70s— art was winning more then, and commerce was following. Movies were doing very well, but they were also great movies. Then, things swung in a different direction where streamers came into play, and studios start to panic and not believe in themselves so much.”
-Seth Rogen, episode 408 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
At this year’s Primetime Emmys, Seth Rogen took home four major awards for The Studio, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
We sat with Rogen around the show’s release back in the spring to discuss his key influences (6:15), from Robert Altman’s The Player to The Larry Sanders Show (13:25), the evolving state of “show business” (15:36), and a life-changing piece of advice from director and producer Judd Apatow (25:00).
On the back-half, we dive into his early years writing comedy in Vancouver (25:57), formative memories making Freaks and Geeks (33:19), and how This Is the End, the meta-comedy from 2013, was a precursor to this latest project (43:18) and solidified his enduring creative partnership with Evan Goldberg (58:30).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.
Watch this conversation on YouTube:
Show-notes:
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- Watch The Studio on Apple TV+.
- See more of his work in The Fabelmans, Long Shot, The Interview, This Is the End, Pineapple Express, Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Freaks and Geeks.
- Read Seth’s story collection Yearbook.
- Browse his products on Houseplant.
- Follow Seth on Instagram.
- For more talks, hear Judd Apatow, Natasha Lyonne, and Jesse Eisenberg.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
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Illustrations by Krishna Shenoi. Reference photograph by Shayan Asgharnia.
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