Rogen & Franco Get "High" Marks
It's fair to say that Seth Rogen drew from his own real-life experiences when creating his stoner character Dale Denton in his new film "Pineapple Express."
"I've been preparing for this role my whole life I think in some ways," Rogen said. "James (Franco) takes his job a lot more seriously."
In a way, Rogen, the 26-year-old Canadian comedic actor/writer/producer plays himself, but in an amplified version.
"It's true. I lived in this movie," Rogen admitted.
Method acting or not, the comedic actor has achieved success along the way with his sarcastic, self-deprecating approach that has made countless filmgoers laugh.
Rogen and "Spider-Man 3" star Franco have teamed up in the comedy "Pineapple Express" to play stoners on the run from a drug lord and a crooked cop.
The story is based around lazy stoner Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) who visits his equally lazy dealer Saul Silver (James Franco) to buy a particular kind of marijuana, called "Pineapple Express," but the transaction doesn't go as planned.
Denton witnesses a murder by a crooked cop and the city's most dangerous drug lord and in a state of panic he drops the rare drug at the scene of the crime, thus linking both Denton and Silver to the murder.
Reveling in the idea of using the word "stoner" so early in the morning on television and hoping that it set a record, Rogen and Franco sat down with Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith to talk about their new comedy and share some laughs.
Although there are a lot of parallels between Rogan and his character, that's not the case for 30-year-old actor/writer/producer Franco.
He needed some help in making the transformation.
"I put on the wig and the character came on," Franco revealed.
He also used a trick to play stoned.
"I don't really smoke weed in my life," Franco said. "But if you just pretend you're looking in the wind, that's it."
Referred to as "a classic stoner movie" by USA Today, Smith chimed in to say that "Pineapple Express" is a "stoner movie meets, like, bad '70s action."
"Bad-good, I think. It's relative. Good, bad '70s action," Rogen said.
Rogen referred to one his favorite action movies, "Tango and Cash."
"Good movie or bad movie? I don't know. I think it's a great movie. I'm sure critics of the time didn't agree. It's inspiration for me," Rogen said.
Rogen and Franco crossed paths for the first time in 1999 in the TV series, "Freaks and Geeks" about two unique groups of teenagers that are growing up in the '80s.
"Oh, man, look at that thin guy. Oh, my god," Rogen said sarcastically as a clip was shown of the two actors starring in the show. "I look like ate myself. What a terrible thing. Where is that person? That person is in here somewhere struggling to get out."
Although Rogen and Franco weren't particularly close after the TV series, Rogan admitted that he was a fan of Franco's.
"I'm a big fan," Rogen said. "I love 'Spider- Man.' We didn't have a falling out or anything. He just became very successful after 'Freaks and Geeks.' And I sat on my couch and researched this movie for three years!"