115SETH ROGEN
ROGENOMICS
PHOTOGRAPHED BY SEBASTIAN MADER STYLED BY MOBOLAJI DAWODU WRITTEN BY CAROLINE Mc CLOSKEYHe’s still getting high. He’s still making us laugh. But he’s kinda running Hollywood now, too
ogen is not the type of dude to distil his
strategies for living into therapeutic
sound bites, little chunks of wisdom-
inspo to be digested in the morning
alongside a matcha and some sun
salutations. In fact, and thank god, he
wouldn’t even formally consider them
“strategies for living” at all, let alone
dream of imposing them on anyone else. Still,
spend a little time in his company, talking about
his life, and certain patterns start to emerge, themes
and lessons recurring with enough frequency that they
can be isolated for general distribution: Work harder
than everyone else. Find a mentor, or at least some
encouragement. Cultivate enduring relationships.
Grow gradually. Beware hubris. Never be their biggest
problem. Be in control of your own work (where
possible). Always have something else going on.
On a Tuesday afternoon in April, Seth Rogen was
sitting in a corner booth in the back of Canter’s Deli
on Fairfax in LA, awaiting his matzo-ball soup. Over
the years he’s celebrated birthdays here, in the Kibitz
Room bar, and, in the era before he had offices, the
restaurant functioned as a de facto conference room
for business meetings. No surprise, then, that he was
greeted like the mayor, along with obscure inside
jokes with the waitstaff. Almost immediately, Rogen- bearded, bespectacled, becapped – was approached
by some blokes apologetically asking for a picture. He
obliged, grabbing their phones and mugging for two-
second intervals. “Taking the picture myself was a big
evolution,” he said after they’d gone. “That helps. Takes
a lot of the guesswork out.”
For people whose casual impression of him begins
and ends with the gallery of quasi-employed, stoned
men-children he played in his 20s, it might be hard to
fully comprehend that Rogen, now 37, is a legitimate
Hollywood operator and entrepreneur in his own
right, with a career that extends well beyond acting
and writing. Over a single week this past spring, for
example, he announced a multi-platform deal between
Point Grey – his production company with creative
partner Evan Goldberg – and Lionsgate, and launched
a weed brand emphasising consumer education,
Houseplant, in his native Canada. In addition to
developing, writing and acting in his own film projects,
Rogen produces television (Preacher, Future Man, Black
Monday, The Boys), does voice work (Sausage Party, the
upcoming Lion King), and with his wife, Lauren Miller-
Rogen, created Hilarity for Charity, a series of comedy
shows that’s raised millions for Alzheimer’s care,
support and research. He’s also writing a book of essays,
due out in 2020. That lingering low-achieving persona
of his old characters, though, might be a blessing, since
it has provided a cover against public scrutiny and
raised expectations for Rogen, the human, who arrived
in Hollywood as a teenager and hasn’t stopped working
since. The man, like the myth, may be a burner, but he’s
also a machine.
“I really always worked hard, because I recognised
from a pretty young age it was one of the only things I
could control,” Rogen said. “I remember I did karate as
a kid, at the Jewish Community Centre, and when I
started, I was the worst in the class, I was the worst of
25 Jewish kids who were afraid of getting picked on.
And then just because everyone else quit, three years
later I was at the top of the class, and there were 25
Jewish kids who were worse than me. And that was
always tangible: Just by not stopping I became the
best one. It wasn’t this, like, ferocious leap. I just kept
going, and slowly [other] people stopped. Because a lot
of people will stop.”AND THE OF
R
C
IS ENCE