Creatively, Seth and Nicholas were a disaster together.
What exactly is going on between Seth Rogen and Nicholas Cage?
While both actors have earned themselves a highly dedicated fanbase, both have spoken out recently about their relationship to each other… and it’s complicated, to say the least.
It would be irresponsible to claim that Seth Rogen and Nic Cage are feuding with each other because they’re not. But they do seem to have some disagreements, mostly surrounding Nic’s involvement in Seth Rogen’s much-maligned 2011 superhero movie, The Green Hornet. Here’s the truth about their relationship and what exactly went down between them…
What Exactly Went Down With The Green Hornet Situation?
There isn’t a lot we don’t know about Seth Rogen’s life. The Superbad writer and star extremely open and honest. Fans know so much about his perspectives on life, from what he actually thinks about cruise ships to his complicated relationship with Jerry Seinfeld.
All of this makes him a great guest for The Howard Stern Show, which prides itself on authentic and no-holds-barred celebrity interviews. It was on this show, in May 2021, that Seth was completely honest about what went down with Nic Cage.
To be fair, Seth has written about his interactions with Nic in his new book, “Yearbook”, but Seth gave Howard far more detail about Nic’s attempt to book the villain role in The Green Hornet and what happened when Seth and the studio weren’t happy with what he was doing in the audition room.
At the start of the process, both Seth, executive producer Amy Pascal, and Sony were all very enthused about the idea of Nic playing the villain in The Green Hornet, a role that ultimately went to Christoph Waltz. Part of the problem with casting Nic Cage was, according to Seth, they didn’t know what version of Nic Cage they would get. The eccentric actor often takes “big swings” creatively that don’t always land. However, when they do land, they are downright brilliant.
But Nic’s creative choice for The Green Hornet’s villain just wasn’t right… on so many levels…
At first, Cage told Seth that he wanted to play a villain with fake hair tattooed on his forehead but later took this back as he wanted to try doing that in real life. Shortly after, Nic told Seth that he wanted to play a white Bohemian man.
“It set off a lot of alarms,” Seth Rogen said to Howard Stern in the interview. “Doing the accent and all this stuff just seemed like it was a world of trouble.”
Still, Amy Pascal, the head of Sony, wanted to take a meeting with them all in person. Meanwhile, Seth was terrified that Nic was going to try out the accent in front of him, his writing partner Evan Goldberg and Amy.
“We show up at the house and within 60 seconds we were all seated in the living room as he stood in front of us reciting a monologue in a Jamaican accent,” Seth said to Howard. “We were all just like, what’s happening? A monologue, I should add, that was not in the script — nor did it have anything to do with the script. At which point I was like, I don’t think he’s read the script, honestly! There was no indication he had any idea what film we were trying to make, other than it was called The Green Hornet and there was a villain in it.”
After Nic finished, Seth says he acted as though he had “landed a backflip” and was waiting for the applause.
“Everybody looks to me to express the group reaction to this.”
“I clearly didn’t give him the reaction that he wanted because he instantly just fell. Was like solen.”
Still, Amy tried to smooth things over by asking him to dinner. When they all sat down to dinner, Nic immediately said he had to go.
“And he just gets up and leaves!”
Nic Then Accused Seth of Stealing The Character
Years later, James Franco did a character for Spring Breakers that Nic cage believed was stolen from his Green Hornet audition. This came about when Seth and his former friend James were going to produce a movie that Nic was possibly going to be in. Given Nic’s last interaction with Seth, Nic required a sitdown with both he and James.
“We sit down and right away [Nic’s] just like, ‘Did you tell James about that meeting we had? The Jamaican meeting’ And I was just like, ‘I don’t know. No. I don’t know.’ And he’s like, ‘Cause, ah, that guy in Spring Breakers was that based on the character I did for you guys?’ And I was like, ‘No. Absolutely no. I think it was actually based on a Florida rapper.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, OK.’ He clearly didn’t believe me. That was apparent.”
Then, once again, Nic literally got up and left and never spoke about the movie they were supposed to talk about.
What Was Nic’s Response To Seth’s Stories?
It seems as though Nicholas Cage gave a little subtle shade to Seth after being asked about The Green Hornet audition story. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nic responded by saying, “I like Seth. He’s a funny guy and clearly a good storyteller. I wish him luck with his book.”
While Nic appears to be giving Seth a little bit of shade here, seemingly disputing the legitimacy of his stories, he simultaneously was polite about it. While Seth has publically stated, a few times, that Nic doesn’t like him, perhaps this is all blown out of proportion?
One thing is for sure, it doesn’t appear as though the two will be hanging out anytime soon. Having said that, Seth told Howard Stern that he would “absolutely” work with Nic again, despite his experiences with him in pre-production on The Green Hornet.