>> rose: welcome to the broadcast. tonight a conversation about comedy with a look at "funny people", a new movie with adam sandler as star and judd apatow as director. >> he wasn't so sure what he was going to do. judd, i was sure, i was like i'm going to be a movie star, that's a guarantee. and no one's going to stop me. judd wasn't exactly sure what he was doing but he was writing away in his room all the time and i would always walk by his bedroom. i would see him typing away, he had some seats so his back wasn't hurt,s was always o over there with his neck. and i would go what are you doing in there apatow. i'm writing some skits. i was like, for what. i don't know. i was like what the hell is the matter this guy. but it was just neat that we know each other this long and then got to make a movie together and have, of course, i want to do it again. >> when i lived with adam, i wanted to be a comedian very badly. and adam had, you know, one of those things that you just can't define which is charisma.

just people were drawn to him. and i would enter a room before he was famous and would you just feel the room move towards adam. and i would be sitting in a corner going -- why don't i have the magic fairey dust. what is going on. so but i think separate from just being funny which is hard to define, like a jerk trying to break it down, he is a great person and people can just tell. i mean the camera has been up in his face for 20 years and they got a sense of where his heart is in addition to all his --. >> rose: i believe that is true. >> rose: conversation and funny people, an adam sandler and judd apatow for the hour, next. >> funding for charlie rose has been provided by the following.

captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: adam sandler and judd apatow are here. between them their films have grossed billions of dollars worldwide. they have been friends for 20 years. when each was a struggling comic on the los angeles stand-up circuit. since then sandler has become one of the most popular comedians in film. apatow after working for years as a writer and producer broke out as a director with "the 40-year-old virgin" the film starring steve carell in the title role blended raunchy humor with moments of tender drama. >> are you a virgin. >> yeah, yeah, not since i

was ten. >> it all makes sense. you're a virgin. >> i am -- shut up. >> how does that happen. >> rose: his second effort "knocked up" also became a critical and commercial success. >> i'm pregnant? >> with emotion. >> with a baby. you're the father. >> rose: the two have now finally teamed it up with "funny people" sandler plays a famous actor who learns he has a terminal illness. here is a look at the trailer. >> i like having a girlfriend. i don't have one but i like it better. one-night stands are tough. and i'm not great at sex so at the end of every time i have to go, normally i do better than that. girlfriends are sop much better, you finish up and are you just like well, you know. (laughter) >> that's how i do it. >> hey, you destroyed, man. >> you were the guy on after me. >> it is hard to be romantic with women when you live on a pullout couch. once those two little legs come down you know it's on, right. >> feels good. >> maybe you can write me some jokes. >> i have been going to this

guy's movies since the moment i can remember. >> do you have any friends that are like you but just way funnier. you can say yes. >> i am going to tell you something, and i don't want you to get all weird on me. i'm dying. >> it's too early to know who is winning the fight, the medicine or the disease. >> did anybody ever tell you you have a very scary accent. >> you are a very funny man. i enjoy your movies. >> and i enjoy all of your movies. >> which movies. >> the ones where you try to kill bruce willis. >> oh my god that is the sadest thing i've ever heard. >> are you crying right now? >> i kind of am. >> oh come on, lighten up. >> people will think i broke up with you. >> did you tell your mom. >>. >> yes, i sent her an e-mail and she tried to e-mail me back on a toaster. >> there is always the one girl out there that got away. >> this is my husband clark. >> the one that got away. guys have that and serial killers have that. you want to talk to me while we try to fall asleep. >> that not your real name. >> you're hiding some beautyism. >> if only i could hide

that. my face is circumcised. >> i don't want to get your hopes up but you may have beaten this thing. >> the doctor said i'm not sick any more. >> yes! >> all right, all right go ahead. what was that like, having one foot in the door. >> i'm feeling like i'm in the moment for the first time in my life. >> i have to save you from a beautiful house and husband. >> no, nothing's going on around here. >> don't mock me, i don't appreciate it. >> i explained all that. >> that doesn't mean i was getting a rub and tug. >> what accent is that? >> i think you caught a glimpse of something that most people don't get to see. >> my husband is going to kill, he's from australia, they just kill things there. >> don't hurt him. >> get in the ball, george.

>> i don't know how to fight. i'm a comedian. >> my grandfather died, his one candle started flickering. we all thought it was him going to heaven, you know. >> you don't pass through fire to get to heaven. i think he went to hell. >> i'm pleased to have adam sandler and judd apatow back at this table. welcome. >> great to see you. >> rose: now where do we start here? tell me when you two first met. >> that was after i just moved out to l.a. i was 22. went on stage out there at the valley improve. used to be an improv at a hotel in the valley. they had it for a few years. it's gone now. i did pretty well that night. that wasn't a normal thing. usually i didn't do too well. so i ran to a phone and called my dad. hey, it's going all right, dad. and if i remember correctly i think apatow was like lurking around the phone kind of like looking at me.

i was like all right, this guy's looking at me. and then he came up to me and said hey, i'm judd. i saw you out in new york. you do that barish that cough bit. i used to have a bit. i would wear sweat pants on stage and say here's my impression and i would pull them up and show them the lack of balls i had. anyway --. >> rose: the what? >> lack of bulge. anyway, and judd mentioned he liked it. and then we started talking that night. >> sounds like a come-on. love your bulge bit. (laughter) >> rose: so you start talking to you. >> and we became friends and very good friends, immediately. i was out there with a few guys from, then i moved out there from nyu. we all made the move together. and then they couldn't afford rent any more so i was like i need a roommate who is going to pay. >> rose: so did you call him up or -- >> what happened? >> i don't remember that. >> everybody was moving out of that house.

