Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen is an actor, comedian, and writer who began performing stand-up comedy as a teenager. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Sandy (Belogus), a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who worked for non-profit organizations. His father is American-born and his mother is Canadian. Rogen is of Russian Jewish descent. He attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School, though he dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles. He was known for performing stand-up comedy at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp. At sixteen, he placed second in the 1998 Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest. Shortly after, he landed his first role in Judd Apatow's short-lived but well-regarded TV series *Freaks and Geeks* (1999), playing the character Ken Miller. Though the show only lasted one season, it helped launch the careers of Rogen, Apatow, James Franco, and Jason Segel. This early work helped develop Rogen's improvisational skills, which he has used in many projects since.

After *Freaks and Geeks* (1999), Rogen participated in a few unsuccessful television projects before joining the American version of *Da Ali G Show* (2000) as a writer during its second and final season, along with his childhood friend and writing partner Evan Goldberg. The writing team received an Emmy nomination. Rogen, a fan of the first season, was pleased to work with Sacha Baron Cohen. Continuing his collaboration with Apatow, he joined the cast of Apatow's debut film *The 40-Year-Old Virgin* (2005) and is credited as co-producer. He then took the lead in *Knocked Up* (2007), Apatow's second film and a major box office success. Rogen has since frequently collaborated with Apatow on projects such as *Superbad* (2007), *Pineapple Express* (2008), and *Funny People* (2009). He co-wrote *Superbad* (2007) with Goldberg; the pair began the project when they were teenagers. They won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Writing in a Film in 2008. They later wrote *Pineapple Express* (2008) and *The Green Hornet* (2011), both of which also starred Rogen.

Rogen is also a talented voice artist, appearing in animated films such as *Horton Hears a Who!* (2008), *Kung Fu Panda* (2008), and *Monsters vs. Aliens* (2009). He has provided voices for *The Simpsons* (1989) and *American Dad!* (2005). He was named the Canadian Comedy Person of the Year by the Canadian Comedy Awards in both 2008 and 2009. Rogen lives in Los Angeles with Lauren Miller Rogen, whom he met in 2004. They became engaged in September 2010 and married in October 2011.