Nothing humbles oneself like getting random strangers’ reactions to your (fake) death.
Just ask Seth Rogen, who famously took part in the comedy game series Billy on the Street in an episode titled “Death Rogen.” In it, he pretended to be host Billy Eichner’s cameraman while the two went around New York City telling random people Rogen had died, and getting their honest reactions to the news. (The Billy on the Street episode in question first aired in Nov. 2016.)
“I actually think every celebrity should have to do that,” Rogen tells Entertainment Weekly in the latest Awardist Podcast episode, when asked about the viral video. “I think they should. I think it would be good for every famous person to confront how little the average person will care when they die.”
He continues, “It is a humbling but necessary experience I think I went through to see like, ‘Oh, when I die a lot of people won’t give a s—, slash, most people will think [I died] because I did something stupid.'”
Speaking of comedic deathly encounters, next up for Rogen is Aziz Ansari’s directorial effort Good Fortune, which allowed him to have a dream collaborator in Keanu Reeves, who plays an angel in the film. “I sure have been in bed with Keanu Reeves,” he jokes when asked about his scene partner. “I’ve been in the back of a car with Keanu, I’ve been in the bed with Keanu, I’ve been in a lot of lovely, lovely, wonderful situations with Keanu, which was a dream. He’s one of my favorite actors in the world. He’s amazing. I love Keanu Reeves.”
Speaking of dream collaborators, when asked by EW to pick just one person that he’s worked with who absolutely blew him away, he doesn’t hesitate to choose his Fabelmans director. “Keanu Reeves is for sure one of them, but I think Steven Spielberg will always be the person that I cannot believe that I got to work with.”
Apple TV+
Ike Barinholtz and Seth Rogen in ‘The Studio’
Check out more from EW’s The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year’s best in TV, movies, and more.
Rogen gushes that Spielberg even texted him on Emmys nomination morning to congratulate him on his series The Studio and its many nominations. “It’s things like that that are completely mind-blowing to me and as someone who grew up loving movies and still is amazed I get to work in this field, it is not lost on me how crazy it is and how cool it is and it blows my mind every time.”
To hear more from Rogen about The Studio — including its 23 Emmy nominations, why he wanted to star in the show, how they landed all of those big Hollywood cameos, the scene that was hardest to film (hint: It involves Ron Howard), and more — listen to the full interview on The Awardist podcast below:
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
