Comic-Con: Judd Apatow bonds with a fan at “Pineapple Express” panel
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One fan carrying a Chewbacca backpack got Judd Apatow to do what no other Comic-Con panelist has done so far. Apatow took off his shirt.
‘Oh, my god, he’s got a back like yours Judd,’ Rogen said before the fan was able to ask his question at the ‘Pineapple Express’ Q&A.
‘Yes,’ Apatow replies, before lifting up his shirt to reveal his own chest carpet to the crowd. ‘This is a hair bond,’ he told the fan. (Unfortunately, I was not quick enough with my camera to snap a picture. Instead, a lovely shot of ‘Pineapple Express’ stars Seth Rogen and James Franco.)
The other bad news is that although Apatow and Rogen killed at the session, so much of it was R-rated and I can only give you the clean bits:
What does Pineapple Express, the fictional type of pot the film is named after, taste like? ‘It tastes like your throat is burning,’ Rogen said.
Asked why Rogen and “Pineapple” co-writer Evan Goldberg were inspired to make a stoner pic, Rogen explained: “It was a hard sell to make a weed movie for me and Evan,” he said. “Judd had the notion to make a weed action comedy -- we said that sounds [censored]rad. We felt very personally close to the material. Guys smoking joints and shooting AK47s -- that’s the movie I want to see right now.”
Costar James Franco fussed over his outfit. “They told me I had to wear the wig and the Guatemalan pants. That was a big argument.”
The best part about working with director David Gordon Green? “You can say anything because you don’t have to memorize your lines,” actor Danny McBride said. “You don’t even know how to read.” Added Rogen: “A lot of directors give direction like, ‘Do it faster,’ ‘Do it with more energy,’ ‘Be more serious.’ David says, ‘Do it like you’re a robot, or like you’re doing karate or like your taking a [bleep].’”
Franco is a better kisser than actress Amber Heard. “You’re a better kisser because you know the male anatomy and what I like,” Rogen told Franco before turning to Heard. “Sorry, he’s got the home field advantage.”
Asked if any of the inventive pot shots -- a three-ended joint, for example -- were inspired by real-life moments, Rogen fessed: “There’s one shot I’m smoking in a fish bowl. We did that in high school. It was stupid. I don’t know what we expected the outcome to be, but yeah, we did that.”
Rogen doesn’t have a favorite movie role, but he enjoyed making “Pineapple.” “This movie was fun because I got to shoot machine guns,” he said. “It definitely makes your day go by faster. Take that knowledge home with you, kids.”
-- Denise Martin