Seth Rogen would like to clear up some of the rumors going around about his This is the End co-star Emma Watson, speaking up in defense of the British actress against the circulating story that she may have been difficult to work with on set.
During his cover story interview with GQ UK, Rogen discussed everything from his meet-cute with his wife Lauren Miller Rogen to the many unbelievable behind-the-scenes stories of several of his famous films. One such story involved a conflict on the set fo 2013 movie This Is the End, which didn’t quite go the way it appeared in the interview. In the feature, the journalist refers to a moment on set where Watson, playing herself in the comedy, allegedly stormed off after refusing to partake in the shooting of a particularly wild scene between co-stars Channing Tatum and Danny McBride.
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“I mean, I don’t look back on that and think, ‘How dare she do that?’ You know?” Rogen said of the incident. “It was not some terrible ending to our relationship. She came back the next day to say goodbye. She helped promote the film. No hard feelings, and I couldn’t be happier with how the film turned out in the end.”
Days later, however, Rogen is walking back his answer to clarify what really happened during production. According to the marijuana entrepreneur, Watson didn’t actually storm off on set; in reality, the actress was simply thrown off by the sudden and dramatic improvisation of the script being so different than what was initially agreed upon.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) March 30, 2021
“Emma Watson did not 'storm off the set' and it's shitty that the perception is that she did," Rogen explained in a note shared across his social media. "The scene was not what was originally scripted, it was getting improvised, changed drastically and was not what she agreed to."
Rogen went on to praise Watson for sticking to her guns, asserting that she had remained professional even when voicing her concerns about the scene. The decision to not have her in that scene was a mutual conclusion after a private conversation, and Rogen was ultimately happy with the outcome. That being said, he doesn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about Watson — she was nothing but professional during filming.
"The narrative that [Emma] was in some way uncool or unprofessional is complete bullshit," Rogen’s statement continued. "I for sure should have communicated better, and because I didn't, she was put in an uncomfortable situation..I was thrilled for the opportunity to work with her and would be thrilled to get that opportunity again. I am very sorry and disappointed it happened, and I wish I had done more to prevent it."
While it's unfortunate that this false narrative has been spun about Watson, it is good to see that Rogen attempting to right his wrongs. He faced a similar issue with Knocked Up co-star Katherine Heigl but wasn't as supportive at the time. In fact, he unintentionally fueled much of the uproar against Heigl by publicly suggesting that she didn't like him. They made peace years later, but the damage was already done; Heigl would later have to spend much of her career pushing back against the label of being hard to work with.
But Rogen isn't even the main problem here. His words being misconstrued and spun into something else is actually a symptom of a bigger issue at hand: Hollywood's tendency to make women into villains for having opinions and standards. Thankfully, he's done his part to reset the narrative — it's just a shame that a man's word is taken more seriously than a woman's character at the end of the day.