Movies.ie talks to Seth Rogen about the challenges of being a giant blue blob…
Seth Rogen is complaining about his rapid weight loss but with such a hectic schedule we’re not surprised. The comic actor has two movies out this month, the hilarious Monsters V Aliens followed by Observe and Report later this month. Below Rogen talks about what skills are required to take on the role of a giant blue blob….
Q: How do you see your character in Monsters V Aliens?
I see the character as a brainless mass really which is a lot of fun. When you make these movies it is really just you in a room with a microphone, the directors and the writer. They really give you a lot of freedom and let you have a lot of fun with it. That was my simple motivation for most of the brainless mass. It was fun I had a lot of fun doing it.
Q: How does one prepare for playing a blob? Did you watch lots of sci-fi B Movies?
Oh I have seen The Blob, I have always liked these types of movies but voice wise I mean I can’t do much. I just kind of I saw the character as kind of like a very naïve enthusiastic type of thing, whatever you want to call it. That was the only cue I took was to sound maybe a little younger.
Q: How long did you spend making Monsters V Aliens?
It has been spanning the last few years actually I have been going in periodically over the last few years. Maybe around two years, maybe 10 to 15 sessions. You can ask to hear back stuff you have done. They kind of keep you involved in their progress. They will show you where their animation is at and different things. They will have animated one line of dialogue and they will bring in a DVD and show it to you. You really feel like you are very involved in the whole process not just like a guy in the booth. It is really nice so they are aware of the long timing of it.
Q: Did you get to work alongside the other voice actors?
I’ve never even seen Reese Witherspoon in real life. I don’t know if she exists I spend more time with you than I would Reese Witherspoon. *laughs* Yeah I mean I know Will Hartnett, Paul Rudd, I know him but like never was I in the same recording as another actual person in the movie. Also that didn’t bother me at all I have to say like it is almost more fun in a way. It’s good to just focus on your lines, say them over and over as many different ways as you want and not have to wait for lights, cameras or anything, you just get to do the performance over and over and over. So it is a lot of fun I really like it for that reason.
Q: Were you shown how they planned to do the 3-D process?
They showed us a lot about how it is done. I say like even dependently I have been very interested in it on my own as someone who makes movies and had coincidentally done my own kind of research. I am friends with people who work in like the digital filmmaking world. Something that I have been interested in for a long time so I was very enthusiastic and to hear everything they had been telling me about how they are doing it.
Q: As an actor have you seen that potential in the future of 3D?
It is very interesting, I guess it is one of those things that people will compare to when colour was first introduced to film. Everyone thought ‘oh it is gimmick and now every movie is made in colour’. it is definitely neat for a movie like this it is great. I know it is happening with a lot of movies, James Cameron is doing it. Jeffrey Katzenberg (from Dreamworks) says that in five years every movie will be made in 3-D.
Q: Are you excited about being part of this brave new world that Jeffrey Katzenberg is describing?
Yeah it’s interesting to me just as a fan of movies again. He is making some pretty bold declarative statements that I just think is cool. I admire the man’s gusto. I think it’s fun to be involved in anything that could be considered revolutionary in terms of filmmaking. So I just think it is neat to be around.
Q: What are you working on now?
I am shooting Funny People a movie that Judd Apatow is directing and wrote with me, Adam Sandler and multiple people from the world of comedy. It’s about stand up comedy and comics in relationships. It’s a very complicated movie, it’s many movies in one but I’ve been having a great time. We’ve been shooting lots of Improv comedy for it over the last few days.
Q: You did stand-up when you were younger, has it helped with your comedic movie career?
I was pretty good at it. I did if from like 13 to 18, I stopped mostly because I moved to L.A. and was on a TV show. It was just some kind of counter not I just didn’t love it. I started writing screenplays and I found things I enjoyed doing more. It looks real when the jokes work they work when they don’t work they don’t work. We are getting a wide range of both.
Q: You’ve lost a lot of weight for new movie ‘Observe and Report’, what’s your secret?
I’ve been working out and eating better. It is terrible, I hate it but I do it. I haven’t been working out that much lately but yeah, it has been interesting. It is all anyone wants to talk to me about. I now find out who really has something to say to me because most people just say, ‘hey you lost all this weight’.
Q: What are you going to treat yourself with when you finish doing these movies?
Oh man I am just going to I am going to gain the weight back in three days you watch. You will literally see me there will be no difference at all. I am just going to bathe in ice cream.
Monsters V Aliens is now showing at Irish cinemas nationwide