-Seth Rogen. Looking good, bud.
Thanks for coming back to the show.
-Thank you for having me! Good to be here. Look at this.
-You know, we talk about your parents a lot on the show.
-Yes.
-They're both funny and nice and supportive of you.
-Very supportive. -And you're -- Yeah.
You're a very successful kid, so they're really --
-I am. -Yeah.
-I am a successful kid. -Yeah, you are.
But your mom -- Recently, you tweeted this out.
It made me laugh.
You said, "Did my mother just e-mail the head
of a major movie studio
to get them to hurry up to green light our movie?
Yes. Yes, she did."
[ Laughter ] Is this true?
-That is true. My mother I guess had the e-mail.
She asked me what I'm doing, and I had been writing a movie
with my partner, Evan, for years.
And she had read the script, and she really liked it.
And we kept not hearing if they were going to make it.
And then she called me one day and she's like,
"Somehow I have the e-mail of the head of the studio.
I'm going to e-mail him and tell him to make your movie."
And I was like, "Okay. Go for it."
Honestly, like --
I've always heard nepotism is a big thing in Hollywood.
I've never gotten to participate in that in any way.
I've worked with a lot of kids' actors --
You know, sons of famous actors, daughters.
And so I thought, "Yeah, e-mail the head of the studio."
And she did. And it did not work.
[ Laughter ]
-You got to try. That's such a good mom move.
-So, if your mother offers to e-mail your boss,
say no, I guess.
-Great job, Mom. Great job.
Your parents must have been excited
that you're in a Steven Spielberg movie.
-They were really, really, really excited.
They were very proud of me.
-What is it like to get a call from Steven Spielberg?
-It was crazy. At first, I was nervous.
I thought I was in trouble for something.
I've made a lot of bad jokes over the years,
probably some that he would find offensive I would imagine.
-You thought he was throwing you out of Hollywood?
-Yeah, maybe I was just getting kicked out.
-That's what happens. -That's what happens.
Spielberg calls. He's like, "You're out."
[ Laughter ]
-I would get nervous, too. -I would get scared. But no.
-I heard that you were the first person he thought of.
-I was. I was told that he had a script
and he wanted me to read it.
And he didn't tell me what it was about,
but he was going to offer me a role in it.
Which actually made me nervous, because I knew no matter
what the role was, I had to take it.
Even if it was a terrible one. [ Laughs ]
And I also didn't know what kind of movie it was.
I was like, "Am I going to be a dinosaur?
What am I going to be exactly?"
I did always like that dinosaur that spits phlegm
'cause I am a phlegmy person.
So I always thought... -Wow.
-..."If there's one I can do, it's that one."
-I know that one.
-No, it was actually a deeply personal film, and I -- Yeah.
And he wanted me to play someone inspired by his uncle.
Bernie was the real guy, and Benny is the character.
-Do you get nervous
when you're acting in front of Steven Spielberg?
-Y-- Uh, yes, a little bit.
But what's interesting is we shot the movie during COVID,
so he was wearing a mask
the entire time we were shooting.
And so he didn't look like Steven Spielberg.
He just looked like a short Jewish guy in a mask.
[ Laughter ] And if there's one thing
I'm very comfortable around, it's short Jewish guys.
That's my bread-and-butter right there.
[ Cheers and applause ]
That's my [bleep]. And so --
Those -- Yeah.
So I wasn't that nervous when we were making the movie,
but now that we're promoting the movie,
I'm seeing him a lot without the mask,
and I'm like, "Oh, my God! It's Steven Spielberg!"
-"I love you!" -Yeah. "Big fan."
-Did you ask him for advice?
'Cause I know you direct, as well.
-Yeah. I didn't know how he was going to direct.
And I didn't know what kind of feedback he would give
and how that would go.
So, the first day, I start --
We start shooting, and we do a take.
And I'm like, you know -- I go back to where he's standing
and I'm, like, going to look --
I'm looking for feedback. -Of course.
-And he is just sobbing uncontrollably.
And I thought, "Oh, no.
I'm so bad, he's crying."
[ Laughter ] -This whole thing is a disaster.
-And he's going to fire me right now and he's going to say,
"I made a mistake!"
But, no.
It's such a deeply personal movie
that he cried a lot actually.
When the scenes were happening, you would go back,
and he would be weeping.
I never thought it would feel great
to make Steven Spielberg cry all the time.
-Wow! -But it did. It felt wonderful.
I'd make him cry right now if I could.
[ Laughter ]
-That's so cool that it was that personal.
-It was really strange.
-And I heard he made you change your look a little bit for this.
-A little bit, yeah.
The character -- The character that the character is based on
had a very receding hairline, like pretty far back.
So I went to set a few days before I started shooting,
and he was like, "I want you to cut back your hairline
so it looks like you're going much more bald than you are."
I was like, "Okay. That's a big thing for me."
But how do you say no to Steven Spielberg?
So obviously I go back and I do it.
And, to me, it's very drastic and I'm like, "Oh, my God.
It's all anyone's going to talk about."
I'm going to see everyone, and they'll be like, "Oh, my God."
And instead, I kept running into people I know
and seeing them, and no one said anything.
And that made me realize, like, to them, I'm balding.
[ Laughter ] I was already balding!
It wasn't a shift.
I was already a balding guy, and I am a balding guy.
And so then I realized I'm a balding guy.
So that was a big moment for me. -Okay.
-And then you've got to ask yourself,
"Are you going to do something about it?"
Because a lot of actors do something about it.
You have a good -- You look great.
I don't know if you're doing a thing, but it's working.
Whatever is going on there. -I'm not doing anything.
This is real. -That is all good.
Because I work with a lot of actors,
who, like, you know, now in their career,
they have more hair than when they started,
which is a real thing.
It's a stressful double life they have...
-It's too much work.
-...as a balding actor who is pretending to not be balding.
And I don't know if I could bear that weight.
But go watch the first "Avengers"
and "Avengers: Endgame," they all have more hair...
[ Laughter ]
Every single one of them.
[ Applause ]
With a snap, their hair went...
50% of their hair came back.
[ Laughter ]
-This movie is, like you said, very personal.
Man, it tugs at the heart strings,
and it's getting great reviews.
Everyone top to bottom
is getting great reviews on this film.
-Yeah. -Congratulations on this.
-Thank you. It's so lovely to be a part of it.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Can we -- Can we set it up in any way?
-This is a scene, yeah, where Sammy is the character
who is kind of representative of a young Steven Spielberg is --
He's kind of debating whether or not to give up filmmaking,
and my character is trying to convince him to not give it up.
-Here we go. I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Seth Rogen in "The Fabelmans."
Take a look at this.
-They're gonna change the whole goddamn world,
so this was the right decision.
For all sorts of reasons.
Yeah, so, I'm happy for you.
You know I am.
But I'm going to miss you.
All of you. A lot.
You think whatever bad things you want about me, kiddo,
but you stop making movies, it will break your mother's heart.
You will break her heart. I mean it.
She doesn't deserve that, not from anybody,
least of all from you.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Ah, come on.
That's how you do it, buddy. Seth Rogen right there.
"The Fabelmans" is in select theaters now
and opens in theaters everywhere November 23rd.
More "Tonight Show," after the break. Stick around.