Seth Rogen (born April 15, 1982,Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada) is aCanadiancomic actor and screenwriter who won over audiences as acharismaticbuffoon in a number ofbox-office hits, includingKnocked Up (2007).

Rogen was born toliberalJewish parents. At age 13 he began doingstand-up on the local comedy-club circuit alongside performers more than twice his age, and three years later he auditioned for the American high-school television dramedyFreaks and Geeks (1999–2000), winning the role of thesardonic Ken. The series proved to be short-lived, but producerJudd Apatow was impressed by Rogen’s ease in front of the camera and talent for improvisation and in 2001 hired him as both an actor and a writer on a new college-themedsitcom,Undeclared. When that show met a similar fate, Rogen, along with childhood friend Evan Goldberg, landed jobs writing for theSacha Baron Cohen showcaseDa Ali G Show. Rogen also surfaced in an episode of the teen-centreddramaDawson’s Creek.

Meanwhile, Rogen’s association with Apatow remained fruitful, as he received bit parts in two of Apatow’s earlyfilm productions,Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) andThe 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), stealing scenes in the latter from leadSteve Carell. Rogen put in another supporting performance inYou, Me and Dupree (2006), but it was his next film that made him a household name. InKnocked Up, which Apatow wrote and directed, Rogen starred as an oafish pot-smoking slacker whose one-night stand with an attractive career woman (played byKatherine Heigl) inadvertently results in her pregnancy. The crudeyet heartwarming movie grossed more than $200 million worldwide, and Rogen’s appealing performance established his A-list credentials.

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Rogen had long desired to make his own movies, however, and finally got the chance withSuperbad (2007), a raunchy comedy of teenage misadventures that he and Goldberg had originally scripted when they were teenagers themselves; Rogen served as executive producer and appeared briefly as a bumbling police officer. The writing duo returned the following year withPineapple Express (2008), a marijuana-themed action farce starring Rogen opposite hisFreaks and Geeks costarJames Franco. At the same time, Rogen kept busy with a lead role inZack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) and a handful of animated features, whichutilized his distinctive voice.

In 2009 Rogen portrayed a mall cop in the dark comedyObserve and Report and then starred withAdam Sandler inFunny People, another collaboration with Apatow, about a friendship that blossoms between two comedians. He later appeared as the title character in the superhero filmThe Green Hornet (2011)—which he and Goldberg adapted from the radio, TV, andcomic book franchise of the same name—and provided the voice of a wisecracking extraterrestrial in the science-fiction spoofPaul (2011). Although Rogen was known primarily as a broad performer, his subtler charms registered in the seriocomic50/50 (2011), in which he played the supportive best friend of a young man afflicted with spinal cancer, andTake This Waltz (2011), which centred on a love triangle.

Rogen starred as an inventor traveling with his mother (played byBarbra Streisand) in the road comedyThe Guilt Trip (2012). With Goldberg he then cowrote and codirectedThis Is the End (2013), a zany take on theapocalypse in which he and an ensemble of other young actors (many of whom he had previouslycollaborated with) played exaggerated versions of themselves. Rogen played a young father who must contend with the difficulties of living next door to a fraternity house in the ribaldNeighbors (2014). Hereprised the role in a 2016 sequel,Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.

Rogen cowrote and codirectedThe Interview, a provocative farce about an attempt to assassinate North Korean leaderKim Jong-Un; he and Franco costarred. The film, slated for release in December 2014, was pulled by its distributor, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., in the wake of a hack of the company’scomputer system in November and terrorist threats later made by the hackers, who were thought to beacting on orders fromNorth Korea. It was ultimately released on Christmas at a small number of independent theatres as well as oncable television and online streaming video platforms.

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InSteve Jobs (2015), a biopic about thetitular cofounder of Apple, Rogen portrayedSteve Wozniak. He returned to his comic wheelhouse in the amusementThe Night Before (2015), about a group of friends gathering for one last Christmas Eve debauch. Rogen cowrote the animated comedySausage Party (2016), about a foulmouthed wiener, which he also voiced. The next year he reteamed with Franco inThe Disaster Artist, which followed the filming ofThe Room (2003), a notoriously bad movie that became a cult favourite. He then appeared as the love interest of a woman (Kristen Bell) recently left at the altar inLike Father (2018), a comedy penned by his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen. His credits from 2019 included theromantic comedyLong Shot, in which he played an idealistic journalist who becomes a speechwriter for his childhood babysitter, now the U.S. secretary of state (Charlize Theron). Rogen also lent his voice to the character of Pumbaa in the 2019 remake ofDisney’sThe Lion King. In the comedyAn American Pickle (2020), he was cast as a Jewish immigrant who falls into a vat at apickle factory and is rescued 100 years later, perfectly preserved.

Rogen was also active away from the camera. With Goldberg and several others, he cofounded (2019) thecannabis company Houseplant, which was based inCanada. The business also sold ceramics designed by Rogen, who was apottery maker. In 2021 he publishedYearbook, a collection of humorous essays.