>> rose: where were you in your life at that point? >> i went to usc cinema school for a year and a half. and then i basically ran out of money and interest at the same time. and how i knew that was during college i went on the dating game and i won. and the trip was a trip to ago poll cobut it was happening during finals week so i dropped out of college. >> oh my god. >> i got sunburned the first day and couldn't leave the room for the next two days. while she hit on busboys. (laughter) >> so i was living with my grandma molly and my mom and working the clubs at night and seeing at the improv. >> rose: you were doing stand-up. >> yeah, and for money i worked for comic relief producing benefits for the homeless during the day. so i had enough to pay my 425 a month. >> he was making $500 a week. he was the only one of us who was guaranteed to pull

in $500 a week. we always say how he is getting his comic relief jobs. and we go in for a few hours and come back, but he's getting $500 for this? only a couple hours a day. there was a lot of anger. >> rose: what was he like as a roommate. he was felix and you were -- >> i guess i was oscar, more -- more -- you know, yeah, judd's a very -- >> fastidious. >> he is. >> rose: look at the way he is dressed. >> he came with a purple tie. >> rose: pinstripe too. do you own a pinstripe? do you have a purple tie. >> i have many things, there is a closet i don't open much in my house that has these things. but no, judd was always very, very sweet man. >> rose: and after being roommates you remained friends. you stayed in touch. >> oh, yeah, worked together. >> yeah, we, you know, when adam got "saturday night live" he left. and you know there was a question of whether or not he was going to keep the apartment in l.a. i quickly realized i guess

that's not going to happen. i'm living alone right now. and so i got another apartment. but it was -- >> that i had a room in. >> that, yes. >> you moved to another apartment and he just for my l.a. visits, which weren't that frequent but he had an extra room for me. >> and it was very exciting because adam, you know, got this job on "saturday night live". out of the blue. which also kind of shocked me bus adam's stand-up was kind of mumbling and was very bizarre and he didn't do ca,. he didn't come from second city. and suddenly he's like i'm a cast member on "saturday night live". i am like how did that happen. you don't even do vice voices. what is going on. >> you know what was insane how cocky i was back then. when i got offered "saturday night live", they offered me to be a writer and then eventually a performer. and i actually was going i don't know if i want to do that. and i -- these guys don't understand. and then all my friends are like just do it, just do it, dumby. (laughter) >> exactly. >> rose: so why didn't you make a movie in all, until

now? >> we have worked on a bunch of movies together. >> we -- well, i started doing the ben stiller show which was a show that benn and i created that was on for a season on fox. and that was the first big tv gig that i got after writing jokes for people for a long time. and i was doing that while adam was on "saturday night live". and then we both started writing movies. adam wrote billy madison and i cowrote a movie called heavyweights with steve brill and our friend jack garaputo that adam was in college with. >> he was your assistant. >> and then he became the social producer of heavyweights then moved over to billy madison. and then we worked together a little bit on happy gilmore. i came up and did some polish work at the end. so every few years i would come in and help out. and i always wanted to do this. but i did feel like i needed to have learned enough. >> rose: wanted to do what? >> to make a movie with adam and to make something personal with adam because we knew each other so well.

i always try to figure out how to tap that. but i sds didn't -- also didn't know how to direct. so i needed 10 or 15 years to get that together. >> r re: now you have two big movies under your belt. and now the third one. >> yes. and adam saw "knocked up" and he said whatever the next one is, i --. >> rose: you saw it and said this guy can do, he's got the chops to do that. >> i mean i always knew judd was, you know, we have similar tastes. he has a different, -- he's doing movies differently than i did them. but we always made each other laugh. we always felt comfortable with each other. always liked the same stuff. judd liked a lot of, turned me on to a lot of stuff i never even heard about, a lot of music, a lot of movies when we were roommates. he, what is it, he brought me into a different world. i was like what, wheres is the terminator, i don't understand this. but yeah, and then judd came to me, he said check out my movie "knocked up" and i watched it. i was shooting a movie at the time. i watched it in my trail we are a couple of my buddies

