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Seth Rogen recounts bizarre Nicolas Cage acting choices for 'Green Hornet' audition

Seth Rogen recounts bizarre Nicolas Cage acting choices for potential 'Green Hornet' role

Seth Rogen is perhaps the most uninhibited person in Hollywood these days. 

Surrounding the United States launch of his Canadian cannabis company Houseplant, which also now sells ceramics made by Rogen, the comedian has been doing loads of press. With each new interview, we are reminded that the 38-year-old isn't afraid to share and often in self-deprecating fashion (it's probably all that weed).

Most recently, Rogen covered British GQ. The cover story's author, Stuart McGurk, asked Rogen to walk through a series of encounters with fellow celebrities for a game called "How Likely Will This Person Be Offended That You've Told This Story?" 

Nicolas Cage was second name to surface: 

"OK, number two: the story in which they spoke to Nicolas Cage about him possibly playing the Russian crime boss villain in The Green Hornet, only for Cage to inform them he wanted to play him as a bald man, with hair tattooed on, large prosthetic lips and a voice like Edward G Robinson. They later met Cage in person and he informed them that, actually, he wanted to play him as a 'white Bahamian', with a thick Caribbean accent, and proceeded to act out a scene in which he would be dumping pigs’ blood on Rogen’s Green Hornet in a 'creepy voodoo ritual.' He didn’t get the part but did request a meeting more recently during which Cage asked Rogen if he’d told James Franco about his idea, as he suspected Franco had nicked the character for Spring Breakers."

Rogen added his take on the situation in hindsight: "The second part actually just happened before the pandemic. I mean, he already doesn’t like me, is the point. So he’ll continue not to like me!"

The Green Hornet was co-written by Rogen and his childhood-best-friend-turned-Houseplant-partner Evan Goldberg. The 2011 action comedy also starred Cameron Diaz, Jay Chou, Tom Wilkinson and Christoph Waltz.

It is one of several films Rogen and Goldberg have joined forces to create, as the list also includes Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007), Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013) and Sausage Party (2016).

As far as Hollywood tales recently publicly regaled by Rogen, this one was relatively light. Earlier this month, he stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to recount the time he got so high at the Golden Globes that Bryan Cranston was genuinely worried about him.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

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