From The Hollywood Reporter · Etan Vlessing · · 1m 20s
Seth Rogen's Hollywood secret: luck
At TIFF, Seth Rogen admitted the thing most success stories leave out, and named the bar where it all started.
In brief
At TIFF, Seth Rogen admitted the thing most success stories leave out, and named the bar where it all started. Rogen credits luck, not a formula. Success in Hollywood is real but it isn't a repeatable recipe, and it costs people along the way. Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
A candid keynote
Seth Rogen sat down Sunday at TIFF: The Market and skipped the usual career-advice script, talking instead about what breaking into Hollywood actually took.
Hollywood crushes people
He didn't soften it. The business had hurt him at points and hurt the people around him far more often than that.
“Hollywood is hard and it has crushed me sometimes and crushed those around me many times”
But it can be done
Rogen still insisted a career there is possible, and he offered himself as the only evidence he needed.
“because I did it”
The secret is luck
Asked how he pulled it off, Rogen gave a four-word answer instead of a method. No hustle framework, no grind story.
“I was lucky coming up”
Vancouver to Judd Apatow
He left Vancouver around age 16 and eventually connected with Judd Apatow, the comedy producer who became his route into the industry.
It started at The Lotus
His first paid stand-up gig was at a Vancouver lesbian bar called The Lotus. His verdict on the set, decades later: it went very well.
“It went very well”
The bottom line
Rogen credits luck, not a formula. Success in Hollywood is real but it isn't a repeatable recipe, and it costs people along the way.
