Seth Rogen and Jason Segel Smoked Joints to See ‘The Matrix’
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NEED TO KNOW
- Seth Rogen and Jason Segel met on the set of Judd Apatow’s 1999 series Freaks and Geeks
- The two reminisced on how they bonded by smoking “giant joints” before seeing The Matrix in theaters
- They have since starred in other shows and movies together, but Rogen has previously stated a revival of Freaks and Geeks is not in the cards
Seth Rogen and Jason Segel‘s longtime friendship started off on a high.
For Variety‘s Actors on Actors, Rogen, 43, and Segel, 45, reminisced on the first time they truly clicked as friends while filming the pilot of Judd Apatow‘s series Freaks and Geeks. At the time, the Shrinking co-creator said neither of them knew their castmates well, and because the two had just met, the only similarity he knew was that they “both liked to smoke weed.”
The Studio star recalled that The Matrix was released nationwide on the same day they wrapped the Freaks and Geeks pilot, March 31, 1999.
Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank
“We rolled giant joints and drove to the movie theater,” Segel said. “I remember coming out of that movie legitimately feeling like something had changed.”
After the “inspiring” viewing of the Keanu Reeves-led action movie, Segel said the two “started writing harder.”
He added, “I think about that period as something you can never get back. We had the naivete of youth. We didn’t really know how to do it.”
Since costarring in the short-lived Freaks and Geeks, Segel and Rogen have appeared in numerous projects together. In 2001, they both worked on Apatow’s sitcom Undeclared, which also only lasted one season.
They reunited with the director and producer, 57, for the 2007 rom-com Knocked Up starring opposite Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill. Most recently, for Rogen’s 2013 directorial debut This Is the End, Segel supported his friend with an uncredited cameo.
Frazer Harrison/Getty; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
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Although Freaks and Geeks produced several lasting friendships — including Busy Philipps and Linda Cardellini — Rogen told PEOPLE in 2023 that he doesn’t believe “anyone” would do a revival of the cult classic.
“It’s so rare that you do something in your career that is actually just viewed as good,” he explained. “I know enough now not to f— with that, to just let it be good and not try to go revisit it.”
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