[MUSIC PLAYING]
The one show in late night, nothing but illustrious guests.
Mero, who's in the building today?
Yo, today we got actor, director, producer, writer,
all-around everything, star, Seth Rogen in the building,
y'all.
You know what I'm saying?
Seth Rogen in the building, friend of the show.
Seth, how's it going, man?
I'm good.
How you guys doing? - Yeah.
We're chilling. - Good.
Good. Good.
OK.
Can't be-- hey, can't be too good.
Yo, you look like the ill, like, '70s, like,
disco/porn producer right now.
Yeah, yeah.
I have--
I have transitions lenses, I mean.
[LAUGHTER]
Either you're about to give us the sickest baseline
or some quality quaaludes right now.
Like--
Exactly.
My wife hate them.
I'll tell you that.
One of the most validating moments of my life
is I wear these, and my wife fucking hates them and mocks
me all the time for them.
And then I was doing a GQ photo shoot,
at the GQ fashion guy was like, I
love those transitions lenses.
And I was like, fuck yes!
Blah!
I fucking got that shit.
I bring it up every day.
We just got robbed for an Emmy nomination.
Oh, no!
DESUS: Yes, we did!
Everyone was-- everyone was blowing smoke in our asses
and then, you know, nobody voted for us.
So here we are looking-- looking stupid.
SETH ROGEN: There's nothing worse than, like,
thinking you're gonna be nominated for an award
and then not be.
And then the only worse thing is being nominated for an award
thinking you're gonna win it, and then losing.
- Right. - Ugh.
Right.
You've been there.
You were nominated for an Emmy early
in your career for variety writing, correct?
Yeah, for "Da Ali G Show."
We got nominated in 2005, I think, maybe.
So 15 years ago.
Was that, like, exciting at the time?
Or-- because we don't know.
It was super-- it was very exciting, but it--
it was actually 2004, and it was the year
"The Daily Show" was ramping up to George Bush's re-election.
And it was the best season in the history of "The Daily
Show," and we were against it.
And we knew we were gonna lose.
But a friend of mine who was nominated for an Emmy
before was like, here's what's gonna happen.
You know you're gonna lose, and you're
gonna sit there all night knowing you're gonna lose.
And then, like, in the 20 minutes before your category,
you're gonna fucking convince yourself you're gonna win.
And then when you do lose, like you knew you were going
to the whole time it will be just as devastating as this
would have if you were like the favorite to win the whole time
that's exactly what fucking happened.
We're just, like, we can't win.
And then, like, as we started getting closer, we're like,
maybe we could.
Maybe we're, like, the--
like, maybe unexpected, the Cinderella story.
You start putting together a little speech in your head.
Yeah. Exactly.
Yeah. We can make this happen.
Like, what if we win?
And then we lost.
When did you realize that the camera on you
was the loser cam and not the winner cam?
I'm very accustomed to the loser cam.
Believe me.
And now I, like-- and I don't go to awards
shows altogether now if I don't have to, because I am now--
I-- like, they put the camera on me expecting
me to laugh at all this shit.
Yeah.
But I don't think it's funny 90% of the fucking time.
And then I look like an asshole.
And then they're like, oh, like, hey, Seth was
an asshole at this award show.
I'm like, I'm sorry.
Were you fucking laughing?
Bro, that's what we should be learning.
If you took a L, would you laugh?
Yeah, exactly.
That's what we should be learning,
because every time we talk to, like,
someone else-- a celebrity-- they're like,
you still go to award shows?
We're like, they're so amazing.
They're so awesome.
And, like, we've been to two now.
We're like-- MERO: We get free food.
We're like, ah, we kind of-- no.
Last one, we didn't even get food.
That's one, we got, like--
I don't even know what it was.
But--
When I went to Emmys-- the Emmys in 2005, you
had to pay for fucking drinks.
What the hell is that?
Like, I was like, what the fuck?
I couldn't-- I was in shock.
It was truly--
DESUS: Exactly.
I still remember.
That was 15 years ago.
It still-- it still fucked me up.
Emmys what are you doing?
SETH ROGEN: Yeah.
At least make it BYOB.
SETH ROGEN: Yeah, exactly.
That's the first question I had about the Met Gala.
I'm like, is it open bar?
Is it, like, cash only?
And no one I know has been so I don't know the-- but I'd
be very devastated if I got there, and I'm behind Quavo,
and I have to buy, like, a screwdriver
and pay out of pocket, you know?
- Yeah. - You're--
It's not fair.
You're dressed like a chandelier,
and you have to pay for your fucking--
You ask for, like, a fancy cocktail and shit,
they're like, that's $38.
