SETH ROGEN BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Seth Rogen born April 15, 1982 is a Canadian actor, comedian, voice artist, screenwriter, and film producer. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy for four years during his teens, coming in second place in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a supporting role in Freaks and Geeks. Shortly after Rogen moved to Los Angeles for his role, Freaks and Geeks was canceled after one season due to poor ratings. He then got a part on the equally short-lived Undeclared, which also hired him as a staff writer.

After landing a job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show, for which Rogen and the other writers received an Emmy nomination, he was guided by film producer Judd Apatow toward a film career. Rogen was cast in a major supporting role and credited as a co-producer in Apatow's directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. After receiving critical praise for that performance, Universal Pictures agreed to cast him as the lead in Apatow's next directorial feature, Knocked Up.

Rogen has appeared in the films Donnie Darko, You, Me and Dupree, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Observe and Report, and The Green Hornet, and also in the Apatow-produced comedies The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express, and Funny People. He and his comedy partner Evan Goldberg co-wrote the comedy films Superbad and Pineapple Express, for which he originally intended to headline while in high school. Rogen has provided voice talents in the animated films Horton Hears a Who!, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens. He also supports Crowdrise, a charitable networking site.

Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Sandy, a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who works for non-profit organizations and as an assistant director of a Workmen's Circle. He has described his parents, who met at an Israeli kibbutz, as "radical Jewish socialists." He has one older sister, Danya, who is a social worker. Rogen attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School (although he never graduated), incorporating many of his classmates into his writing. He was also known for the stand-up comedy he performed at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp.

Rogen got his start in show business at age 12, after signing up for a comedy workshop class. His early comedy routines involved jokes about his bar mitzvah, his grandparents and his camp counselors. At the age of 13, he co-wrote a rough draft of Superbad with childhood friend Evan Goldberg. Rogen and Goldberg spent the rest of their time in high school polishing the script; they initially worried that the 1999 film American Pie had beaten them to the idea for the film, but felt that the film lacked "all honest interaction between characters, which is what [they]'re going for." His mother was supportive of his comic endeavors and would often drive him to stand up gigs at the comedy club Yuk Yuks. With his deadpan humor, he placed second in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest at 16 years old. Also at age 16, he auditioned for Judd Apatow's television show Freaks and Geeks, and landed the role of Ken Miller. After dropping out of high school, he began working full time for Apatow