Funny Together with Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde

20:39Seth Rogen:No. They weren't doing much up there. Because it took away some of the mystery, and you realize half the time they're just... They're just showing. Did you see the part where the guy opened his iPad and we saw his code, his password? It was 6969. Nice. I was like... I like that. Good for that astronaut. That makes me love space. We got a cool astronaut up there. See, this is how you get to me. I'm the audience who needed that to plug in I like that but no space movie they can't be making any more for a while who knows they're making they got more for a day one just came out a week ago there's a new one the Mandalorian they're in space they're flying around space are you in that?

21:20Seth Rogen:no I feel like it's you could have been in that Supergirl's in space Supergirl's also in space they're all in space people love space shit we should have done the invite in space I know the invite in space it would have crushed we don't know maybe that's the reveal I did have find it when we were should we open the door at the end and we're in space I did it, but when we were in post and you could, like, there was like, I could have put anything outside the windows because we were actually on a soundstage. We were on a soundstage. So I was putting, like, lights and city, San Francisco outside, and I was like, I could just put, like, a little spaceship go by.

21:48That'd be cool. And then we could say we're sci-fi.

21:50Seth Rogen:People would think it was a smarter movie probably. Yeah, now they're like, this has nothing. They're in space. Oh, I get it. Oh, I get it. It works because they're in space. We're like in a zoo. Yeah. Yeah, we are the zoo animals. Human zoo. shit. Well, next time. I remember seeing you at South by Southwest briefly. Yes, because you had the long shot and we had Booksmart. And you had Booksmart, I remember going. Yeah, and I was like, your movie's gonna make a lot more money than mine. Not true. I don't think it's true. I think it's definitely true. We could go to the numbers. I really don't think it's true.

22:22I would put all the money that it made on that wager. But I think that it really was the first time, and yet I think everyone feels like they know you so that's also a thing where I'm like no we knew each other but just because I like watched a bunch of your movies so I felt like we'd hung out a lot but the studio I get you.

22:40Seth Rogen:That was the first time we worked together closely and spent a lot of time together and that was when I became familiar with your good cop bad cop dynamic. I know you're one of the only people to really clue into that. I love it. And we really thrive. It is the funniest thing and what it is is that you pretend to be. I almost don't want you to tell people. The idea that you are so, again, this goes back to you being such an empath, such a nice person, that you will laugh and be so encouraging to everything that happens on set. And then you'll be like, one second. And then you disappear. And then Evan shows up and is like, don't do anything that you were doing.

23:19The choices that you just made, don't make any of them.

23:21Seth Rogen:And I'm like, oh, Seth loved them, though. He did walk away at one point. we talk between takes we have private conversations it's a perfectly i do find that sometimes the actors i'm in the scene with don't love to be directed by the person they're in the scene yes yeah did you find that yeah but i i i felt like it was never like oh don't do that thing it was like should we try it yeah different differently like are we bored of this what if we tried this or what if i did the only time i really give you any direction yes was giving you permission to be meaner to me uh-huh and i loved it and i loved it too because i was like you can fucking bite my head off because you were getting so you got really mad and then i almost saw you like pull back on it because you're like oh that's so mean and i was like uh you can be so so much meaner yeah and i love it i love mean you is great mean i can be yeah it's in there but it's it's Great, it feels like then, yeah, it's a release so that you don't have to be mean to other people.

24:25You can just scream at me whenever you feel that you need to scream at anyone else.

24:30Seth Rogen:I'm so much meaner on camera than I ever am to anybody, I think. Oh, in reality, I just cry. I'm always screaming at people on camera, and I like it. It does get it out of my system. It gets it out. I'm the same, though, but in reality, when I fight, I just cry. I literally can't. I can't get mad. I don't fight that much. I know. Yeah. You're a lover, not a fighter. I am a lover. We're not a fighter. But you also, we know I disassociate. And you just walk. You just like exit the situation. I do leave. I'm good at leaving. Which is healthy. I'm good at literally just walking away. You just like, okay.