You're like, let me get a Bud.
Exactly.
Well, I don't know where I'd put my wallet in this wedding
cake tuxedo I'm wearing.
Seth, you're coming out with "An American Pickle."
And first off, I saw the poster for it,
and I really thought you wrote a serious documentary about
the pickle industry in America.
And I was like, he has got to be bored out of his mind!
Exactly.
That's what quarantine has done.
So it's--
I saw the trailer.
It looks amazing. And it's--
Thank you.
It's such a ridiculous concept,
but somehow you pulled it off with the guy
in the brine and all that.
And you got a great cast.
It looks amazing.
And you got Shiv from "Succession" in it.
Yeah, we got--
You're firing on all cylinders.
How did this come together?
It was a short story.
Simon Rich, who's a writer-- he was writer on "SNL" for years--
he wrote it for "The New Yorker" many years ago.
And it was all based on the concept
that I think is pretty universal,
and I know I related to it, where
he was, like, I had a picture of my grandfather
when he was in his late 20s, early 30s.
And he's like, I would always look at it
and think that if we knew each other when we were
the same age, he would fucking hate me/probably try to beat
the living shit out of me.
And my father, like, could not have been more like that.
Like, he-- he volunteered to go fight the Nazis.
I, like-- I yell at Nazis on Twitter, you know?
Like-- - Yeah.
That's a little-- it's different, you know?
It's a different life we live.
And that was really kind of, like,
the inception of the idea.
It was, like, what if you met your own great grandfather
while you were the same age, and what
is your own great grandfather had to meet you?
And yeah, and it's--
it became, like, a really interesting look at,
like, you know, your ancestors, and legacy, and the religion
that you've probably abandoned.
And I think, like, a lot of the themes are stuff that I--
I could not have related to more, honestly.
So-- so that's what you look for and stuff like that?
Because, like, on it's face, it looks like yo,
is Seth just looking for the weirdest shit
possible to try to make funny?
Also that.
Yeah.
Like, do you look for, like, challenging shit?
Like, yo, this is not--
this doesn't look funny, but I'm gonna make this shit funny.
I like ideas that when people--
when I tell them to people, they look at me like I'm fucking
nuts, which has happened a lot.
And, like, the truth is "Pineapple
Express" was, like, the first one
that that really happened with.
And I remember, like, we would tell people,
like, we're write-- we're writing a weed action movie.
And at the time, they were just like,
that sounds like the stupidest fucking shit ever.
Right.
Wrong. Wrong.
Yeah. Exactly.
And in our heads, we were always like,
I like that you think it's gonna be stupid, because I think
we could actually make it good.
And ever since then, that's been a little addictive,
is kind of coming up with--
like, where the challenge is, like,
how do we take this thing that couldn't seem more silly
and actually make it good?
Into something. Yeah.
Yeah.
How good-- how good does it feel when you do that,
when you take something and other people are like,
no, that's not gonna work? And then it works.
Like, as you were saying about your glasses earlier,
how's that-- - Yeah, exactly.
Transitions lenses.
How good does it feel to let people know-- like,
you were like, I was right?
It's-- I mean, it's--
personally, I more feel like I'm dodging
a bullet that I put myself in front of in the first place.
But it is nice when it works.
Like, I mean, we spend a lot of time
making these fucking things, you know?
Like-- like, you know, something like "Sausage Party" is
another good example of something,
like, we spent a long time working on it.
Everyone-- I think even our close friends
secretly thought we were wasting our time in doing
something incredibly stupid.
And then it came out, and it got good reviews,
and it made a lot of money, and so
it for sure feels better than when that doesn't
happen, because that also--
True.
That also doesn't happen sometimes So I don't--
I don't take it for granted.
Now, I have a very controversial
question to ask you.
SETH ROGEN: Good.
Your producing partner, Evan Goldberg--
SETH ROGEN: Yes.
--is, like, the JD Salinger of fucking, like, producers.
Like, does he exist?
Is he a real person?
SETH ROGEN: He does exist.
MERO: Is he the Chris Gaines to your Garth Brooks?
Like, what's going on here? - I wish.
I've never seen this guy in life.
He's my Sasha Fierce.
I-- I-- he's around.
He's, like-- he very much likes that he is not recognizable
and has no notoriety in any way, shape, or form.
And, like, for sure it's a prevalent topic of conversation
how he-- like, he does as little as humanly possible basically.
Like, that is always his first question,
is, like, do I really-- does anyone give a fuck about what
I have to say in this?
Or are they just inviting me to be polite because they actually
want to listen to Seth?
Seth, the movies--
"An American Pickle"-- do you fuck with pickles at all?
