'Bad' boys just goofballs at heart

HOLLYWOOD -- Not many 18-year-olds get a chance to have their movie scripts read by a Hollywood producer. But then again, Seth Rogen was already a writer and actor on the Fox comedy "Undeclared" when he gave his semi-autobiographical screenplay "Superbad" to his boss, Judd Apatow.

"I kept noticing that Seth's scripts (for 'Undeclared') were among the best that anybody was writing on the show," recalls Apatow, "Undeclared's" creator and producer. "So when he said he had a screenplay, obviously I was pumped about reading it."

That was six years ago; "Superbad" arrives in theaters today.

The film, a comedy about a pair of socially inept high school seniors facing the prospect of life after graduation, stars little-known actors Jonah Hill ("Knocked Up") and Michael Cera ("Arrested Development").

"The first draft I read was a riot," recalls Apatow, 39, who has written and produced comedies for Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Will Ferrell. "There was certainly work to be done on it, but there was a real comic voice there that's still in the movie."

While the project gestated, Apatow, who was already a successful TV writer-producer with "Undeclared" and "Freaks and Geeks," started making hit movies. He wrote and directed "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and produced "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."

When his comedy "Knocked Up," starring Rogen, became a sleeper hit this year, Apatow started to feel confident about "Superbad's" chances, despite its lack of big-name actors.

Indeed, Apatow has become a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. The bearded funnyman has so many comedies in the pipeline that he has trouble recalling them all.

After "Superbad," Apatow has the music biopic spoof, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," opening in December. "The Pineapple Express" is currently in production, as is "Step Brothers," starring Ferrell and John C. Reilly. "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," which Apatow co-wrote with Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel, is in production in New York; the comedy is about an Israeli secret agent who covertly moves to the Big Apple to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a hairdresser. Apatow is also producing "Drillbit Taylor" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

With so many projects to oversee, Apatow has learned to delegate. He surrounds himself with writers, directors and performers he knows and trusts. He tapped Greg Mottola, who directed several episodes of "Undeclared," to helm "Superbad."

Another Apatow collaborator is the audience. He is a firm believer in testing his movies with preview audiences and taking note of their feedback. It's a practice he learned from Emmy- and Oscar-winning director-producer James Brooks, with whom he worked on the animated TV series "The Critic."

"Jim was obsessed with our table reads and he really believed that the audience is your partner," he recalls. "If (your story) is not communicating well, you have to figure it out. We've adopted that philosophy and I think it works well."

Apatow says he's pleased with the positive test screenings of "Superbad" and is cautiously optimistic about the film's potential.

"Superbad" is about Seth (Hill), an overweight, foul-mouthed, volatile and sex-crazed high school senior. Seth's unlikely friend is sweet, smart and girl-shy Evan (Cera). These two misfits, along with another nerdy friend, Fogell (newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse), go out on a quest one night to get liquor, believing that if they can score booze for a party, then girls will sleep with them. But a snafu at a liquor store sends Seth, Evan and Fogell on a wild and unexpected misadventure.

While Rogen had conceived "Superbad" as a starring vehicle for himself, he was too old to play the part of Seth by the time the movie got the green light. Instead, the 24-year-old actor plays one of two outrageously out-of-line cops. ("Saturday Night Live's" Bill Hader plays the other.) Initially, the filmmakers dismissed Hill, 23, as too old to play Seth, but eventually he got the role.

"We just gave in to casting desperation," says Rogen with a booming laugh.

While the two main characters share their names with the writers, Rogen insists that the comedy is mostly fiction.

"Yeah, we tried to get liquor a lot," recalls Rogen.

"And we went to a couple of parties with older people where we were terribly awkward and out of place," adds co-writer Goldberg.

Originally from Syosset, N.Y., Apatow aspired to be a comedian from an early age. While still in high school, he created a radio show and began interviewing famous personalities he admired. Among his interview subjects: Steve Allen, Howard Stern and John Candy. Inspired, he began performing stand-up comedy by the end of his senior year.

Following an appearance on HBO's "Young Comedians" special, Apatow decided to focus on writing. He wrote for the Grammy Awards as well as cable specials for Roseanne Barr and Jim Carrey before co-creating and executive producing "The Ben Stiller Show." Though the critically acclaimed show was canceled after only 12 episodes, Apatow earned an Emmy for his writing. In 1993, he joined the staff of the "The Larry Sanders Show" and served as co-executive producer on the show's final season.

With his success as a TV writer-producer and now as a film producer, Apatow is like a proud father of a large brood. Married to actress Leslie Mann, he makes no apologies for his film's recurring themes about geeky guys attracting beautiful women. A self-described geek, he doesn't feel it's off the mark.

"A goofy guy has to put in more effort and he will succeed much of the time, but it's that effort that actually makes us laugh," he says. "It's not weird that goofy guys are trying to get pretty women; probably 90 percent of men are goofy."