25:02Seth Rogen:You go away. I'm good at walking away with incredible intention. Yes. Like I genuinely look like I'm going to do something. Yes, it's true. Or go somewhere that I have to be. Yeah, you're like, ah! Yes, I don't awkwardly leave. No. I go. I rock it out. It seems like you just got an important phone call. It seems like I just realized I have to do something incredibly important. And you go somewhere. And that's better than. And then I usually just go outside and smoke some weed and scroll on Instagram on my phone. And that's self-care. Yes. And I know when I have to do that. Yeah. But I do very much.

25:34Seth Rogen:I do that a lot. But then we pretend when acting to be people who are able to be angry. Very much so. But that's good. I think because we're good at screaming at each other. Yes. but the good cop back up thing also is like a thing we realized it's not something we ever had to do again before the show because like normally you do what you did on your film which is you're like it's fine like we can remove this like let the person do their thing and get it out of their system and we would make that calculation all the time like I remember we were making this at the end we were like it's so much better to like let them riff and then to come up and tell them like don't do that anymore But let them do it.

26:15Seth Rogen:Yeah, let them do it. And be like, we've got that. And we've got it. But on the studio, we have to be like, don't do it. You can't do it. It fucks up everything. Well, also, everyone in the studio thinks that they're coming in to crush and be hilarious. And to improvise and stuff. And you're like, that's not our, we kind of don't do that at all. No, there's no, I tell everybody, when they ask about my episode, I'm like, no, no, that was, it's incredibly carefully written, well crafted, and they just do it so well that it seems spontaneous. Yeah, and people think we just show up and shoot the swinging camera.

26:42Yeah, yeah.

26:43Seth Rogen:But it's so much, it was so, it was lovely because you had a lot of the crew from the studio and the film. We did, which made it so cozy and comfortable. It was so cozy and nice. And they just happened to be the best crew in the world. They're so good. They're amazing. They're so much fun to spend all day with as well. No, and they genuinely, like, they laugh. They're, like, very funny people. They make the work much better. They also care. Like, if they think something's not working, they'll be like, this isn't working. Adam will just be like, uh. In a way that, like, at first other crew members found alarming.

27:10Seth Rogen:And I would have people come up to me and be like, is it okay how the camera department is talking to you guys? And we're like, yeah. No, it's so much better. We're like, this is good. Yeah, we like this. No, they're locked in. Yeah, they're really locked in. But I noticed that from the second. They're genuinely mostly invested in everything that is happening. And like, yeah, they're not shy also. No, when I was on the studio and after our first take, one of them, it was probably Mark, the Steadicam operator, who was like, this is good. and then I felt like oh okay they're seeing everyone so this is good but the funny thing also is that when you asked me to do the studio I didn't know I think at that point I didn't know who else was coming on to do like guest roles and it was such a shock to me that then when I was like wait Martin Scorsese is doing this too?

27:59Wait a minute this is amazing and it was so funny too that we did our episode and then I started watching the show and I was like

28:07Seth Rogen:did everyone else play it like really crazy i thought everyone else was like playing it really cool and i was like oh shit i worked we knew you knew we saw it all you saw and you were like keep going but it was so fucking cathartic and fun and great and the giving everyone the opportunity to make fun of themselves and make fun of the business is a very healthy important thing but it was during that it was during our first day on that which i think i worked two days so the first of two days where I was like, oh my God, I have to convince Seth to do the invite. And then you offhand, just to yourself at one point, went, I'm never going to act in anything.

28:45Like, I'm not going to do any more acting in other people's movies. And I was like, shit.

28:49Seth Rogen:And then I was an easy get, ultimately. You were not, you didn't play, no, don't give your, you played hard to get. You didn't put out, like, immediately. Well, because you had this crazy bullshit over being in the movie, which was nuts. I was not in the movie. There was other actors as the role and then they were dropping out and you were playing this bizarre game of listing every actor in Hollywood who is not you to try to slot them into the movie in such a weird way. And then I was just like, we were all just like, it should just be you. Why don't you just be in the movie? Just be in the movie.