and i was just like apatow is unbelievable. >> rose: i may work with him now. >> now i'm dying to. i called him up and said judd, whatever it is next, let's do it he said all right, i think i might have something. >> rose: that says something interesting about him, doesn't it. a, looking out for himself by calling you up and saying hey, i admire what you do, and think about me the next time you make something that might be right. and on the other hand, here's a guy who was a huge star when he makes that call. >> you know, i was -- you know, i was thrilled and then i instantly hadad to go in my note bock and said what would be the idea for adam. maybe this one. and i always wanted to make a movie about comedians. it's not a subject that's been handled great on film. and if you do it badly, all comedians will hate you for the rest of your life. so you feel that pressure. but in the back of my head i thought i think that i'm, you know, one of the few people that know this world enough to get it across on screen. i just -- it took a long time to work up the courage. >> rose: both of you know comedians, you understand

comedians, are you comedians, both of you have experience in that world. what are the common denominators among the people you know who do what you do, whatever variation of it, write jokes, stand-up, comic films, whatever? improv. >> in personality, i mean, it's different. there are some guys who are just kind of smart and witty and funny. and there are some guys who are just a little bit off. and there there are guys who clearly got a beat down at some point during their young life and made them feel the need to get attention. >> rose: and so which one is he? >> how many of those --. >> rose: all of them. >> all of the above. >> and so it is -- there is a moment on gary shandling's dvd for larry sanders where he talks about this with jerry seinfeld and jerry says to gary, why can't you be a comedian just because you're talented and you're spart and, that's why you are a comedian.

and --. >> rose: that is what i would add. >> and gary just goes why so angry, jerry. and i think that captures it. >> rose: okay. "funny people" >> yes. >> what's the passion that you had for this? >> i wanted to talk about when i first became a comedian and the moment that i was allowed into the world of comics which is very exciting for me. and i knew that there was a movie there but also the people that i worked with when i first started were incredibly nice to me. and i was just in heaven being around them. i wrote for roseanne and tom arnold. that was one of my first jobs. you know, they bought me a rolex for christmas. they paid me $800 a week. suddenly i could afford valet parking. >> rose: a nice rap party thing too. >> exactly. >> so it was all positive. so i knew i needed, you know, to fabricate something. and then i had another idea

which was i wanted to write a movie about someone who is sick who gets better, who realizes that he was more --. >> rose: was sick with a terminally so he thinks it's all over. >> yes, and it's about how he -- he realizes that he's more comfortable being sick and the way that makes him feel in terms of appreciating life than he is when he gets better. and suddenly there's time again and he starts becoming neurotic and has kind of a meltdown. that was the initial thought. >> rose: in your own mind what's the sense of the push-pull between i want to tell this interesting but serious story. >> uh-huh. >> rose: and at the same time, i make comedies. >> i thought that if this story happened in the world of comedians it would inherently have a lot of human never it. but what i thought in my head was i'm not going to let the joke count determine what the movie is. and the only --. >> rose: and i'm to the going to go for easy jokes. >> i'm to the going go for big set pieces. you poe no, usually you make

a big comedy something crazy has to hab happen, the energy kicks in, the music has to kick in. and i thought there will be a lot of stand-up and i thought the conversations would be funny and intense but i will let the emotional life of it rule the day in terms of how this works and that, you know, that was -- it was tricky to do. it's tough to shake it off and just say okay, no, this seems intense and that's it. and when you're testing the movie, if it's a comedy you hear the laughs and you go that scene works, but if it's a sad scene and you have watched it 200 times, it's a little trickier to go how did we do there. >> did we feel something. i wish there was a noise for feeling and then i could go okay, they made the weird noise, or sniff els or something. >> rose: tell me about george sim inns your character and how he is different frfr anybody you played before. >> he's a little more raw than anyone i have played before. a little -- shows a darkerr, nastier, you know, what i

like about playing the guy is you're never sure what the response is going to be. i'm with seth rogan plays my assistant. he is a nice young kid and there one second i'm warm to him and the next second i'm abusing him. and he -- seth never knew which way we were going to go with it. and when i first read the script i was like oh, man, apatow, i am such a bad person in this movie. and i would always say really, you think so? i don't know. i think he's a nice guy. i would be like i don't know, i don't know, apatow. he said the way you put the movie together, want to watch. i'm like all right, you see why he became a certain which and you forgive him. >> that was the thought hi. i have a little notebook and right before i shot i made notes like things to remember. don't forget like these four things. and one of them was the entire movie is just a journey to understand why he is like this. and when it ends, you can completely know him. and you know what his

struggle is. but throughout the movie, it takes awhile to connect all the dots. >> roll tape, first scene between george and ira, the assistant who is going to be there with him as he faces his terminal illness played by seth rogan. here it is. >> if you can possibly do me a favor. >> okay, yeah, what? >> kill me. >> what? >> nobody knows we know each other. you're a stranger. you can get away with this. i got a gun in the other room. untraceable. i've give you $50,000. don't make me suffer, please. kill me, ira. i'm begging you. >> can you at least give me a night to think about it? >> hah! think about it, you would do it. >> oh, i hate you, man, oh, no, ira, i misread you. you're sick. you're a murderer. >> oh, screw -- you, man. >> what would you have done for $100,000, chop my head

