Seth Rogen’s new comedy show, “The Studio,” has been brimming with major-guest-stars such as Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, and Olivia Wilde. Behind the scenes, though, making the show successful with cameos was not that simple. In one case, it meant canceling an entire episode.
“We Literally Didn’t Shoot the Episode”
Speaking on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, Rogen admitted that booking stars to appear as themselves wasn’t always a sure thing.
“There were a lot of people who, if they said no, we’d have to reimagine the whole episode to some degree,” he said.
But in one situation, the show couldn’t even go that far.
“None of them could do it when we needed them. So we literally didn’t shoot the episode,” Rogen revealed.
He explained that two celebrities flat-out declined to play themselves, and others had unavoidable scheduling issues.
Some Parts Were Written for One Person Only
Rogen emphasized that the cameos weren’t just for flash, many were essential to the storylines.
“Not only are they famous people, but the role they occupy in Hollywood is very specific for each person,” he said.
In one recent episode, The Studio featured Smile director Parker Finn, who plays a fictionalized version of himself being courted to direct a knockoff of his own horror franchise, cheekily titled Wink.
“We needed the director of a horror franchise that is replicable in another, shittier way,” Rogen said. “And we were like, who does Smile? Parker Finn!”
He added that they briefly considered the director of M3GAN, but ultimately, Finn fit the concept better because he had stayed involved with multiple Smile sequels.
When the Cameo Falls Through, So Does the Episode
While most celebrities said yes, Rogen was clear: some roles were so specific they couldn’t be recast. And when they fell through, there was no backup plan.
“If Parker Finn had said no, I don’t know what we would have done.”
The star-studded satire, which takes aim at the absurdity of Hollywood studio culture, continues to roll out on Apple TV+, and from the sound of it, there’s plenty more behind-the-scenes chaos fans haven’t seen.
