Judd Apatow Interview in Playboy
Judd Apatow is the 20 Questions Interview for the upcoming July/August issue of Playboy Magazine which hits newsstands on June 19th.
Among the things Judd talks about is his directing style, living with Adam Sandler, mentoring Seth Rogen, crying at movies and his obsession with penises.
Check out some excerpts from the hilarious interview below:
On why penises are so funny (and are so often featured in his films): “A penis looks like a man with a big nose and large ears. [laughs] It’s a vulnerable area, so it’s good for comedy. But you have to be very careful about how much you show.”
On losing his virginity: “I said to the girl, ‘Hey, was it good for you, too?’ And she said, ‘Well, I guess it’ll get better eventually.’ Sadly, she wasn’t right. It wasn’t better for her or any of the women who subsequently agreed to sleep with me.”
On his love for Seth Rogen: “I don’t know if we should be married or if I should become his adoptive grandfather. Seth has said he thinks of me as his creepy uncle. [laughs] I like that.”
On Seth Rogen’s claim that his penis has gray pubes, looks very distinguished, and could teach a Harvard class in literature: “It’s a complete fabrication. I use Grecian Formula now. It still looks distinguished. From a certain angle it kind of looks like Ben Kingsley.”
On living with Adam Sandler (who co-stars in Funny People): “We had a good time together. It was a $900-a-month apartment. I paid $425, and he paid $475 because he had a bathroom in his bedroom. I had to use the guest bathroom. Most days we would sleep till noon, get up, eat, spend way too much time in a mall, do stand-up-comedy sets at the Improv and then eat again at 1:30 in the morning.”
On Adam Sandler demanding to see his manhood: “He used to say, ‘I just want to know what I’m dealing with.’ That was his only explanation. On some deeply macho level, I understood.”
On men crying in his movies: “I’m a big crier. Sometimes when my wife [actress Leslie Mann] and I are watching a movie we’ll both start to cry at the same time, and then we’ll slowly turn toward each other to acknowledge that it got both of us. That’s great and funny when we’re both crying, but it’s not so wonderful when I'm the only one in tears.”
On whether success has mellowed him, or if he still has the fierce ambition of a filmmaker with something to prove: “I know what it feels like to have your movie bomb. I know what it feels like to have your movie bomb even though you think it’s really good. I know what it’s like to have your movie bomb when you know it’s not very good. I know what it’s like to succeed with a movie you’re proud of. I know what it’s like to succeed with a movie even you don’t think is very good. I’ve been through all the permutations. After everything that has happened to me, I feel I can relax and take a deep breath. But as I get older, I realize nothing has really changed. The second I finish a movie, I always want to occupy my head with a new problem, a new project. If I were truly mature, I probably wouldn’t feel the obsessive need to keep making more and more movies. I would just smell a leaf for a few years and be satisfied.”
Make sure to check out Judd in Playboy on June 19th!
