For the past decade, Seth Rogen has had his hands full with plenty of acting, writing and producing duties — but he has not directed a film since 2014’s The Interview, for understandable reasons.
The Interview starred Rogen and James Franco as their characters landed an interview with North Korean dictator Jong-Un Kim, then were recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. The film famously caused an international incident, with the North Korean government threatening the United States if Sony released it and Sony being hit with a massive cyberattack shortly after.
Rogen and partner Evan Goldberg directed the movie together, their second directorial effort after 2013’s This Is the End. Cut to 2026 and Rogen has directed plenty of TV episodes — including for his hit series The Studio — but has yet to direct another feature.
“It has been a while. The last one we did almost started a war, so that made us maybe a little gun-shy for a little while,” Rogen admitted at the premiere of his new movie The Invite on Wednesday. “We eased back in through television and it seemed to go well, so we do talk about maybe, hopefully, directing a film next year actually.” He added that in today’s Hollywood, “We’re not the biggest problem anymore.”
For now, he’s starring in another actor-director’s vehicle, Olivia Wilde‘s The Invite, which sees him and Wilde as a couple barely keeping their marriage together who invite their neighbors (Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton) over for a quickly derailed dinner party.
Rogen joked that simply being a hired actor — rather than his usual multihyphenate role — on the movie was refreshing, as “It’s nice when there’s a conversation happening over there and you’re like, ‘Normally I’d be a part of that conversation that everyone looks pretty miserable to be a part of.’ And I can just scroll Instagram and talk to Edward.”
He also had high praise for Wilde, noting, “I’ve worked with some people who are acting and directing at the same time and I always really enjoy it. To me, she was very bold in both respects, which I found to be really impressive, like she was taking big swings both as an actor and director.”
The Invite slides into select theaters on Friday, opening wide July 10.
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