8 USAWEEKEND • April 24-26, 2009

BY CRAIGH BARBOZA

hey may love comic booksand crude jokes and share aspot on new Hollywood’s hotlist, but Megan Fox and SethRogen never got acquainteduntil USA WEEKEND Maga-zine brought them together

in L.A. for this in-depth interview.At 27, Rogen has written, produced or

starred in 600 trillion movies(“around that, yeah”), includingKnocked Up and Observe andReport. In summer’s FunnyPeople, he plays a writer for afamous comedian. These days,Rogen looks relatively fit andgroomed. But he’s quick to jokethat he’s still a pothead.

Fox, on the other hand, is just smokin’.The model turned actress was “thrust intothe limelight” in 2007 with Transformersand now is compared to a young Angelina.

But as Fox, 22, is eager to prove inJune’s sequel, Revenge of the Fallen,and future films, there is more toher than meets the eye.

Seated side by side at a cozy ta-ble after their photo shoot, the starshit it off.

Before landing high-profile movies andmagazine covers, you were both TVsitcom sidekicks. Did you ever doubtyou’d wind up where you are now?

Seth: Yes! I doubt I’meven at that point.Megan: I agree. Istarted acting as away to make moneyand avoid college. Isort of fell into it hav-ing no idea what I wasdoing … in Trans-

formers as well.

Is it true that you didn’t know you werethe female lead in Transformers untilthe end of filming?

Megan: Yes. Everything was onlockdown. The script wasn’t releasedto anyone. The director, Michael Bay,was the only one who’d seen it.Seth:Guess what? The robots trans-form! [Laughs.]

Seth, you recently starred in Zack andMiri for director Kevin Smith, and nowyou’re in Funny People opposite AdamSandler. What’s it like to suddenly findyourself making movies with yourchildhood idols?Seth: It’s surreal! To see these peo-ple in real life is weird, and to havethem know your name or to get aphone call and see their name popup [on caller ID] is strange. Thereare certain events that have hap-pened to me that, were I to tell the13-year-old me what was going tohappen, he would have been muchless miserable throughout highschool. I wish I could go back andsay, “The RZA [from Wu-Tang Clan]

will know who you are one day.”

You were already doing stand-up comedyat 13, Seth. Were your parents funny?Seth: Not in the ways they intendedto be. My grandparents are funny.I think that’s where I got my filthysense of humor. They swear a lot. ButI wouldn’t watch a movie with themin it; that’s where I draw the line.

Megan, you and Transformers co-starShia LaBeouf are good friends. Wereyour make-out scenes uncomfortable?Megan: It’s always weird. That’snot something that’s ever romanticor sexy. Doing an on-set kiss is juststrange, and knowing Shia so wellmakes it even more strange.

OK, but the ladies want to know, howis he?Megan: [Laughs.] Very good.

In Revenge, you flee evil Decepticons

Potty-mouthedmake-outscenesandmotorcycle

grandparents,

boots

TMore photosof Megan and Seth,plus an extendedinterview at

usaweekend.com

You won’t believe what comic Seth Rogen (Funny People ) and screen sirenMegan Fox (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ) say in our candid, fun-filled Q&A.

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Continued on page 10

2009 SUMMER MOVIE ROUNDUPcontinued

for most of the movie. Your male co-starshad comfy sneakers; you were in heels!Megan: Stilettos — and for the lastpart of the film, motorcycle boots. Ihad major shinsplints and threw outmy back a couple times. Beyond that,Michael likes everyone freakishly tan,so we were painted maroon, like in theold Westerns when they hired Cau-casians to play Native Americans. Ihad on fake eyelashes, running throughthe desert with sand stuck in them,and I’m sweating off all the makeup. Itlooked like we were making a tragedy.

Was Funny People’s set more chill?Seth: No, it was pretty much likethat. [Laughs.]

Funny People’s director, Judd Apatow,says comedy is a survival mechanism,and “we can either think of things in lifeas tragic or hilarious.” Do you agree?Seth: Definitely. Something that of-ten happens is friends will tell memovie ideas or scripts they’ve beensent, and I always assume it’s a com-edy. “It’s about this guy whose daddies and his mom becomes a hooker.They have no money, and she com-mits suicide.” I’m like, “That soundshilarious!” They’re like, “It’s not fun-ny at all!” It depends on how you pic-ture it. Any comedy plot could bedramatic. Take Ghostbusters. Thereare people rising from the dead, anda team of guys has to send them backto hell! That doesn’t necessarily haveto be a funny movie.Megan: I often get in trouble for find-ing things funny and joking aboutthem when people aren’t ready tohear it. But when it happens to you,it’s different.

Men and women are not always judgedequally in Hollywood. If you were theopposite sex but had the same gifts and

qualities, how would things be different?Seth: I would’ve had a much more dif-ficult time being an unconventional-looking woman. I think being anunconventional-looking man is fine.Most of my favorite comedians havebeen weird-looking: Bill Murray, JohnCandy, Buster Keaton. It’s almostembraced in the male world. Peopledon’t want their comedy from a realhandsome guy.

