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Seth Rogen

(1982 - )

Seth Rogen is a Jewish Canadian actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He was born on April 15, 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia where he was raised by his parents, Sandy and Mark Rogen, who met on an Israeli kibbutz. Rogen attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School. He got his start in show business at age 13, after signing up for a comedy class. Rogen moved to Los Angeles, California when he was 16.

Rogen's first exposure to the entertainment field began with commercial work in Canada at the age of 13. After trying his hand as a standup comic, Rogen snapped up his first starring role in the series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) with only two auditions. He played cynical, acerbic "freak" Ken Miller. Judd Apatow, the show's co-producer, was very impressed with Rogen's improvisational skills. After the show was cancelled in the middle of its first season, Rogen was cast in a similar role in Apatow's second, also short-lived series, Undeclared (2001-2002), and went on to write several episodes. In 2001, Rogen also had minor roles in Donnie Darko (playing Ricky Danforth) and Dawson's Creek. Following the cancellation of his second series in 2002, Rogen developed a soured attitude toward television, not wanting to act on another show unless Apatow was involved.

Rogen's experience with Undeclared paid off when he and his writing partner, Evan Goldberg, joined the writing staff of Da Ali G Show for its second season. In 2005, Da Ali G Show writing staff, including Rogen and Goldberg, received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program category. As it turned out, Rogen had signed on to the show for what became its final season; Da Ali G Show ended due to the creative decision that its mode of "surprise" comedy would become unsustainable if the show continued much longer. Rogen and Da Ali G Show star, Sacha Baron Cohen, had also belonged to the same Jewish youth group.

In 2008 Rogen won the Best Writing (Film) Canadian Comedy Award for Superbad. He had written the script for this 2007 comedy years earlier, as a starring vehicle for himself. The Superbad team then looked for "an 18-year-old version" of Rogen and chose frequent Rogen collaborator Jonah Hill. He wrote the film with Goldberg and Apatow was one of the producers. Rogen also wrote the screenplay for the Owen Wilson vehicle, Drillbit Taylor, which is based on a 70-page scriptment written by John Hughes.

Rogen returned to the big screen in 2005 with a major supporting role in Apatow's directorial debut The 40-Year-Old Virgin alongside Steve Carell. The film was a massive success, grossing $109,449,237 domestically ($177,358,395 worldwide). Apatow then cast Rogen as the lead in the 2007 film Knocked Up, based on an accidental pregnancy concept. For his role, Rogen was nominated for Best Actor at the 2008 Canadian Comedy Dundies, but lost to Michael Cera for his role in Superbad which was written by Rogen.

Rogen has had leading roles in Pineapple Express, Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Monsters vs. Aliens, Kung Fu Panda, and Observe and Report.


Sources: The Internet Movie Database; Wikipedia; Photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5, Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 and Attribution ShareAlike 1.0 Licenses. Author: Philkon, July 27, 2007.