off. >> rose: okay, just set this up. so here's george who thinks he has a terminal illness and goes to ire ira. what does he want to do facing that challenge? >> the idea was that his way of dealing with it is to not tell anybody. he doesn't want to be the sick guy. he doesn't want all of the magazines and tv shows chasing him sow doesn't tell anyone. he doesn't tell his family. he doesn't want to depress his parents who are elderly. so he knows he has to tell someone so he hires this young comic to write jokes and be his lackey, his assistant and he's only going to tell him. and it's almost, it's too much pressure for seth's character to handle, to be the bearer of the secret. and he wants to do an enormous amount of stand-up to just not think about it. like let's go to work. let's just -- so you have this funny dichotomy, this incredibly heavy situation and he goes on stage and just tells filthy jokes every night as a way to avoid it. >> and what about the love of his life played by your wife by the way.

>> yes, lesley mann plays laura and it's -- that part of the story is that he cheated on the one woman he loved when he was young. >> rose: and she left him and married another guy. >> and she has children and when he's sick, she admits that i love you more than i love my husband. and part of the story is about him when he gets better thinking he can pursue her again because she gave up this information. >> rose: and who plays the children? >> the children are played by my children and the reason why i do that, there are a bunch of reasons. one, i don't get to meet other people's children because they could be like, you know, they could be like those kids from the movie orphan, you know, i don't want to meet other people's kids. i like hanging out with my kids. they get paid. i get to keep the money that they make and i like them. you know, they are the symbol of family and funiness and beauty. and it's funny because i like i think that they're awesome. but i guess no one would tell me if they'rere not. you know, but it seems like --.

>> rose: here's what i get like this. if you want to be in one of hisilms, you got to be his roommate. >> that's right, that's right. >> rose: you got to be married to him or you got to be his children. how where is seth in this. >> well, seth, i'm his creepy uncle. you know, i love all those movies where people really knew each other. when you see annie hall and you know woody allen and dianne keaton had an intimate relationship. or scorsese and dianyo, the people that were actually friends and were close, something happens on screen i think that is different than when i just read a hundred people and hire somebody. >> we do that also. and then sometimes we have connections like we do with jonah hill but i really like that the fact that we trust each other. and so things are revealed. >> rose: one more look at george's character in this encounter. roll tape. >> what's going on, how are he we doing? >> well, your immune system is in the middle of a very serious battle. >> your accent is very sick.

have you ever noticed your accent makes things sound worse than they actually are. you could give good news and i would still be like what happened, i'm still dying. >> i'm just trying to help you. >> are you mad that you died at the end of the diehard? >> i don't understand the reference. >> kind of looks like those two guys in the second matrix movie. >> and i am sorry, getting a little bit annoyed by this humorous activities from you guys. so i think you, we have discussed this. and i'm very, very sympathetic to your recovery an i hope we will succeed with what we are doing. >> i've been trying to build this cabinet i bought from you guys forbes like six months. >> ikea, that's very funny. >> what is that show? >> well, i'm there. i'm to the getting good news at the doctors. i don't want to sit in it and hear more about it so the character automatically --.

>> rose: makes fun of the dock tore. >> exactly. >> treats him like a heckler. >> exactly. >> rose: is this, where do you put this in terms of the kinds of things you want to do and the evolution you're on. i mean you have -- there is a kind of path as to -- >> yeah. >> the kind of things you do. >> it's so far has been very lucky and fortunate. i have no idea -- this just -- this is just the apatow movie he wrote and it turned out to be very strong movie and my character, i got to shall did -- i don't know. >> rose: well, i mean you have not been -- he has not been afraid to stretch, has he. >> that's right. >> no, i think --. >> rose: or take chances and sometimes it didn't come out exactly like you imagined. but you still made tons of money. >> you know, to me, adam's commitment is kind of astounding. the one that really always gets me is you don't mess with the zohan. if you watch it purely for comedic acting commitment

it's just insane and it's really hilarious, strange character. and also, like punch drunk love or spanglesh there is that other side. and this is fun because it is very stripped down. and adam does have an r rated sensibility more from his albums that's fun to see on screen. >> rose: there is something called app to youan, explain to me what that means. >> some lame brain. >> rose: like hitchcockian, app to youan. >> i don't know exactly. >> rose: what do you think it means? what is it, in other words, what is it that if you say it is an apatow movie. >> oh, yeah, i guess it's used right now as saying there are buddies involved in the movie. there is languages that feels natural and some cursing. >> rose: a lot of reference to sex and women. >> exactly. his references to women, what i love about this movie, on occasion judd has heard some, you know, what is it?

