good example of how weird he is, is that when I was a kid,
he had all these white Champion socks – which is funny,
because it’s the same thing I wear now – and he didn’t like
that they would get washed at di erent frequencies and
would have di erent thicknesses when they were paired.
So he numbered each of his pairs of socks so that he knew
each pair had always been washed the same frequency and
he would never be stuck with a sock that had been worn
down more than its mate. It’s a very speci c personality.’
As he gets older, Rogen notices he has more in common
with his creators than he previously imagined. Lately, he’s
recognised his father’s cadences in his own voice, and
he’s become increasingly sympathetic to his dad’s other
weirdnesses, such as his habit of wearing a purse. ‘What’s
funny is it makes his mother really uncomfortable,’ Rogen
said. ‘My grandmother hates when my dad wears
a purse. And around her he still wears a purse but in more
muted colours. He’ll wear pretty bright purses, generally
speaking. He buys his own. But then, recently, I found
myself talking to my wife, like, “Man, I have too much shit
in my pockets, I wish there was a thing I had where
I was able to keep this shit.’ And she’s like, “You mean like
a purse?”’ He sighed. ‘ is is how it happens.’i
diosyncrasies aside, his parents were always big
boosters of Rogen’s creative pursuits, even suggesting
he sign up for the stand-up-comedy workshop that
set his career trajectory in motion. ‘I was the only
kid, but it was a non-threatening way to try it,’ he
remembered. ‘You got up in front of the class, you said
your jokes, it went pretty well, so it was encouraging.’
You can watch his old routine on YouTube, and as he
slow-rolls through jokes about Jewish summer camp,
Jewish grandparents, and bullies, it’s the fact of his
con dence that dazzles the brain. ‘I thought I could
do it,’ he said with a shrug.
Kind words from the older comics on the scene
cemented that instinct, and he stuck with it. ‘Especially as
I’ve gotten older, I’ve learnt that stand-up comedy can be
a very tough world to grow alliances in and nd support
in. If I met a 14-year-old kid who was trying to do what
I was doing, my rst instinct would probably be pretty
dismissive,’ he admitted. ‘I’m very appreciative that people
were nice to me, because without that I probably would
have just stopped.’ Instead, he began doing sets around
town, getting easy in front of an audience and perfecting
his timing. By the time the casting apparatus for Freaks
and Geeks rolled
intotown,a few
yearslater,Rogen
wasprepared.
‘I rememberthey
laughedhard,’he
saidoftheaudition.
‘I remember
walkingoutand
beinglike,“If
I didn’tgetthat,
fuckthosepeople.”’
Overnight,
Rogenwentfrom
beinga high-school
kidwhocutclass
tosmokeweedtoworking 14-hour days on
a set surrounded by adults.
at, he said, even more
than geography, accounted
for the culture shock. His
parents, who were both out
of work at the time, joined
him in LA, so in addition
to suddenly having
a serious job, 17-year-old
Rogen became, for a time,
the family breadwinner:
‘I was a low-paid actor on
a network TV show, but
I remember my dad being
like, “In this year you’ll
make more money than
I made my entire life.”’
at sounds like an insane
amount of pressure for
a kid, and I said as much,
but Rogen explained that
he experienced the period
as a relief. His parents were
socialists who worked for
the government. Financial
security had never been
prioritised or guaranteed.
‘I was happy to have
enough money,’ Rogen
said, ‘that everyone could
have money.’
With Freaks and
Geeks, Rogen established
a relationship with Judd
Apatow, the crucial patron
of his early career, who’d
brought him onto the
show and later hired him
as both a writer and actor
on the comedy Undeclared.
eir association would
bring them mutual glory
and enrichment in the
end, but rst there were
disappointments to endure.
A er both shows were
cancelled a er one season,
Rogenwaspissedo and
depressed. e whiplash
ofsuccessandthenfailure
hadbeena succinct
introductiontoHollywood,
andhewassuddenlystuck
ina loopofauditioning
andnotgettingparts.To
makemattersworse,‘my
friendswhowerebetter
actorsweregettingcastin
things,’hesaid.‘ at was
makingmeangryaswell.
I knewdeepdownthey
deservedit more,sothat
wasannoying.’But when Goldberg
nished university and
joined him in LA, the two
directed their energies
toward nishing the script
for Superbad and writing
Pineapple Express. To keep
them a oat nancially,
Apatow tossed them
occasional rewriting jobs,
and in 2004, they were
hired as writers on Da Ali
G Show, e ectively ending
the fallow period for good.
Over the next few years,
Rogen and Apatow worked
together on, among other
lms, Th e 40-Year-Old
Virgin, Knocked Up,
Superbad – making Rogen
a st ar.h
e’s aware that some of
the work from that
period hasn’t aged
well. ‘Evan recently
was like, “By the time
my kids are grown, all of
our work will be deemed
unwatchable. I have no
doubt about it. I think
entire parts of culture will
just be deemed regressive
and no one will watch it
anymore, and there’s a good
chance our movies will t
into that category.”’ But
they’ve tried to evolve with
the times, and Rogen said
riding the comedic line
between enlightened and
neutered in the Age of
Woke isn’t as tricky as you
might think. ‘I think if you
actually care, then it’s easy.
We don’t want people to feel
bad when they’re watching
our movies. I’ve had people
comeuptomeandbelike,
“ at mademefeellikeshit
whenI wasinthemovie
theatreandeveryonewas
laughingaboutthat.”And
I don’twantanyonetohave
thatexperiencewatching
ourmovies.’
DepartingtheApatow
folda erthatstringofhits
wasanorganictransition,
hesays,devoidofdrama- moreopenrelationship
thanbitterdivorce.But
wasn’tit complicated,
atleast?‘Itwasandit
GQ.CO.ZA september 2019 /^71
‘I THINK ENTIRE PARTS OF
CULTURE WILL JUST BE
DEEMED REGRESSIVE AND
NO ONE WILL WATCH IT
ANYMORE, AND THERE’S
A GOOD CHANCE OUR
MOVIES WILL FIT INTO
THAT CATEGORY’