# 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.
- Title: Seth Rogen's Hollywood secret: luck · The Hollywood Reporter
- Summary: 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…
- Keywords: seth rogen, hollywood, tiff, comedy, filmmaking, Seth, Rogen's, secret, luck, The Hollywood Reporter
- Source: The Hollywood Reporter — https://hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/toronto-seth-rogen-secret-hollywood-success-1236699644
- Author: Etan Vlessing
- Published: 2026-09-13T17:24:48+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: seth rogen, hollywood, tiff, comedy, filmmaking
## 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
## Key takeaway

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.