what did i say? what is the negative on you right now. >> that i'm sexist. >> oh, sexist. >> rose: no, miss an thropic. >> how would you define that word. >> someone who hates everything. >> see i think i'm a wussy. i think i'm whipped rses let's get to that. so i read about your reviews. lots of them for a movie which is essentially a comedy but serious theme. how do you face death and how does one person face death. there is a psycho analysis about you that surprises. >> i'm not even that interesting. >> rose: i have some quotes about this too. tell me how you see this. >> okay. >> rose: and you thought about this. >> what i thought when i was making it, was that there are traditional structures of comedies and film in general. and when you go against it, it just disturbs people. but i also and this sounds like a movie snob or a jerk,

i was going use the word jerk and then use another word, and late their would be off. i don't want to connect them. i don't know if you can on pbs. but movies like john and robert altman movies where they are meant to make you feel things that you don't want to feel. now that's not part of mainstream comedy. but i thought it was important to think about, well there is this quote from john who says i don't care if you like them or hate them i just want you to still be thinking about them in ten years. and i do want you to love the movie. i think that is the most important part. but i did want to get under people's craw and provoke in addition to having a hopeful message which is the most important part for me. >> rose: i suspect this movie will have a very good weekend. >> i hope that is correct. >> rose: for lots of reasons, you and you. when will you know, by friday night? >> you know, tonight, if you get a lot of calls, you know it's a good night.

>> rose: if nobody calls. >> when they don't call you. >> rose: you go to the beach. >> rose: here is one. i will stay with this. >> i like it, i think it's -- i think that is exactly why i made the movie so we could kick around these kind of issues. >> rose: and you come here to kick around these kinds of issues. >> let's get it on. >> rose: all rightht "funny people" feels insurance lar as if apatow's whole world consist of nerdy joke sters who were angry, lonely kid was got rich beyond their dreams and fed women who would never -- >> i didn't do that. >> rose: and who had -- anded who's never have talked to them in high school but are deep down still angry. you got to help me on this. >> i don't even like being at the table with a guy like that. >> rose: they're serious about in, and so are you. >> it's wrong in a couple of ways. one is i had a fantastic girlfriend in high school, lisa sherman who was very nice to me. her parents were very nice to me.

so i wasn't the guy who didn't have a girlfriend, all right. and in terms of being an insular world of comedians it is kind of a -- it is a movie about comedians, so if i put a lot of plumbers in, in there, it wouldn't make sense. so i'm exploring the world of comedians. and in terms of comedians who get successful and are unhappy, you only have to look at like the michael jiang son case to see what fame does to people in terms of everyone giving them everything they want, in terms of how unhappy it makes them and how much difficulty they get connecting with individuals when they can connect with the masses. so i think it's all, you know, it's all very real stuff i'm talking about it may not be real to everyone. but what i --. >> rose: who is it real to, is it real to -- >> you know what it is --. >> rose: i think what it is, it's a way of talking about how we come up with our priorities for our lives, through the eyes of a funny comedian. but we all deal with this. how much time do we want to

spend at work versus how much time do we want to spend with the family. >> rose: and how much time do we talk about sex. >> and how much do we want to connect with people that we're uncomfortable with whether it's family members or friends, how far do we go to clean it up with people we have issues with. and some people just go in the house an watch tv and let things fester forever and that is what george's character does. >> rose: this is just one, i have more. his man child universe with its mixture of juvenile raunch and white -- >> are we talking about me now? >> rose: we're getting to you. we haven't started. you may want to leave now. (laughter) >> rose: we have no sympathy for these people. they're doing quite well in life. all right. apatow's his man child universe with its mixture of juvenile raunch and white bread family values has conquered american comedy. there you go, conquered american comedy. >> way to go. >> rose: way to go. >> but it's the mix of middle class values and is that you? middle class values and man

universal? >> well, a man child -- i don't think anyone, i have never met a man who is not a man child. if i meet a man who acts like very proper, i think he's covering up how goofy he really is and some guys are just goofy. and as i get older, this is an interesting thing i thought about recently, i'm 41 years old. and when we liveding to we were all immature goofy guys. now i have a lot of the same friend, i'm had 1. we haven't made a lot of progress and i really don't think when me and adam are 60 it is going to be that much different. >> that's right. >> rose: do you consider this your first grown-up movie as some have said. and what does that mean? >> you know, i don't -- i worked on a show called freaks and geeks which we're all very proud of that was a a semi dark look at high school. and when i made this movie i thought it is more a return to the freaks and geeks tone. so i don't see it as that much different. >> rose: i found a subject we were talking about interesting only because what you guys do, in the

world of movies makes more money than most. >> yeah. >> rose: what is it that you think connects with the audience out there? and is it especially the reality that the audience who comes to the movies is a movie-going audience. in other words, you tap into the movies you have tap into the people, the young people who want to see movies of this kind, and that more of them than any other movie-going audience? >> you know, that's funny. i -- i get ideas about movies, hey, we got such and such studio wants, they have a movie for you. they tell me the idea of the movie and in three sentences i can either be like oh, this, that feels like something that could connect wiwi people. or i say i don't know about that. and i don't love that. and it's a gut feeling. it's something that comes from when i was young and what i knew would excite me and my friends or what i

