According to Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow, Jonah Hill “immediately hated” Christopher Mintz-Plasse during the callback audition for Superbad.
Hill starred as high schooler Seth, alongside Mintz-Plasse’s nerdy Fogell, in Greg Mottola’s 2007 teen comedy, co-written by Rogan and executive produced by Apatow.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, celebrating the movie’s 15th anniversary, the cast and crew recalled the initial bad blood between the co-stars.
“Jonah immediately hated him. He was like, ‘That was f***ing with my rhythm. I couldn’t perform with that guy,’” Rogan explained.
Apatow added: “Jonah said, ‘I don’t like that guy. I don’t want him doing it.’ And I said, ‘That’s exactly why we’re hiring him. It couldn’t be more perfect. The fact that it bothers you is exactly what we want.’”
Apatow recalled Mintz-Plasse acting “very caustic” during the third callback audition when he read with Jonah, adding that he “attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah”.
Director Mottola further remembered: “[Mintz-Plasse] played it like he was clearly the coolest guy in the room and everyone else was a nerd and a loser. He was Dean Martin instead of Jerry Lewis.”
Hill later admitted: “Chris was really, really amazing off the bat. And I think he was really annoying to me at that time.”
Upon its release, the film became a box office success and received acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Despite its success, there have been no active plans to reunite the cast for a follow-up film, with Hill and Rogen expressing their disinterest in a sequel.
However, in May, Apatow shared his proposed plot for a sequel, which included a spinoff of the characters in college.
Meanwhile, in June, Rogan posted in celebration of McLovin’s 41st birthday, encouraging fans to do the same.
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