Because I remember we were on the Jimmy Fallon show.
Yeah.
Apparently, his hobby is he makes pickles.
He gives them out to people.
Are you--
I do like pickles.
You out here in these brine streets?
I'm brining every day.
I'm-- I'm just brining.
Every day, I'm brining.
Brining.
Boo, boo, boop, boo, boo, boo.
Brining.
I like pickles.
I don't-- I don't make my own fucking pickles,
you know what I mean?
If I-- if I-- my Shake Shack order
is a cheeseburger with pickles, because I
am trying to emulate a McDonald's
cheeseburger with pickles.
MERO: Nice. - Wait.
They don't come with the pickles already?
No.
You gotta ask for pickles on a Shake Shack cheeseburger.
Is that some new--
Bro, nah, chill.
- Is that some new corona thing? - Yeah.
I don't know.
Maybe there's a shortage.
People don't have-- you'd think there'd
be a surplus of pickles. Everyone's--
They're giving you--
they're giving you contact--
contactless pickles.
Like, yo, here.
And sometimes I go to order, and there's
no pickles as an option.
I'm like, oh, something fucked up happened there.
Oh.
Listen--
2020-- 2020 is wild, bro.
Big cucumber.
Exactly.
You don't know what's coming for you next.
No one brines cucumbers.
Seth, you're the film god, you're the comedy god,
and now I seen on your timeline you're out here
dipping your toe in pottery?
SETH ROGEN: I am dipping my toe in pottery, yes.
Out here-- are you--
are you about to set up an Etsy store?
What-- like, what [INAUDIBLE]?
It's mostly-- I--
honestly, I started-- I smoke weed so much, and I--
I was not happy with how ashtrays were designed.
And so I started making my own ashtrays, because--
and that's kind of where it started,
and then it blossomed from there.
But this is-- this is an example of an ashtray.
- OK. - Yo.
What? - All right.
- Yeah. - OK.
A little--
It's got a little place for the joint.
And you can ash.
MERO: For the joint, yeah.
Yo, that's so crucial, because it
keeps the weed from canoeing.
Exactly.
It's all just--
Yeah.
Yo.
That's a lot of weed R&D right there that went into that.
That-- someone who smokes a lot of weed came up with that.
This is big Demi Moore in "Ghost" energy, brother.
There's a lot going on here.
That's what's funny is, like, culturally, I've
noticed that the only two touch points for pottery
is "Ghost" and me.
Think about it.
The ghost of Patrick Swayze is behind you
just, like, caressing you while you're making ashtrays.
You never go on TikTok nowadays
and see millennials doing pottery dances.
it just hasn't-- - No.
Exactly. No.
It hasn't transcended there yet.
It's Patrick-- it's "Ghost" and me.
Patrick Swayze has passed away so me and Demi Moore are the
two most famous pottery--
DESUS: You're carrying it.
We're carrying it single-handedly
with these hands.
How do you shoulder such a tremendous burden?
I don't know.
It's tough.
Just one-- one ashtray at a time, man.
There you go.
We take you for your-- we thank you for your service.
For your service.
Your movie was always set to come out on HBO Max,
but was it ever-- was that from the jump,
or was that because of corona?
SETH ROGEN: No.
No.
We made it-- but before corona, we were looking to put
it on a streaming platform.
We made it with Sony, Columbia pictures, who made "Sausage
Party" and "The Interview."
But they very early on were like, this movie
is way too weird for us to release normally.
Oh, wow.
And I'm not gonna say we, like, tricked them,
but we maybe made it seem like we were making a more kind
of broad comedic version of--
of what we were making.
It's not all in black and white, bro.
Yeah, exactly.
The first half hour is not in Yiddish.
I swear.
But yeah.
So as soon as they saw it, they really liked it, but were like,
we will let you sell this to someone else.
And so we had been looking for someone else
to sell it to for a while.
And then HBO Max came into existence so thank god.
What is-- we've been asking a lot of people this question.
You probably don't know the answer.
But, you know, with corona and everything,
what do you think the future of Hollywood
looks like, because-- as far as just,
like, film production and things like that?
Because we know in our industry, late night, people are, like,
gradually getting back into studios,
taking small steps like that, where in something
like a film where there's so many people and so
much crew, what do you even think
the future's gonna look like for you?
There's ways that people have, like--
I think in other countries, maybe we
can film, countries that have not completely fucked up--
- Yes. - Yeah.
Yeah.
--the entire thing.
But I think until there's, like, a vaccine that is readily
available, like, film production will not go back to how it was.
Like, it's too--
You know, just like open crafty tables with, like,
60 people sticking their hands and things
all over the peanuts.
