Seth Rogen admits Trump-Kim summit looked a lot like that troublesome movie he once made
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg admitted that they experienced a sense of déjà vu watching coverage of the President Trump-Kim Jong Un summit, with the latter saying that the exchange was a case of “life imitating art a little too much.”
Rogen and Goldberg directed the 2014 movie “The Interview,” about a talk-show host who unexpectedly lands an interview with the North Korean dictator and is then recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. The dark comedy was followed by the email hack of Sony Pictures, which was scheduled to release the film, although Rogen said in a recent interview that he doesn’t think North Korea was responsible for the hack.
Participating in a conference call promoting “Preacher,” the AMC series that the pair produce, Rogen and Goldberg laughed when the subject of the summit was brought up.
“I didn’t think the vain, egocentric talk-show host character” that winds up meeting with Kim Jong Un “would be the president of the United States, but it seems like a possible dynamic nonetheless,” Rogen said.
“It’s a little much how on point it is,” Goldberg added.
In the aforementioned Vulture interview, Rogen expressed regret that he had played along with Sony’s request that the filmmakers pretend as if they were naive about the possible fallout from the movie and North Korea’s negative reaction to it.
“They wanted us to act like we were just trying to make a silly comedy and didn’t know we were making something controversial,” he said. “They were asking us to look like these dumb stoner filmmakers who just happened to make a movie about Kim Jong Un without really thinking about it. Like, we had no idea North Korea might be mad!”
Sony ultimately canceled the release of “The Interview,” citing security concerns after threats were leveled against the movie and some theater owners balked at showing it.
“Preacher” — the horror-comedy, which has also engendered controversy due to its depiction of Jesus — will return for its third season on June 24.