Yahoo Movies Seth Rogen Says Steven Spielberg Was 'Very Emotional' on The Fabelmans Set: 'He Was Crying a Lot'
Michael Tran/FilmMagic; JB Lacroix/WireImage
The Fabelmans set was an emotional one, according to Seth Rogen.
At the 10th annual Hilarity for Charity birthday extravaganza on Saturday, Rogen, 40, shared with reporters that filming the movie, which is inspired by the events of Steven Spielberg's life, was an emotional experience for its award-winning director.
"It was a very emotional experience. He was crying a lot on set," Rogen recalled.
Rogen, who plays family friend Benny in the film, also confirmed that the coming-of-age drama is very autobiographical for Spielberg.
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"It's very directly based on his life and pretty much everything that happens in the movie is something that happened to him," the actor said. "As we were shooting, I'd be like, 'Did this happen in real life?' and the answer was 'yes' a hundred percent of the time."
When asked what the experience of working with Spielberg, 75, was like, Rogen had nothing but kind words for the Oscar-winning director.
"It was amazing," he said. "It was very flattering and validating for someone like [Spielberg] to even know who I am, nonetheless think I could help their film or that I would be additive to their film. It's a surreal experience, honestly. I think for every actor. It's weird."
The This is The End actor also told reporters that working with Spielberg was a unique experience for both himself and his castmates.
"I know Michelle Williams and Paul Dano pretty well now, and they've literally both worked with some of the greatest filmmakers alive and the whole time they're like, 'It's different, Spielberg,'" Rogen said. "It wasn't lost on anyone. Everyone was really appreciative of it and kind of just marveling at how surreal it was."
Williams, 42, and Dano, 38, play characters inspired by the West Side Story director's parents in the film, which took home the People's Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival last month.
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Even though Rogen has been busy working on the film, he's made time to help others.
The Superbad star and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, have been working hard with the charity they started together for the hereditary disease in Lauren's family a decade ago.
"When we did the first event I don't think we thought we would be here 10 years from now because it was just an event and we didn't think we were creating an organization at that moment," Lauren says of the event which raised $877k for HFC's care grant respite program, caregiver support groups and brain health education initiatives for young people. "That didn't happen for a couple years, but now that we're here, it's wild. I was crying all morning about it. I don't know why. I literally was like, 'I don't know why I'm just crying right now.'"
The Fabelmans is in select theaters Nov. 11, and opens nationwide this Thanksgiving.
