The post Super Pumped appeared first on Wonderland.

Was it difficult to find a balance between the funny side and the tragic side?
Not really. When I think of the challenges that went into making this movie, it was more just making sure it was all good and honest and with real feeling. I was never worried for Will and if it was going to be weird to transition from the humour to the serious stuff. This isn’t the kind of film you can pitch, really [to film studios]. But we knew it was smart to make it cheaply as it’s the type of movie that if you do it right it will make enough money to make sense for [the studio] making it. Plus it was really well written. Even thought we improvised a lot – it started out as a really good script so that was really helpful.

The type of cancer in the film –
Neurofibromatosis?

Yes! One of the other characters is like “I didn’t even know that existed” and I was sitting in the theatre thinking “I didn’t know either” and instantly started freaking out. Is 50/50 a film for hypochondriacs to watch?
[Laughs] Probably because he lives in the end so it’s inspirational! It’s a lot better than most cancer movies!

As this film is based on you and your friends experiences of dealing with his diagnosis and treatment. is your character, Kyle, based on yourself?
I think our dynamic is pretty representative of what our real dynamic was like. He was neurotic and complained a lot and I was an asshole and made fun of him. But, I mean, when I watch it I don’t feel like I’m watching myself. It’s more a representation. For example, we would joke about him using [the disease] to get girls but we never actually did it. And I would make light of it but never as insensitively as in the movie.

For the most part, the roles that you take on are always pretty good guys who seem like they’d make a good friend – are you a good friend to have in real life?
To some people. Maybe not all. It depends on who you ask. What’s interesting about [living in Hollywood – where Rogen has lived for 13 years] is that it’s a city entirely populated by people with similar interests so that kind of makes it easy to make friends because no matter who you speak to, odds are they like movies and television. I’m still friends with the same people I first was friends with when I came here. I definitely got lucky and was working with a group of people who were nice and talented and got on well. But I don’t think it’s any more difficult to make friends in LA than any other city in the world.

Yeah. In London it can be quite tough.
What? There’s pubs everywhere! How can you not?

Well that’s my problem. I get so wasted I don’t remember meeting people.
[laughs]

So you made a lot of friends working on Da Ali G Show – is it true that is also where you met your wife [actress/producer Lauren Miller]?
No, actually. Will introduced me to my wife – while he was sick – at a bar. We were kind of set up a little. He invited us both and we met.

And you were recently wed – how is married life going? Is the promotional trail part of your honeymoon?
Exactly! It’s going great! She’s in Los Angeles, I’m in London! [Laughs] We’ve been together a really long time. It’s not one of those rushed into situations. We’ve been together six and a half years and it’s really fun to get married and no one tells you that. With all the stuff you associate with getting married no one tells you that your own wedding is really fun. It’s the one time you get to have a huge party and only have people there that you actually like and from all over the country or the world. I have a lot of friends back home in Vancouver and I have friends in LA so it’s very rare all those people are in the same place. I had more fun at my wedding then any other wedding I’ve been to.

50/50 is out now
Interview: Seamus Duff

The post Laughter Is The Best Medicine – Q+A Seth Rogen appeared first on Wonderland.

What was a key lesson you learned from being a child actor?

That whatever you do, you do it all the way. So with acting, you decide how you’re going to be play the character, you work out how they behave and you commit 100% to that. If you don’t, it’ll fall flat, it’ll come across as self-conscious and the audience won’t feel it.

Why did you give up acting and go to college?

I’d forgotten why I loved it. I’d been doing one show for so long and I’d been working since I was six so I kind of lost track. I just wanted to not do it anymore; to not know what my future was.

Do you owe your current film career to taking that break?

I’ve been doing this for twenty years now so it’s been a gradual progression. The new film stuff all happened after a film I did called Manic, which I made in 2001. I played a mentally ill kid. If there was one hurdle then it might have been Manic. Rian Johnson saw it and cast me in Brick. Gregg Araki also saw it and cast me in Mysterious Skin, which was the first time that anyone had asked me to be sexy.

What was it like taking Brick and Mysterious Skin to Sundance in the same year?

It’s a cliché to say it, but that was a dream come true. To go to Sundance had been a promise I’d made to myself since I was a kid working on TV. So ten years later when I was able to go there with two movies that I was really proud of, it meant the world to me.

Which character has been most like you?

It depends from day to day. I do know that Tommy Burgess, the soldier I play in Stop Loss, couldn’t be more different from me.

How?

I was brought up to believe that fighting isn’t the answer and it’s better to use words. Everything in my upbringing went against me ever becoming a soldier. I wasn’t even allowed to play with toys to do with the military.

So although you’re playing Cobra Commander in the G.I. Joe movie for Paramount, you were never allowed to play with G.I. Joe dolls as a kid?

That’s right. No toys that had guns. But I got to know a lot of soldiers through Stop Loss and I learnt what it means to be one. No matter what you feel about America’s occupation of Iraq, it’s important to distinguish that, in a way, what those soldiers do is the bravest thing a human being can do: they put their lives on the line for each other. I’ve never risked my life for anything.

Do you have any vices?

Well, I drank a lot when we were shooting Stop Loss. A lot of beer, a lot of hard liquor. If we weren’t on set we’d go work out like a bunch of meatheads. Then we’d eat a lot of meat. And then we’d go drink at the nearest place we could find tequila, Coors, whatever. And just get really drunk. By the time I was done, my tolerance for alcohol was nuts! I could shoot liquor all night long and be alright, which now, not even close. I’ve never been much of a drinker, it’s not really my drug of choice.

What is your drug of choice?

I guess marijuana. I’ve had a select set of really beautiful, powerful, psychedelic experiences on certain drugs but I never got into just doing it at a party: ‘Oh let’s get fucked up and drop acid’. That’s so retarded and disrespectful to your body and the drug itself. Mushrooms, acid and ecstasy can offer you a new perspective. They can also offer you nothing.

Do you lose yourself in your characters?

The simple answer is no. Some actors stay in character on set. I think that’s impressive but I’ve never done it. But when I went home at night on Stop Loss I was still very much in the mood of that character. It’s a strange thing to say about yourself, but I change a lot with different roles. I’m a volatile person.

Are you a character actor or a leading man?

[Laughs] A ‘character actor’, what does that mean? I don’t appreciate the dichotomy, because a good actor is going to play a character. Johnny Depp is a very good looking, leading man dude but he plays characters because he’s a good actor. Daniel Day Lewis, same story.

Who would you like to work with?

Tim Burton, especially after doing Stop Loss and The Lookout. I’d love to do a Tim Burton movie where reality doesn’t have much to do with it.

Do you think you’re attractive?

[Laughs] That’s not a fair question. How can you answer that without sounding like a tool?

Have you ever been star-struck?

When I saw David Bowie in concert I froze the fuck up. I was there with my then-girlfriend and hardly looked at her for two hours – and she was good to look at. Usually when I see a band I watch what the drummer is doing, what the bass player is doing but I only had eyes for David.

What were your favourite films growing up?

Well, Dumbo still hits me harder than just about any other. Dumbo or Bambi couldn’t happen nowadays. In this business where accountants and lawyers are now in charge of how stories get told, the movies are sucking.

Words: Matt Mueller
Interview: Lee Wallick
Photography: Chad Pitman

A full version of this article first appeared in Wonderland #13, April/May 2008

The post Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared first on Wonderland.