Seth Rogen has spoken to ZM Breakfast hosts Fletch, Vaughan, and Megan about his new memoir Yearbook. Photo / Getty Images
Seth Rogen has spoken to ZM Breakfast hosts Fletch, Vaughan, and Megan about his new memoir Yearbook. Photo / Getty Images
Seth Rogen has revealed if he was worried about the repercussions of being brutally honest about celebrities in his memoir.
Rogen joined ZM's Fletch Vaughan and Megan this morning to discuss his new book Yearbook and was honest about the impact of him being very truthful about Hollywood's elite.
The Canadian-American comedy mogul spilled on how it felt to release the tell-all book, and whether he was nervous about any possible repercussions. He's had no shortage of bizarre celebrity anecdotes over the years, ranging from the time Beyonce's security guard prevented him from meeting her to a strange encounter with Tom Cruise.
While the 39-year-old says he wasn't afraid to be open about his drug habits in his book, he admitted was more nervous about sharing honest accounts of celebrity interactions.
"I genuinely tried not to say anything that I thought would be like, genuinely damaging towards these people.
"It might cause an annoying afternoon for one or two of them, but I don't think it's anything that's disrupting the path of their life or career."
"Some of them [celebrities] don't like me already, so that's okay." He explained he's told some of the stories "for years" on talk shows, like the time he met with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
In 2012, he met with Lucas and Spielberg and the Star Wards director was convinced the world was going to end, which he writes about in Yearbook. He revealed he's just been cast in Spielberg's next movie, so it's clear his brutal honesty hasn't impaired his career too much.
And he wrote about a time he interacted with Tom Cruise where he says he "dodged a bullet". He writes in Yearbook he was invited to the Top Gun's star's house with fellow comedy writer Judd Apatow. He narrowly escaped a pitch on Scientology.
Seth Rogen's memoir Yearbook is a collection of humorous and honest essays about his life in Hollywood. Photo / Supplied
When Megan Papas asked if he had heard from Cruise since the book came out, Rogen said he's likely not thought fondly of him since he made the show Preacher. In the pilot of the show, there's a plotline where Cruise spontaneously combusts.
"We included that in the show, and I heard back then [in 2016] that he was not happy about it.
"I think some of these won't like me very much after this, but [I don't want] to assume they liked me before this," he said, speaking about how he keeps himself grounded meeting other celebrities.
In fact, Rogen tends to assume the worst before he meets anyone famous and still gets intimidated meeting celebrities.
"So many times it hasn't gone right," he says, adding his meetings with stars have ranged from "terrible" to an observed "palpable disinterest".
Vince Vaughan and Will Ferrell are two examples of positive experiences Rogen has had over the years.
"Expect disinterest, that's what you should be aiming for."
For someone who has had as much success as Rogen, it may be surprising to learn he's experienced moments of doubting himself. In Yearbook, he writes about his attempts at standup comedy at the beginning of his career and told the ZM hosts about how he realised some things just weren't for him.
"Especially when you're pursuing a career in Hollywood, it is a balance between not giving up and being tenacious, and also understanding when you're just not cut out for things."
"I was constantly nagged by the thought that I was pretty good, but not fantastic at it [standup]."
As well as writing, directing, and starring in several projects Rogen is a decorated executive producer - including a project involving New Zealanders.
He spoke about executive producing superhero series The Boys, screening on Amazon Prime Video in New Zealand, starring Kiwi actors Karl Urban and Antony Starr. He joked about having a show fronted by two stars from Aotearoa.
"That is a statistical anomaly...where two of the main people are from New Zealand. Unless your show is made in New Zealand, that is not happening very often!"
• Listen to ZM's Fletch, Vaughan, and Megan's interview with Seth Rogen below. Rogen's memoir Yearbook is out now.