29:24Seth Rogen:The weird thing is, why did I have imposter syndrome about acting but not directing? Why did I have all this confidence? I can direct you guys, but acting? No, I couldn't possibly. That's what I was saying. But also, I don't think I could have done it with anyone else because we were the Artemis II co-pilots. And we were so, we were in a little four-way harness. And it was like no one could fall into, it was very specific to that situation. It would have been so weird if it was someone else. It would have been weird. Also, I would have felt really left out. I would have always been walking and been like, what did you guys say?

29:56Seth Rogen:It would have been so weird. It would have been very strange. Yeah, because it needed... Also, I think that the one thing about acting and directing at the same time is you can see things that the camera's not seeing, so you know where then to tell the camera, like, wait, he's doing something that you guys aren't seeing that I'm seeing because I'm in the scene, and we need to come around and get that now. Yeah, that'll happen sometimes. Yeah, it's like I noticed something that we wouldn't see if I was sitting back at the monitor. I also think it makes all the actors, unless you're telling them not to do a thing, it sort of, like, breaks down this...

30:27Seth Rogen:there's often sort of a, I don't know if it's a confrontational, but like a slightly oppositional relationship between the directors and the actor where like you feel like they don't get how hard this is. They don't get, they're asking me to do another take. They don't get how much energy this is requiring. They don't get how much I'm exerting here or how taxing this is. They don't understand how cold it is in the room or how hot it is in the room or how uncomfortable it is in this room where I was smoking is in the room. And then when you're there in the scene all the time, it like removes this giant layer of just what actors complain about on set basically.

31:04Seth Rogen:And what they get in their heads about and what they get kind of annoyed by and worked up about. And I see it all the time where it's like, we're like, I'm like, normally this is where the actors would start to complain. But because I'm here with them doing it, they can't because I'm doing it too. And like, right when they're like, are we really having to do another take? It's like, I'm doing another take. We're all doing it. I'm doing it too. I know this is so annoying. Let's do it one more time. As opposed to, guys, do it again. And you're like, I'm doing it too. We're all doing it. And as hard as it is or whatever, it's like, we're all doing it.

31:39I mean, I guess that's why Nolan never worked for him. Probably auditioned. I don't think there's probably a bad audition in there. I don't know if I got that. But he stands, so I've heard, right next to everyone. Which I guess is a way of doing it if you're not in the movie. He's there. He is in a three-piece suit. Even if you're in a space suit. Yes, exactly. But if he was in a space suit in the pod with you.

32:05Seth Rogen:Quentin Tarantino seems to be he kind of cosplay dresses. That's right. Which I think is funny. I think it's funny and it makes sense. Then it gets rid of that. You're like, oh, we're shooting a cowboy scene. I'm going to dress like a cowboy. Which is adorable. Ultimately. At the end of the day. It's incredibly cute. I think when a director dresses up in the motif of what it is that they're shooting, it's like, oh, we're all pretending to be cowboys today. That's adorable, I think. You hear stories of sex scenes where then the director also takes off his pants. That's not cool. Not anymore. Not anymore.

32:39That's from the time before.

32:40Seth Rogen:You can't do that anymore. But, you know, what a beautiful thing it was. What a time. What a time we had. No, but I really think that this wouldn't have worked with anyone else other than you and I think I would have There's no there was no invite without you But the second that I the second of the first Moment of working with you on the studio. I was like, oh my god And then I just got so excited about making the movie because I was like, wait a minute This is gonna be so good. This could be so good because you are so good. Oh, that's so nice But I was like, oh It really was such a thrill to put you through the trauma of the movie, knowing that we were going to shoot it in order, too, which is a thing you were excited about.

33:25I love that, yeah.

