One of the highlights of the past awards weekend was spending time with the very funny and canny Seth Rogen. I had never really talked with him before, but I always liked his movies, especially Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” with Elizabeth Banks. They made it for Miramax.
Harvey Weinstein drove them crazy on it, Seth said when I talked to him at the swanky BAFTA tea at the Maybourne Hotel on Saturday.
More importantly, I wanted to know if he’d read Barbra Streisand’s 992 page autobiography, “My Name is Barbra.” Rogen played Streisand’s son in the 2012 comedy, “Guilt Trip.” The movie was about a road trip with a mother and son.
Rogen said, “As a matter of fact I’m on the 41st hour of listening to the audio book. I had a good time making that movie so I’m glad I come off pretty well.”
In the book, Streisand writes: “Seth Rogen, who played my son, is as funny off-screen as on, and I liked the way he could insert something a little unexpected into a comic tirade.” She even made him ice cream cones from her favorite ice cream.
Considering the long list of more critical observations of her co-stars, Rogen did get off easy!
The BAFTA tea was on Saturday. On Sunday, I sat with Seth and the other producers of last year’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.” It was up for Best Animated Feature but lost to “Into the Spider Verse.” Rogen voiced a character and also contributed to the screenplay.
The movie made $180 million around the world.
When I asked all of them if there would be a sequel, the group raised their glasses and toasted each other. “It made enough to make a sequel,” Rogen said.
PS Even though they were often collaborators, Rogen is not in touch with James Franco. Let’s leave it at that.
