We have a double shot of Canadian movie stars chatting with Earl Dittman today. Click on Read More to listen in as Seth Rogen talks about Monsters Vs. Aliens, Observe and Report and his new Green Hornet movie. Then click here for a little more CanCon with MvA and 24’s tough-as-nails Canuck, Kiefer Sutherland.

Although he has starred in the box office hits Knocked Up, Superbad and The Forty-Year-Old Virgin— three of the biggest-grossing comedies of the past decade, don’t call Seth a celebrity. “First of all, I would never think of myself as being a huge celebrity,” declares the 27-year-old actor/writer, who got his start doing stand-up in his hometown of Vancouver, B.C.“ Realizing my dreams has nothing to do with being a celebrity. It’s just nice to make these movies that I want to make. The real difference with being famous is now when we sit down at the computer and write they might actually make the movie. Before, when we wrote something, it was only a pipe dream that it would become a movie. Now, it’s like, ‘This is fucking crazy that they will probably make this.’ That’s the greatest part of being popular in Hollywood.”

The accomplished screenwriter, however, is just a voice and body for hire is upcoming two movies — the hysterically clever animated comedy Monsters Vs.Aliens and the live action action/comedy Observe and Report. A veteran of animated movies (he has the international blockbuster Kung Fu Panda already under his belt), Seth found himself especially attracted to the character of the Monsters Vs. Aliensbrainless blob B.O.B. (acronym for benzatoate-ostylezene-bicarbonate) because of the infinite number of comic possibilities. “I really wanted to do B.O.B. because I felt like it was nice that it was kind of a more clearly defined character than some of the animated characters I’ve done in the past,” says Rogen, who will be seen (or heard) in four different movies this year, and The Green Hornet slated for 2010. “When they give you something like a blob with no brain, that is easy to think of funny directions to take it. So, I always really looked forward to coming and doing it in the recording studio, because I felt like I had a lot of funny ideas that I could share with my fans.”

In Monsters Vs. Aliens, your character is B.O.B. who is not supposed to a brain. Is the key to the role playing dumb to sound smart?

“No. To me, the key to playing dumb was to sound enthusiastic at all times and naïve. B.O.B. is not that smart at all. It was fun, actually, to be a character with no brain. In the past, I’ve been told I didn’t have a whole brain myself. So yeah, I felt very at home I’ll say.”

How did you get into character?

“I would beat myself with a frying pan ten times before I went in everyday. (laughs) No, I’ll probably need to say what’s fun about an animated film is you’re really just kind of alone in a room with a microphone and you can try a million different things. You know, there’s not a huge time constraint. There’s not a large technical aspect to it. It’s just you kind of saying
stuff. So, you know, I would look forward to going in and making up a ton of stuff, and let them sort through it all, and find that even it was usable.”

What do you think movie-lovers will like about B.O.B.?

“B.O.B. is a very naïve and inquisitive mass. I think B.O.B. is funny. You know, I think more than anything I mean, that’s the simple answer. B.O.B. is a funny character. He has no brain. That’s a humorous concept.”

Would you say that B.O.B. is sort of the comic relief of the Monsters team or are they just a funny group?

“I think the whole group is definitely funny. I mean, you’ve got Will Arnett and Hugh Laurie. And if you’ve ever seen Black Adder you know that Hugh Laurie is one of the funniest people alive. So yeah, I mean they’re all funny. They just finish animating that joke early.”

When you first saw the drawing of B.O.B. and realized that you were going to play this big gelatinous blob, what was your reaction?

“I thought it was really funny, do you know what I mean? I don’t take it personally. I understand. I get it. No, I mean it was funny more than anything. I was excited. It just seemed — again, technically like a real achievement. I’m a big just fan of how movies get made. The whole like translucent texture of the character I thought was very neat. The way they talked about animating it was really cool. And the 3-D really works really well, so I was thrilled when I saw it.”

What were some of your favorite cartoon characters while growing up?

“The Chipmunks Movie was very good. Apparently kids still watch it. I was talking to some kids and they watched the same Chipmunks movie I had watched when I was a kid. Bambi depressed me. I stayed away from Bambi. Aladdin was good. That came out when I was younger. They hadn’t yet stepped into the digital era yet. I definitely grew up in the heyday of like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, and all those Disney movies, like The Lion King. But, I still have to say that Ariel (from The Little Mermaid) sure was hot. She really was.”

