Trivia / Superbad

• Actor-Inspired Element: Fogell was originally conceived as a more introverted character until Christopher Mintz-Plasse auditioned and played the character as more extraverted and confident.
• Approval of God: Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings of The Guess Who both stated in an interview that they loved the scene where Evan sings "These Eyes" at the party.
• Cast the Runner-Up:
  • Jonah Hill initially read for a smaller part despite suggesting he was perfect for Seth, the character he eventually went on to play. "How frustrated were you at that moment?" asks Judd Apatow. "I just felt that you guys were stupid," replied Hill.
  • Originally the role of Seth was for Seth Rogen (who wrote it) but was deemed too old at 25; Hill ended up in the role despite being just a year younger than Rogen. Rogen admits freely that he's looked thirty since he was about fifteen.
• Completely Different Title: A mild example in Latin American countries where it is named Supercool.
• Dawson Casting: Played straight with Jonah Hill, Martha MacIsaac, and Aviva Farber (all 22-23 when the film was made), averted with Emma Stone, Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (all in their late teens). Commentary for the film tells the story that Judd Apatow had to be convinced that Jonah could pull off the role age-wise. Because he was a minor, Christopher Mintz-Plasse's mother was required by law to be on the set when Fogell loses his virginity.
• Doing It for the Art: Bill Hader has said that he turned down a better paying role in bigger budget film that starred bigger stars because he wanted to do this movie.
• Deleted Role: Justin Long had a scene in the movie that was omitted due to length.
• DVD Commentary: Judd Apatow brought his 10 year old daughter to the recording of the commentary, with Jonah Hill in the same room. Seth Rogen, in another studio via audio uplink, taunts Jonah by running his mouth off for as long as possible. Jonah loses it and goes on a rant about why Judd brought a 10 year old girl to the commentary of such a dirty movie. Judd then storms out and isn't heard from again. It's unclear how much of this was staged.
  • Later on, Jonah says Judd's daughter is still in the studio. Whether this is true or not is unclear.
  • Also, they'd tell stories about what happened on the set. One particularly amusing tale is about when they were shooting a scene and an old lady wandered on set and began telling dirty Disney jokes.
    "What's red and has 7 bumps in it?"
• Enforced Method Acting: Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse had trouble getting along with each other, which made the bickering between Seth and Fogell all the more natural.
• Fake American: Canadians Michael Cera and Seth Rogen play Americans.
• Hostility on the Set: Michael Cera confirmed that Jonah Hill found Christopher Mintz-Plasse annoying and even after Chris’ audition said "Please, not that guy". This only made Seth Rogen more eager to hire him. Looking back and watching how authentic the bickering between their characters makes so much sense.
• I Am Not Spock: Poor Mintz-Plasse will forever be known as McLovin' because the name is just too cool ignore.
• Real-Life Relative: Seth Rogen's father appears as the baseball bat-wielding dad when Seth and Fogell are fleeing the police through backyards.
• Star-Making Role: For Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, Bill Hader and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
• Throw It In!: A surprising amount of the jokes were purely ad-libbed by the cast, usually until something was funny enough to cause the actors to break down laughing, and thusly added to the script.
• Typecasting: Bill Hader has stated that he was offered many roles as a cop after this film due to the popularity of his character.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Jennifer Lawrence was considered for Jules.
  • There were several ideas for a sequel which never got off the ground. Judd Apatow's idea centered around Seth paying Evan and Fogell an unexpected visit at Dartmouth after flunking out of his college.
• Write What You Know:
  • According to the DVD Commentary, the night that Evan describes to Becca early in the movie is "beat by beat" what Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and their friend Sam Fogell did when they were in high school.
  • The scene where Evan accidentally winds up in the room with guys doing cocaine is actually based on a real incident from Rogen and Goldberg's younger days. They attended a party when they were fourteen meant to say goodbye to a local standup comic who was moving, and Rogen's mom took them. "Everyone started doing blow," says Rogen, and Goldberg adds that "the house was owned by a midget and a bodybuilder who were a couple." "And there was a pig."

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