Seth Aaron Rogen (born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. Often working with Judd Apatow and writing partner Evan Goldberg, Rogen has appeared in over 20 films during his career.
A Vancouver native, Rogen started out doing stand-up before getting supporting parts in Apatow's TV series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. His first major film role was in Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin (which he also co-produced), which solidified him as a member of the Frat Pack. He then went on to star in Knocked Up, Funny People, and Observe and Report; and co-wrote with Evan Goldberg the movies Superbad, Pineapple Express, and The Green Hornet. In 2011, he married screenwriter Lauren Miller and played a supporting role in Like Father which Miller directed. He has also done voice acting, providing the voices for Mantis in the Kung Fu Panda films, Paul in Paul and Pumbaa in the The Lion King (2019). You probably don't know he was in Donnie Darko, either. His directorial debut with Goldberg, This Is the End came out in 2013. He also co-directed The Interview with Goldberg, which caused a substantial amount of controversy in North Korea. In 2016, he co-produced Sausage Party with Goldberg. He also co-produced and starred in Long Shot. Since 2016, he has been an executive producer and writer on the TV series Preacher, again along with Goldberg; starred in An American Pickle, where he played the roles of both Herschel Greenbaum and his great-grandson; portrayed Santa Claus in the adult animated comedy series Santa Inc.; voiced Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and teamed with Goldberg and businessman Michael Mohr to found the cannabis company Houseplant.
At the dawn of the 2020s, both he and Goldberg ventured forth in adaptations of Comic Book properties. Serving as executive producers for Amazon Prime's comic-book adaptations of The Boys & Invincible. In 2023, Rogen served as both the co-producer, co-writer and the voice of Bebop in the feature animated film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Partial filmography:
- Freaks and Geeks (1999): Ken Miller
- Donnie Darko (2001): Ricky Danforth
- The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005): Cal
- Knocked Up (2007): Ben Stone
- Superbad (2007): Officer Michaels
- Horton Hears a Who! (2008): Morton
- Kung Fu Panda (2008): Master Mantis
- Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
- Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
- Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)
- Pineapple Express (2008): Dale Denton
- Monsters vs. Aliens (2009): B.O.B.
- Observe and Report (2009): Ronnie Barnhardt
- Funny People (2009): Ira Wright
- The Green Hornet (2011): Britt Reid/The Green Hornet
- Take Two with Phineas and Ferb (2011): Himself
- Paul (2011): Paul
- The Guilt Trip (2012): Andy Brewster
- This Is the End (2013): Himself
- The Interview (2014): Aaron Rapoport
- Sausage Party (2016): Frank, Sergeant Pepper
- The Disaster Artist (2017): Sandy Schiklair
- Like Father (2018): Jeff
- Long Shot (2019): Fred Flarsky
- The Lion King (2019): Pumbaa
- The Boys (2019): cameos As Himself Once a Season
- An American Pickle (2020): Herschel and Ben Greenbaum
- Invincible (2021): Allen the Alien
- Santa Inc. (2021): Santa Claus
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022): Bob the Dwarf, Pumbaa, Mantis, B.O.B.
- The Fabelmans (2022): Bennie Loewy
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023): Donkey Kong
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023): Bebop
- Dumb Money (2023): Gabe Plotkin
Tropes associated with Seth Rogen:
- Annoying Laugh: Lampshaded by his appearance on Jonathan Ross: "You've got an even weirder laugh than mine!" His laugh is so iconic that some foreign dubs of his films keep it rather than dub it.
- The Comically Serious: In his Freaks and Geeks audition tape. He talks to the camera completely stone-faced while crew members are laughing offscreen.
- Creator's Oddball: While he has acted in plenty of family-friendly works, the projects Rogen and Evan Goldberg produce through their Point Grey Pictures tend to be very raunchy, violent, and generally Hard-R. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is expected to be the first project by the duo aimed at a family audience.
- Creator Thumbprint: Cannabis. Lots and lots of cannabis. All of his movies contain at least one scene involving characters getting high. Oh, and also swearing, especially Cluster F Bombs.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He tends to play characters who have this dynamic, James Franco being the most common partner.
- Manchild: At least some of the characters he plays are this. The promotion for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also describes him as a "Permanent Teenager."
- Nice Guy: Seth Rogen is a very easygoing, friendly, and respectful person in real life. It's no wonder he works with the same people a lot.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: When playing opposite James Franco he tends to be the comparatively laid back and rational blue oni.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Seth Rogen is not a traditional leading man in any way, shape, or form, yet Katherine Heigl, Rose Byrne, Aubrey Plaza, and Charlize Theron (all known for being extremely beautiful) have all played his love interests.
- Younger Than They Look: Look at him in Freaks and Geeks as carefully as you possibly can. He was only 17, but managed to look far, far older than all the actors on the show who weren't really teenagers. In The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he was 22, but convincingly passed for a peer of the title character.