I think people want to--
like, my instinct is people would rather--
especially-- like, people want to get back to quote,
unquote, "how it used to be."
And I think a lot of people would rather just do nothing
until it was like that again.
Like, you can see, like, people really don't like just,
like, modulated kind of day-to-day life.
You-- like, it just spritzes some fucking mother fuckers
out, which is crazy, you know?
And-- and I don't, you know--
I guess I-- again, wearing a mask, to me,
is not the most difficult thing.
But you see something is that simple, to some people,
like, fries their fucking brain.
So I really think that until, like, it is safe to be quote,
unquote, "normal" again, it's hard to imagine how it will
function, you know, because people just don't-- people
just don't follow rules, also.
Like, they just don't, you know?
Like, and especially--
Look at the NBA bubble.
Like, you don't get into the movie industry
because you're, like, really into, like,
having, like, a strict work environment with a lot
of rules, you know what I mean?
Like, if anything--
A little structure.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Like, it is a--
it is a loose environment, you know?
And a casual one where, like, cargo shorts
is, like, the average--
That's like formal wear.
Any industry where cargo shorts is formal wear is not,
you know--
Hey, listen, your shoes, they gotta be--
they have to have toes.
You have to cover your toes.
That's our one rule, man.
You're like awe, man.
Awe, man.
This is a dictatorship. I'm moving.
- Oh, yeah. - Like that kind of thing.
I remember-- yeah.
I remember-- speaking of Evan, I remember,
like, explaining to him, like, you
can't wear flip-flops on set.
Like, it's not a--
When a flight case falls on your fucking foot,
then you'll know why.
Yeah.
The first time we were on set, it was, like-- it was, I think,
the CBS Soundstage in west--
on the west coast.
And I did see the sign that said no flip-flops.
And immediately in my head, I was like, why not?
Like, no-- it's not, like, oh, this is for my protection.
I was like, why the fuck can't I wear flip-flops?
I'm gonna do what I want.
Exactly.
How dare you?
You learn very quickly when you meet
the stagehand that has one leg, and he's
like, yeah, bro, run for me. - Exactly.
And then you-- you realize being on a set
is like being on a construction site,
you know, run by people who did not want to actually
go into construction.
Yes.
It is so true.
Seth, what are you doing-- what are you
doing to keep your sanity during this pandemic other
than pottery?
I've been writing a lot.
Yeah, I've been writing.
I have no kids so that makes everything
just so much better--
DESUS: Easier.
--I think.
I'm very lucky, you know?
I've been trying to very much focus on the fact
that I have no problem here in the--
Yeah.
You're just chilling.
I'm just chilling. I'm just chilling.
You just chilling.
Trying not to complain, trying not
to get suckered into any celebrity selfie videos,
things like that.
Yo, don't do those!
Don't do those!
You've done a very good job avoiding those.
Kudos to you.
Dancing between the raindrops here.
Have you ever gotten a text message
suggesting one and you-- you gotta figure
out the words to be, like--
Oh, yes. Yeah.
It's-- it's a hard thing to-- it's a harder
thing to get out of than you'd think
considering how south they go. - No.
But you got an alibi.
You could be like, yo, I was just-- yo, I was--
I was-- you, I was made high, bro.
Like, oh. My fault.
But then they're just like--
I thought I responded.
They're like, yo, we're not-- we're not
editing this until Friday.
You got four days. Send it whenever.
It takes two seconds. Yeah.
Whenever you're ready. We'll wait.
We'll wait a day.
Yo, listen, I ate four--
I ate six Punch bars.
I fell asleep for a week, bro. Like--
- Oh, your phone broke? - My bad.
Your phone broke? Don't worry.
We'll send you a brand new one just for this video.
Send you a new phone.
We'll send someone film you from a safe distance.
Yeah.
I was like, no.
I'm not-- I'm not singing "Suavemente"
with other celebrities.
This does not help anyone for coronavirus.
This is not helpful at all.
Oh.
Seth, it's always fun having you on here, man.
Always good to be here.
I know you're a busy guy.
You got-- you got some clay to get your hands in over there.
Exactly.
Yo, keeping our streak of illustrious guests going,
what would you like your neon sign to say?
One ashtray at a time.
Listen--
Know what I'm saying?
That sounds like a presidential slogan.
It could be.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit.
(SINGING) One tray at a time.
Go for Seth.
Yo, Seth Rogen in the building.
We out here brining.
Out here. Keep brining.
Brining gang.
Keep brining. - Know what I'm saying?
(SINGING) Brining.
You know what I keep in--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
Seth Rogen, y'all.
Give it up for the homie.
See you guys.