would want to see. i'm getting older though. i don't know exactly what these young kids are talking about. i don't even know -- i used to be kind of cocky walking down the street from my movies, i would be like when the young kid was see me i would be like yeah, that's right. i know, here im. now i'm like -- do you still like me. am i in the gang still, i don't know. >> there are a lot of funny things in the movie that we cut out about him trying to figure out what his next movie was going to be there was discussion about i have to go into my walter matthew phase, i have toing --. >> rose: we were talked about cass considered in terms of the nature of the movie. >> that's right. >> rose: but when you look at these things, what is the instinct you have abouou this fits for me or doesn't fit for me. you can define it or you just know. >> most importantly if i'm going to be proud of it and i really think it's funny. you know, the fact that i went in with apatow blind and said whatever you write,

i'm in was just because i trust apatow and i like his taste. and --. >> rose: how would you characterize his taste. >> the picture was not a funny pitch. you are dying and you're a terrible person. >> i said stop there, just write it you're going to get me out of this thing. no, his taste is very sexist and i identify with it. (laughter) >> rose: so if he was mass only nist it was all right with you. >> exactly, i love to hate. >> rose: do you have a different view of women than you think the perception is of you. >> oh my god, yes. here is what i think it is. is that i'm trying to show warts and all men and women. and most comedy women are romant sized and they're pretty. they're not funny and the men try to attain them. in my movies starting with katherine in the 40-year-old virgin and katherine and lesley in knocked up, i was trying to show real conflict between men and women. and i think some of those scenes which were kind of rough where people really curse each other in big fights, it is more like the fights in life.

it's not like the fights in the movies, i think some people, it's so different that it throws them. but i just, i just look at my own sense of what's happening which is in the 40-year-old virgin, steve carell doesn't is want to have sex because he thinks he's going to be bad at it so he avoids it because his toy falls on the floor and catherine starts screaming at him because she thinks there's something wrong with her. that's not sexist. and i think about knocked up, that the issue was that seth cared more about his bong and his pot than his pregnant girlfriend and so she breaks up with him and screams at him. and she should scream at him for that. and so i have wind up what is everybody's behavior. i'm trying to show immatureity. there is a lot of sexism in immatureity but it is a journey of these guys realizing i have to get my act together. this isn't the way to behave. >> is there a part of are you making fun of them. you understand that people will be laughing, but in

fact, are you making fun of them. i mean are you making fun of their attitudes and what they talk about and how they view -- >> yeah, i just think that terrible behavior is really funny. and i'm not saying it is correct. i'm saying here is a starting point. and most comedies, even it is like jerry lewis movie starts with an incredibly mature person who needs to learn a lesson. and that's one of the lessons in these movies. i'm in the like that in life. i'm -- you know, a very timid person when it comes to women. i was not out and about too much. i was a shy guy. but i find people who are cocky and sexual funny. and so that makes me laugh. >> and nerdy guys talking, you know, talking about women in a way that is over the top sexist makes me laugh because they do it because they're so insecure that they make up for it by like going, hey, check that girl out. because if the girl tried to kiss them they would cry they would be so scared. >> rose: is a bit of this in

the same way that stephen colbert is in a sense character tureing some, another kind of person he has become on the show? >> i don't know. i am just trying to show people's flaws. so if some people say your movie is sexist because he's sexist, i think well, isn't that the point of the movie is that in the starting, at the starting gate, this is his problem. >> rose: and underliing it always is it funny, and it is funny. people acting horribly, i don't know of anything that, i mean that is what it is, if he was -- if these guys weren't sexist or didn't act in an immature way what would be going on in the movie, you know, if a nice guy gets a girl pregnant, then we just marry her and i would have an 11 minute movie. >> rose: all right, another scene this is where eric who plays clark speaks mandarin with his kid. >> this is really good pizza. they say like new york has

the best pizza. i always thought pizza in l.a. was only o kok but who would have thought marin county was really hiding the good pizza pies. >> clark speaks fluent chinese. >> really? >> you speak cantonese or mandarin. >> oh, -- >> mandarin. >> it's a bloody hard language, george, gee. (speaking mandarin). >> kind of like a scene from deer hunter. >> mao! >> so explain that scene. >> well, in that part of the movie leslie's character laura, her husband thinks that adam is still sick.

but he's better and she knows that if he says she's better he will get a whiff that like maybe there might be the beginning of something going on between them. so they are pretending that he's --. >> and her attitude about them is -- >> she's feeling out whether or not he is the kind of person you could have a real relationship with. >> because her husband is having a -- >> her husband is a philanderer as well. she basically thought she left adam and found a different person and found the exact same guy with an australian accent. >> rose: that deer hunter was that scripted. >> we just did that that day. most of the movie is scripted. or judd says screams out say this, say that he was rewriting on the eat is lot. on occasions we had moments like that that were fun, judd said his seth said his line, i said my line. >> rose: what did you like and dislike about george? what is his redeeming quality here. >> you know, easier for me not to like him.