Megan: I think I would be like GeorgeClooney. He’s sarcastic, and he hasa different girlfriend constantly. It’sconsidered charismatic. He’s like thisJames Bond, sexy dude. The older hegets, the better he gets. It’s a doublestandard. To be outspoken, or differ-ent at all, is a problem for women. Assoon as you curse or, God forbid, make

some sort of sexual reference that’s ajoke, you’re [labeled a party girl].They don’t do that with men, so I feelit would be a lot easier.

Megan, despite being voted sexiest womanin the world by FHM, you’ve said you’re adead ringer for Alan Alda. He’s over 70!Megan: Well, I didn’t mean present-day Alan Alda; I meant like 1989.Seth: [Laughs.] Sure, Crimes andMisdemeanors Alan Alda.

Um, OK … How would you rate yourselfon a scale of 1 to 10?Megan: I can’t possibly do that.

Why? Are you disgusted with your looks?Megan: It’s not that. I just don’t thinkthere’s anything particularly specialabout it either.

Seth, looks have played a big role for you,too. Part of your initial appeal was yourchunky physique. Now you’re all cleanedup. Will audiences accept the new you?Seth: Pffft. I don’t know. That’s notsomething I ever think about. It’s alla movie-to-movie thing. We’re aboutto shoot Green Hornet, and the char-acter is a vain kind of L.A. [jerk].Again, physical appearance would beimportant to that person. It’s reallywhatever just makes the movies fun-nier. That being said, it’s probablynot healthy to eat nothing but cheese-burgers every day. [Laughs.] You maydie eventually from that.

Is that what you did during Knocked Up?Seth: I was just one of those guys whonever thinks about what he eats. Therewas no sense of, like, that’s healthyand that’s unhealthy. Now, I’ve be-come increasingly aware.

This diet must mean no more late-nightmunchies excursions.Seth: I’ve never been a big munchiesguy. Most true potheads have elimi-nated munchies early on.Megan: That’s true.Seth: It makes you not high anymore.

Olympian Michael Phelps recently got introuble for photos of him holding a bong.Any incriminating photos of you takinga hit?Seth: [Big laugh.] Yeah, definitely.Megan: But you’re not on a Wheat-ies box.Seth: Exactly, I never claimed to be arole model.

But you both claim to be major geeks.If you were planning a Rock Band videogame marathon, who would you inviteover as your dream geek bandmate?Seth: Stephen Hawking on vocals be-cause I like electronica.

Megan: Oh ****, dude! [Laughs.] W

10 USAWEEKEND • April 24-26, 2009

SethRogen,right, goesfor big laughswith AdamSandler in theJudd ApatowcomedyFunny People,out July 31.

2009 SUMMER MOVIE ROUNDUP

Megan Foxis back in actionJune 24 withShia LaBeoufin Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen.

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Visit us atusaweekend.com

Continued from page 8

Star Trek (opens May 8) This prequel aboutthe adventures of a young Kirk and Spock wasshot during the 2008 writers’ strike. “There wasa picket line a couple hundred yards from thecamera,” says producer Bryan Burk. “So thepicketers would cleverly wait, and when the di-rector yelled ‘Action!,’ they’d chant,and when he said ‘Cut!,’ they’d stop.This was ruining the scenes. But thepicketers couldn’t see that well, soeventually we just reversed it. We’dsay ‘Cut!’ to start rolling and ‘Action!’to stop.” Burk said he admired thepicketers’ wit. “They had funnychants, not all of them repeatable.”

Angels & Demons (May 15)They don’t call Rome the EternalCity for nothing. Several scenes in this sequel toThe Da Vinci Code were actually shot in 2005,when the first film was made. “We knew it wasgoing to be controversial,” says producer BrianGrazer, “which made us think we might havetrouble getting permits to shoot in Vatican City ifand when it came time to make Angels & De-mons. So Tom Hanks and a skeleton crew ran

around town shooting film that foundits way into the sequel. But it looksthe same.”

Terminator Salvation (May 21)“The hero of our shoot was ourspecial-effects guy, Mike Menardis,”says director McG. “We were deter-mined to do everything for real, no

CGI stuff. Well, sure enough, during one explosion,a 300-pound lid flew off of a container and clippedMike. It broke his leg in two places. Two days later,he was back, hobbling around on crutches, servingas a real inspiration. For the rest of the shoot, be-fore a big, complicated scene, I’d shout ‘Ready, Mike?,’and he’d wave his crutch in the air and get every-body charged up.”

6 USAWEEKEND • April 24-26, 2009Cover and cover story photos of Megan Fox and Seth Rogen by George Lange for

USA WEEKEND; stylist: Deborah Waknin, The Wall Group

The economy got you down?Well, good news! Here’s ourcelluloid stimulus package —in the form of Hollywood’sbest new flicks.By Jamie Malanowski

12THINGSYOUDIDN’TKNOWABOUT THESUMMER’SBEST FILMS

TomHanks, left, in Angels &Demons

ZacharyQuintoas youngSpock in Star Trek.

