"It was too stupid,” Rogen said while speaking on the 'The A24 Podcast' alongside his 'The Invite' costar and director, Olivia Wilde
Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Seth Rogen joined Olivia Wilde on The A24 Podcast where the pair recalled crazy moments early on in their careers
- The Invite costars realized they both previously worked with the same casting director more than two decades ago
- “I only remember her because she’s responsible for the craziest audition of my life,” Rogen told Wilde
Seth Rogen knows which of his acting auditions tops the list as “the craziest.”
The Pineapple Express actor, 44, joined his The Invite costar and director, Olivia Wilde, for the latest episode of The A24 Podcast, where the two reflected on the early days of their careers.
During the conversation, the 42-year-old actress revealed that at one point in her life, she was “a lowly casting assistant” for Mali Finn.
Credit: Everett
Rogen immediately knew who she was because of her involvement in 8 Mile, the 2002 musical drama starring Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers III), that he had auditioned for.
“I only remember her because she's responsible for the craziest audition of my life,” he said.
Wilde jokingly cut in to ask Rogen if he auditioned for the “Lose Yourself” hitmaker’s role, playfully teasing that Rogen “would have been great.”
“I would have been good,” he replied.
“No, I was … auditioning for a guy called Cheddar or something, maybe,” he added of the character “Cheddar Bob.”
“And what's funny, and I guess if you were her casting assistant, this also makes sense and adds up, is that I was told beforehand, because the scenes were with other rappers, and we got a fax or some s— beforehand being like, ‘No one in this office feels comfortable reading the other roles. So you have to bring someone to read with you,’ like we all had a rapper on standby, a reading rapper,” Rogen said while laughing.
Wilde asked if he brought Eminem in to help with his audition, to which the Shrinking star confirmed he did not.
“Well, what's funny is I found out Jason Segel also had an audition for it, and so we just went with each other, and then one of us did it, and then we switched to the other one,” he said of the experience.
Credit: Chris Haston/NBCU/Getty
The Don't Worry Darling actress found the situation amusing, adding that she was going to find their audition tape.
“We both started laughing. I started laughing uncontrollably to the point I was just like… It was too stupid,” Rogen said.
The role of Cheddar Bob ultimately went to Evan Jones.
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Brittany Murphy, Anthony Mackie, Mekhi Phifer, Omar Benson Miller, and Kim Basinger also starred in 8 Mile.
The film is set in 1995 Detroit and follows Eminem’s character Jimmy Smith Jr. as he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming a rapper under the stage name B-Rabbit. It is loosely based on his life.
“Lose Yourself” became known as 8 Mile’s anthem and went on to become a No. 1 hit — winning the Oscar for Best Original Song. However, Eminem skipped the 2003 ceremony.
The Invite, which also stars Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Amy Adams, and Tessa Thompson, is in theaters now.
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