Trivia / Pineapple Express

• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • Rosie Perez convinced director David Gordon Green to cut most of her dialogue out, telling him it would make her character's crooked side more effective and ultimately more mysterious.
  • Saul's grandmother was not part of the original script. James Franco came up with the part, suggesting that it would be funny for his drug dealer character to have a Bubbe.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Seth Rogen was originally going to play Saul, but Judd Apatow suggested that James Franco should play the role instead. After a table read, Rogen agreed, thus casting himself in the role of Dale Denton.
• The Cast Showoff: Seth Rogen rolled every joint and cross-joint in the film himself.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Seth Rogen had to practice yoga, to be more limber for the more physical scenes in this movie.
• Executive Meddling: According to Seth Rogen, the ideal production budget was $40 million, but due to the subject matter—"because it's a weed movie", as he described it—Sony Pictures allotted $25 million.
• Inspiration for the Work: The inspiration for making the film, according to Judd Apatow, was Brad Pitt's character in True Romance, a stoner named Floyd. Apatow "thought it would be funny to make a movie in which you follow that character out of his apartment and watch him get chased by bad guys".
• The Other Marty: Olivia Thirlby was cast as Angie Anderson, but was replaced by Amber Heard after rehearsals.
• Throw It In!:
  • James Franco's line "It smells like God's vagina" was actually originally improvised by Seth Rogen. James Franco told him it wasn't funny, then used the line in the next take.
  • The diner scene near the end of the film was not in the script. It was improvised on the spot by the actors.
  • The fight scene between Saul and Carol was, for the most part, improvised. Because of this, Franco was worried that he would hurt Rosie Perez, and would ask her for permission to do certain things during the fight. In the end, Perez actually did get hurt, and got a bruise after Franco accidentally bit her too hard on the thigh, but Perez didn't tell him until after filming was done, so he wouldn't feel bad.
• What Could Have Been: Bryan Cranston, post-Malcolm in the Middle and pre-Breaking Bad, auditioned to play Ted, but Judd Apatow thought he wasn't convincing enough to play a drug dealer.

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