33:27Seth Rogen:Yeah, it's so much better. On our show, we do a lot of it in order, because it's in one place a lot of it. So it's like we'll be in one location for like four days, and so we'll pretty much do it in order. It's way better. It's crazy how much better it makes everything. Oh, yeah, it's way, way, way better. And I know it's not always logistically possible, but it is ludicrous when you realize how we usually do it and you're like, what the fuck would we have done if we had to do the ending first? I know, and you're constantly like, fuck, I would change that now. And yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it was great.

33:53Seth Rogen:And it was so much fun. I loved it. I had such a good time making the movie. I felt like the scenes, like, you know, I was nervous. I've known Edward for, you know, over 20 years, but we've never, like, really acted together. He's obviously a great actor. Penelope Cruz is also someone I, like, grew up watching. Can I say that? yeah but yeah yeah and so it felt nice to go into it though feeling like i like had an ownership over the character that like allowed me to perform like in a in a way that i wasn't like holding back or scared or felt like uncomfortable about how i like fit into the movie you know like um it also I think the dynamic being that we started was really nice.

34:42Seth Rogen:The first few days where it was just us. It was just us and then they entered into our home which felt perfect. And I feel like they saw our rhythm and our dynamic and were like oh there's already an energy that's been established. That would have been hard to do out of order. Yes. Because we created right away a very snappy. Yeah. We were like doing Clint Eastwood hours. We were like it's 2pm but we talked really fast. It was great, though. We're done. It felt so alive, and it felt funny and confrontational. What makes me laugh so hard, now I've seen it 100 ,000 times, is us changing in that bedroom scene with the mirrors, because everyone crushed it from production design to cinematography in terms of using those mirrors.

35:29Not easy to do. No. Because you get the camera in the mirror. You see the camera.

35:33Seth Rogen:That's the whole thing with mirrors. They reflect what's pointed out. Mirrors are tricky. and and it was like that was all working really well but the we were we had a way of just always speaking completely simultaneously yeah which made me laugh so hard and continues to but that scene is just so realistic for so many people and i love feeling the audience recognize themselves when they watch that scene and they're like oh my god and it's the completely desexualized experience of getting undressed in front of somebody who you've just seen naked too many times so the feeling of like I don't even see you.

36:08And that, I was so, I remember we did that scene. I was like, oh, we're cooking. This is good. I'm happy.

36:14Seth Rogen:Yeah, it was good. It was good. It was good. And I remember saying like, as long as we're, it seems like we're funny together, then that's all people will care about ultimately. Yeah, because I would get lost in like metaphors and like larger purpose of everything. And you were like, if it's funny, it doesn't matter. It just needs to be funny. If the characters are funny together, especially, you like them together. Because the challenge was how we made people not hate us instantly and think, like, break up. Yeah, and to think, like, fuck this. Like, don't be together. People, at the end of this movie, they really want us to be together.

36:53Because we're funny together. Yeah, and they're like, it's fine.

36:55Seth Rogen:Because if you're funny together, you inherently have a good dynamic. It, like, is a good dynamic. Well, it's the first thing to go when you don't have a good dynamic. Don't you think? If you stop laughing at your partner's jokes, I think you're cooked. Yes. I think that's it. I'm now just trying to figure out what I'm saying. Lauren hasn't laughed at anything you've said. Years for 10 years. Years. I think that's the beginning of contempt. Yeah, probably. Which is the end. Boredom. Boredom when you're like, I can't laugh. Yeah. It's not going to work. It was weird making a movie like this, too, because it's always funny when you make a thing and like inherently everyone involved, like whether they like it or not, their personal perspective on relationships and what is a good relationship and what isn't a good relationship like seeps its way into every conversation that you have during the making of the movie.