because i'm married with two kids and i certainly don't want my two kids to think that's guy's me. i was nervous about that the whole movie. >> rose: you were. >> oh, absolutely. i have little daughters. and i know ey're going to watch my movies when they're older. and some of them i'm like that one presents me in a nice light for my kids. and one like this i'm like i hope they don't think i'm that guy and then they become jerks because daddy was a jerk so i'm going to be a jerk. i don't know. i don't know. >> rose: but you're thinking about that. >> oh my god. i let it go, apatow would say what he wants in a scene. and i say okay, let's go. but i would drive home that night and i would have this nice house. i have the kids, look in their bedroom and see them sleeping. and it's just like what the hell am i doing? this is going to kill bhin day. >> rose: it might not be worth it. >> yes, can i pull out of this. >> rose: about him, tell me what it is that you think, adam has been the most

successful comedic actor. >> what is it about him? what is the appeal? >> rose: i know is embarrassing you but what the hell. >> its -- when i lived with adam. >> rose: what do you think it is that they so connect with? >> when i lived with adam i wanted to be a comedian very badly. and adam had one of those things that you just can't define which is charisma. just people were drawn to him. and i would enter a room before he was famous and you would just feel the room move towards adam and i would be sitting in a corner going why don't i have the magic fairey dust. what is going on. so but i think separate from just being funny which is hard to define and you sound like a jerk trying to break it down, he's a great person and people can just tell. i mean the camera has been up in his face for 20 years and they got a sense of where his heart is in addition to all thinks comedic. >> rose: i believe that true. smarter people say the

camera doesn't lie. and so we can see over the years what it ishat is going on. >> he really was fearless because he signed on to the movie before i wrote it just off of a very short pitch. and it was no time during the shoot where he said you know, let's to the do that, that's cutting too close to the bone. or that makes me look bad. and i really thought at some point we were going to go to war. in my head -- >> over what. >> over anything. >> in other words, before you started making it or after in the middle. >> in the middle of makes it. >> over what would you go to wore over. >> anything, because a lot of actors they tried to direct from acting, they will say i don't want to do that because you might use it. and i thought you know, adam, you know, produces his own movies, he knows exactly what he wants and at some point doesn't he wake up and say i think it's this and it's not that and adam kept saying i completely trust you. it is your vision, i'm to the going to water it down, point me in the right direction, i trust you. and even though we were sat irizing comedy and sat

irizing a comedy career. he just said i'm going to go for it 100 percent and that is why the movie works. >> indeed, i believe that. and in fact, that's why you choose directors you want to work with because you feel safe and therefore you can go wherever they want to you go and you can unleash whatever it is that, right. >> exactly. and if they use something i don't want them to use i just don't watch the movie. >> this is from interest "usa today". and it basically says here, apatow has said that george, you have said that george represents what he and sandler would have become if we didn't get sane and get married and have children. >> yes. >> that is true. >> so would you have been, george f you hadn't found a woman. >> there are differences no matter what. but yeah, i could see us leaving a path. i definitely before i met my wife had to make a decision.

i'm not liking who mi right now. and i had very good parents. very nice family. and i was, you know, excited about girls and taking advantage of that. this was, you know, years ago. and i definitely made a conscious decision i don't think that's the life i want to live or i'm going to just be unhappy. i wasn't happy. so i changed my path and fell in love, had children and i'm living that life. but -- >> hi a different thing which was nobody would have sntions with me so i thought i should settle down now. >> tell me about the casabatas scene. why is it, and in fact someone said this black and white photo of peter faulk on the set that's important to you because he was one of your idles. >> yeah. >> it doesn't sound like it connects. >> no, it doesn't and that

is why i want to know. >> casavatas was an extraordinarily incisive director who would confront anything. >> yes. i mean i'm not certainly as accomplished or brave as he. but i do think what he preaches when you read interviews with him is important. and you know he says all these movies are about love and obstacles to love. and that is something that gary shandling always say, he said the larry sanders show is about people who love each other but show business gets in the way. and that is how i tried to approach the work. and to also realize that some of the scenes do not have to be enjoyable. they just need to make you think or feel something and modern movies are mainly about hitting your pleasure center really hard. and i thought you know i'm going to step into something more thoughtful, in addition to giving a lot of laughs. >> you know where the pleasure ter is though. >> i do. and it takes work to avoid it sometimes because you're

in the rhythm of a certain type of film. >> it feels good there too. >> it does. but it's your comfort zone, isn't it. >> it's definitely when i came out to hollywood to do. i was like i'm going to make people feel at ease. i remember when he was telling me to do this i thought all right, i guess i got to do that right now. >> do you want to direct movies. >> no, no, no. i can't concentrate that long. judd and i have different personalities. i am -- i'm great for ten minute run, concentrating then all of a sudden i'm drifting off and someone comes in and asks me a question. and i'm just like leave me alone, man, i don't have time for this. i have too many other crazy thoughts going on. >> what are those crazy thoughts. >> i'm thinking about pie family, my kids, i'm thinking about when am i going to play basketball. i got to get away from these people. i hate it here. i just need to run away. >> when's lunch. >> yeah, when's lunch. i love to eat. >> rose: so what are you looking at now. what kinds of things would -- >> judd made a mockery of

