Seth Rogen reveals graphic scene that caused Anne Hathaway to quit Knocked Up
Seth Rogen has revealed that Anne Hathaway quit the movie Knocked Up after deciding that one particularly graphic scene ‘wasn’t her brand’.
The 2007 Judd Apatow rom-com stars Rogen as slacker Ben Stone who finds out he’s going to be a dad after a one-night stand with Alison Scott (played by Katherine Heigel) prompting the duo to decide to give a relationship a go.
The movie, which also starred Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill, was a box office hit, but it could have looked very different according to Rogen.
During a recent appearance on The A24 Podcast, Rogen, 44, sat down with Olivia Wilde, 42, who revealed that she had auditioned for the role of Alison but didn’t get it.
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Rogen then shared that the part had originally been given to Hathaway, but she later stepped away from the flick.
“It was Anne Hathaway who quit the movie,” Rogen told Wilde.
Wilde then asked if it was ‘because of the crowning right?’ before asking if that particular rumour was ‘real’.
And Rogen confirmed that that was what he was told.
“Yeah, I mean, it could have been a hundred million things. That was what I remember being told,” Rogen replied.
“Crowning is a tough one. She didn’t want the crowning of the baby to be visually representative. Even though it wasn’t going to be hers, it’s obviously not real. But she didn’t even want… she felt that it was not her brand.
“Part of me also, we had started rehearsing the movie… maybe she was just like, ‘I don’t know if this is for me.’ I don’t know. I will take what she said at face value, which was the crowning.”
For those who haven’t seen the movie, it features a graphic birthing scene that Apatow has previously said he included as he ‘wanted to show what is real’.
Rogen went on to say that The Devil Wears Prada star ‘had a sense’ and knew it wasn’t the right movie for her.
“And history will tell, she has been right about a lot more things than I have over the years,” he joked.
“So I think she was probably right.”
Rogen then heaped praise on Heigl, saying she was ‘great’.
Knocked Up was Heigl’s high-profile movie breakthrough, having previously been best known for her role in Grey's Anatomy.
However, not long after the movie was released, Heigl told Variety that while she enjoyed working with Rogen and Atapow she found it hard to ‘love’ the movie as she thought it was ‘a little sexist’.
“It paints the women as shrews, as humourless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days.
"I'm playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie."
Heigl has since gone on to star in a bunch of other comedy flicks, including 27 Dresses, Killers, New Year’s Eve, and The Ugly Truth.
Meanwhile, it’s unlikely that Hathaway has any regrets about quitting Knocked Up, having gone on to carve an impressive career with roles in Get Smart, Alice in Wonderland, The Dark Knight, and Les Misérables, for which she won an Oscar.
Topics: Seth Rogen
Claire Reid