37:46Seth Rogen:And you see people be like, this is mean. And another movie's like, it's not that mean. You're like, oh no, that is mean. You don't think that's mean? Are you fucking crazy? That's just how you speak to each other. That's how you talk. No, it isn't. That's not how you talk. I know. That's not bad at all. Well, my favorite thing was you being like, what do you mean they don't have sex? Yeah. That was a big reveal. Which, if I can say, was incredibly a positive reveal about you. Because you were like, I don't understand. There's a basic problem with the plot. Because why would two people ever stop having sex?

38:18And I was like, oh, Seth. You really figured out life.

38:21Seth Rogen:Well, it was also like, I think with a movie like this, with any kind of movie about, I think, something that's like somewhat universal but like sensitive at the same time it's like hard to make like like definitive statements about things so it's hard to be like oh like you know if you haven't had sex in x amount of time you're in a bad relationship and people don't want to do that and i think that was part of the process was us being like no like that is bad and and maybe it's for everyone but it's bad for this couple yes and and it probably also is bad for everybody no i think the film has a strong perspective on that yeah and i think that that and that was something i remember we all danced around for a long time as we were rehearsing the movie and kind of rewriting it going into production because i feel like no one wanted to like yeah be explicit about like we need like an amount of time and numbers of time you've had sex in that amount of time and without that where like it's like a movie about sex and relationships and like we were like sort of making declarative statements about a lot of elements of it which is actually like the thing that happens that what i've learned from esthera perel who is obviously the consultant on the movie but now i've spent an enormous amount of time with which so now i've really learned a lot that the she has a thing where she says people talk about sex with everyone except the person they're having sex with so this idea of like people talking to their friends like we don't have enough sex or this sex isn't good or I want this but they don't say to the person we don't have enough sex I want these other things this is what I want because we find that to be really uncomfortable and the movie's about like forcing the conversation which we kind of had to do in a meta way as we were yeah we just have to actually have the conversation put it in there and it's especially uncomfortable to have because then everyone in the room has to reveal what they think it is an appropriate amount of time to not have sex with their partner.

40:17Let's all say it on three.

40:19Seth Rogen:Which is uncomfortable. But it has to, it is very hard to make a movie like this, especially in the rewriting of the film to make it specific for the characters, you kind of have to at least say what the movie's perspective is on something like that. And it allowed for us to get a little insight into Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem's sex life sounds fantastic which i think of constantly all the time think about it right now oh god they're oh wow god bless them i just can't get it up no but it was yeah i think that it also was doing that to the audience the audience is staying after the movie often and having to have sex just have sex in the aisles and it's been beautiful it's a crazy reaction it's been a beautiful thing people are fucking in the eyes yeah you gotta see it you gotta see this movie you will fuck in the aisles it's mayhem it's fucking calicula it's bonkers the reaction of this movie is i haven't heard that they're doing that during the odyssey i haven't heard that no i've not heard that i don't know supergirl but so people are talking about sex a lot afterwards and they're talking about they're like arguing over whether or not our our couple we stay together And they're arguing about what they would do in these scenarios and it's great.

41:42I I think it's promoting

41:43Seth Rogen:What would people do? What would people do because everyone thinks they would and then you get to the point of like Confronting something like I don't know if this is like spoilery Put a spoiler alert thing on this a 24 But the idea of like if you if you everyone's thought about an orgy of some kind Everyone's thought about fucking their neighbor. Everyone's thought about fucking Penelope Cruz. But when you get to the point of confrontation of that moment. Yes, I found it terrifying. But I was also very grateful. Nothing to me is, oh my God. Do you remember one of Penelope's moments of improvisation?

42:26It's when she kissed me and I fully looked into the lens. Like I lost my mind. You went to the office.

42:33Seth Rogen:I was full Jim. You went full Jim from the office. I was like, whoa. And then Adam was operating, I think, and he just started laughing. He's like, what are you doing? Of all the people to look into the lens. You can't do that. But I was like, oh my God. It was so exciting. You like that? And I just went, namaste, because I didn't know what to do. But that moment was why we made the movie. Anyway, that's the invite. That's the invite.

43:06Thank you.