2009 SUMMERMOVIE ROUNDUP

Ed Helms, ZachGalifianakis andBradley Cooperget wasted in

TheHangover,a comedyset inVegas.

USAWEEKEND • April 24-26, 2009 7

Night at the Museum: Battle of theSmithsonian (May 22) “With Robin Williams,Hank Azaria, Chris Guest and so many otherfunny people in the cast, it was like an improvclinic every day,” says director Shawn Levy. “Oneof my favorite things they all did was imitate BenStiller — his hand gestures, his stammering wayof talking. That gave me the idea to have an AbeLincoln statue do a Ben Stiller imitation.”

UP (May 29) The makers of this ani-mated film about a floating house knewthey wanted the house to float up, butthey weren’t sure where it should land.After vetoing an island and a cloud,they settled on the flat Venezuelanmountains called tepuis. Seemed likea good idea — until a research teamwas stranded atop a tepui after a stormerupted. “Thankfully, our brave pilotferried people off in groups,” saysproduction designer Ricky Nierva.“It was the most exhilarating, fright-ening experience of my life.”

The Hangover (June 5) In onescene from this comedy about a wild bach-elor party in Sin City, a character findshimself naked in a parking lot. “We shotabout 15 takes,” says actor Ed Helms, “be-fore the police officer assigned to the shootcame over and said, ‘Y’know, ya’ll can’thave a naked man running around thestreets of Las Vegas.’ I don’t know ifwe were more annoyed he stopped us,or amazed it took him 15 takes torealize the guy was naked.”

Land of the Lost (June 5)Will Ferrell fans will have yetanother reason to appreciatehim after seeing this comedy-adventure based on the ’70s TVseries, says director Brad Sil-berling. “There’s a scene in which

a T. rex snatches Will by hisbackpack. Will had to be hauled30 feet into the air by one craneand then whipsawed by another.Well, that’s Will onscreen, not astuntman. Even more remark-able is Will kept ad-libbing linesto the other actors.”

Imagine That (June 12)Little girls are sweet, but Yara Shahidifound out what happens if you playEddie Murphy’s daughter in a movie,and he thinks you’re sweet: He givesyou your own ice cream machine, andthen he presents you and

your brother with baskets ofgifts. And not an average-sized

basket. Says Yara, “I couldhave slept in it.”

The Proposal (June 19)Much of this San-dra Bullock com-

edy about a bossforced for bureaucraticreasons to marry herassistant takes place in Sitka,Alaska. To fill in for Sitka, film-makers picked Rockport, Mass.The two towns have a similar

look, and designers completedthe scene by changing signs

and filling the landscape withfir trees nailed to planks.

Director Anne Fletchersays Rockport’s identitywas disguised so wellthat it caused a minorpanic. After flying intoMassachusetts and get-

ting lost, a woman sawthe Sitka signs and con-

cluded that she hadn’t merelymade a wrong turn, but had boarded

the wrong flight.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Co-bra (Aug. 7) In this action filmabout an elite army unit, outfitsare skintight: Sienna Miller’s evilBaroness has a cat suit, and theheroes are in “accelerator suits”based on exoskeletons the U.S.military is developing. “Theylook cool,” says producer Lor-enzo di Bonaventura, “but theywere so tight the actors couldn’tsit. We had to build racks so

they could tilt back and rest between takes.”

Inglourious Basterds (Aug. 21) ThisWorld War II film about Jewish-American soldiershas one of director Quentin Tarantino’s signatures.“Quentin has a thing for feet,” says Diane Kruger,whose feet join those of Uma Thurman, BridgetFonda and Sydney Tamiia Poitier in the Tarantinogallery. “We kidded him about it,” Kruger says.“My feet have more close-ups than my face.”

Black Dynamite (Sept. 4) The idea for thishomage to blaxploitation films began as actor Mi-chael Jai White listened to James Brown’s SuperBad. White quickly concocted a plot, then photo-graphed himself in cool ’70s outfits, with an Afrowig and bushy mustache. The photos appealed todirector Scott Sanders immediately. Where’d Whitecop the cool threads? “This may sound weird, butsome came out of my closet,” White says.

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24BONUSFILMS at

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Michael JaiWhite is super-bad in BlackDynamite.

A floating house brings adventure in the 3-D film UP.

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GROOMING (ROGEN): CHERI KEATING, THEWALL GROUP; HAIR FOR FOX: PATI DUBROFF, THEWALLGROUP; MAKEUP FOR FOX: RENATO CAMPORA, THEWALL GROUP; COVER CLOTHING FOR FOX: DRESSBY CYNTHIA VINCENT FROM BARNEYS NEWYORK, NECKLACE BY PLANET BLUE, RING BY IPPOLITA;ROGEN: SHIRT BY AMERICAN APPAREL; INSIDE CLOTHING: FOX: TOP BY VINCE, JEANS BY CURRENTELLIOTT, SHOES BY GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI, NECKLACES AND EARRINGS BY SARAWEINSTOCK, BRACELETSBY C. GREENE; ROGEN: SHIRT BY ALTERNATIVE APPAREL, SNEAKERS BY ADIDASSandra Bullock in The Proposal