You’ve established yourself as a driving force in Hollywood as a young, talented comedic actor, writer and producer. You began your career at age in your early teens (Freaks and Geeks), so what type of influence or role did your parents play in either supporting or discouraging your career from such a young age?

“Yeah, my parents were always very, very supportive. I mean, they would encourage me in every way. My mom drove me to like every stand-up comedy show I did. She’d even let me sleep in the next day and miss some school, sometimes. They were great, you know. They could not have been, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it if they were not supportive of it. It’s as simple as that.”

You have two movies opening almost back-to-back with Monsters Vs. Aliens and Observe and Report. One is family fare and the other is a bit raunchier. Do you have a preference, and do you ever worry about being locked into the adolescent raunchy image?

“Yeah, honestly, I’m very thankful that people are allowing me to do this. I’m kind of shocked that I’ve gotten away with it, that I can do a movie like Observe and Report and a movie like Monsters Vs. Aliens. One, which has been described as transgressive, and the other which is a delightful family romp. I do like both those kinds of movies. I try to do the types of movies that I like to go see, and I genuinely like to go see both those types of movies. Being responsible for the writing of a majority of my movies, I don’t feel typecast, and if I did I’d probably write myself a different role.”

Funny People, the film you just did with (director) Judd Apatow, is out this spring. The movie is basically his take on stand-up comedians. Who else in it?

“I’m acting in it with Adam Sandler, who plays a comic who takes me under his wing. He’s crazy and hilarious so that’s been a lot of fun. Working with Sandler is surreal, though,because his comedy albums were extremely influential on me when I was young. I love everything Adam has done, so it’s a real thrill to be working with him. Jonah (Friedlander) is in the movie, and Jason Schwartzman is in it, too. It’s an interesting movie, and it’s a beautiful movie. I think people are really going to like it.”

Does Funny People examine the dark side of comedy clubs and comedians themselves?

“We definitely get into that, yeah, it really gets into the world of comedy and the process of us writing comedy. We perform the jokes you see us write in the movie, so we’re really showing people the process of comedy writing.”

What’s the status of The Green Hornet movie?

“Michel Gondry is going to direct it. Me and Evan (Goldberg) are in the process of rewriting it with him right now. We should start shooting it in the end of June, around then.”

Will there be any humor in a superhero movie like The Green Hornet? Will this be a totally different take on the action hero?

“It will definitely be a different character as we’re writing it right now. We just want it to be good, so we don’t feel obligated to live up to the things we tell journalists. (laughs) Right now, is when we’re discovering what we’re doing with the movie. We are at the point where we’re shaping the sensibility of the movie.”

Will you be doing any death-defying stunts?

“I hope so. I think they’ll be a lot of fun. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been exercising and working out so hard. I’ve been starving myself for a reason, dude.” (laughs)

Will fans of the Green Hornet be happy with it you’ll do with him or will they be disappointed that it’s not a traditional depiction of their hero? Does it matter if Green Hornet fans are happy?

“We’re not really worried since there are like thirty Green Hornet fans in the whole world. (laughs) Since the character was created, there have been so many different versions of his story that have been written. Also, there are radio fans from the radio show, there are comic fans from the comic books and TV fans from the television series, so the few consistencies there are between the different incarnations absolutely make no sense. We’ll never say, ‘In this one Green Hornet comic book they did that but we’re doing this instead.’ We just want to make a good movie. We want it to be a movie that everyone can see and enjoy. There are some Green Hornet fans who will hate us, but I don’t care.” (laughs)

Who are some of your comedic influences?

“I guess all the funniest guys ever. Bill Murray, Jerry Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Jim Brooks and those guys. Everyone, you know. Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Kids In The Hall. Everyone who is funny.”

The funny aspects that we normally see in your characters, are they directly related to who you really are? Are you normally that funny?

“I’m hilarious every second of the day, my friend, a non-stop roller coaster of laughter. I don’t know? I guess it depends. Some of the characters feel closer to me, some of them feel farther, but it never feels like a real — it’s not like working coal mines or anything. I mean, we make goofy jokes all day. It never feels like it’s that difficult a job. I have to be honest.”

Which of your movie characters are more like the real Seth?

“I think the guy I play in Knocked Up is probably the closest to me in a lot of ways, and all the other ones are kind of not that much like me. That’s not a great thing to admit, but not any more. None of them are like me any more because, as you can see, I’m amazing.”