every comedy i'm going to do after this, this whole movie. anything i do after this will be like it's kind of like he would have done, paid fun inform this movie and guess what, i'm still doing it. >> rose: so you're to the going to change. >> i can't change now. too late. >> rose: and too good to you. >> that's right. can't turn my back on what made daddy some money. >> rose: made daddy a lot of money. but i mean is there anything that would cause to you say i'll roll the entire dice on this. i will roll it up on this kind of -- >> i done have that right now. >> rose: you don't have that creative urge is closest to it. >> i'm 4 right now. i've been doing this. >> rose: an you're 41. >> had 1. i have been doing this since i'm 17. i have always had an insane drive this is the first time i'm after this i'm shooting a movie right now. and everyone in the movie is saying all right what are you doing next. what's going on next. and i'm just in my head going i can't believe i just want to relax. i just got to sit down and --. >> rose: do you love the

doing of the thing? the making of the movie. >> i am nuts. i am dying to get in there, let's kick -- i want to destroy this movie is great. right when we get on the set i'm in that trailer going now why the hell am i here. i can't stand, why did i make all this money to end newspaper this stupid trailer again. i can't believe it. >> rose: i thought you told me comedians didn't have complexes. >> it is a a lot of pressure when are you on that set. i would get there in the morning and i would be in a bad mood until o clock until i thought the scene was beginning to work. >> oh, yeah. >> and my produce certificate like are you in a terrible mood until 2:00 every day. >> yeah. >> because are you just so -- ef reday is an sperm. every scene might not work. so you are concentrating s it working, should i get an extra line for editing. what would i -- what would i change if i had to -- if i hated this in three months why would i hate it. and you're concentrating and you are exhausted. but it's supposed to be light funny work so you are also trying to stay loose and funny and keep adam happy and everyone happy.

and it's pretty incense. >> so when you see a happy acker are you mad at him because you're like you don't care enough, you jerk. >> rose: like they say about ceos is those guys who have low golf scores are not doing a good job at the office. >> that's right. >> rose: might you two work together again. >> of course. absolutely. >> likely. >> definitely, absolutely. >> absolutely. we had the best -- itit was great. you know what was great, we would -- you know, the subject matter of being sick, we both saw each other go through it with people we love. and just was very deep to us, this movie. and also, we both work very hard and respected each other's work and like at the end of the day when i would say good night to apatow i would tear up. i would say all right, you love you, buddy. >> are you serious. >> absolutely. because we couldn't believe that we had shall did dish couldn't believe that we know each other so long. that we're both getting to do what we wanted. we would talk late at night.

he wasn't so sure what he was going to do, judd, i was sure i was like i'm going to be a movie star, that's a guarantee. and no one is going it to stop me. judd wasn't exactly sure what he was doing but he was writing away in his room all the time. and i would always walk by his bedroom. i would see him typing away. he had some seats so his back wasn't hurt because he was always over there, and i would always go what are you doing in there, apatow. i'm writing some skits. i was like for what. i don't know. >> what the hell is the mat we are this guy. but it was just neat that we know each other this long and got to make a movie together and of course i want to do it again. >> rose: that's a great story. that is a great story. and it defines some of the differences between the two of you. >> because i am a mysogonist. >> i didn't understand that. >> he was clear, he knew, you knew you were going to be a movie star. >> i was so sick. >> rose: there was nothing that would have stopped you. >> it was the dumbest, if i was starting now i wouldn't

be that because i'm a lot smarter. >> rose: wise per it. too stupid not to know then of what could stand in the way and how much luck was involved. >> i didn't understand how it couldn't happen even though it is impossible to make it happen. i don't even know how it happened. when people say well, what happened, what was your break. i'm just like i don't know. >> rose: it happened. >> it happened. it is luck. >> rose: did anything difficult about being a superstar? i've always thought -- george clooney said with me, what is it to compane about being a superstar? >> boy oh boy. >> rose: the privacy. >> i never complain. i never complain about that. those freaky guys with the videos following you, that, and trying to get you --. >> rose: that is a nuisance. >> but when you have kids you do. >> rose: having people write bad things about you which not true and you know your friends know they are not true. >> that's true. i didn't like my mother or father having to read bad stuff about me. i felt bad for them that -- but that stuff never

bothered me. >> we talk about that in the movie. in fact in the movie when he finds out he's sick, he walks out of the dock tore's office and everyone is asking to take a picture with him and he still takes pictures with people while he's in this daze of this information that he just got. and it's really kind of sad and intense but he's so polite to his fans. and there is a funny seen with em then complaining about everyone taking his cture. >> you have a come joe here from em then -- em them. >> i how did you pull that off. >> i in friendly with him. >> and he loves apatow. >> he is a superdoes bad fan. >> superdoes bad. >> exactly. so we wrote a scene for him and he was crazy funny. you forget he is popular becaususa lot of what he does is hilarious. and it was a great day having him there. >> a lot o o comedians came by. one of the best weeks we had. >> yeah. >> we sat at a table like this like we used to at the

improv. and we were young comedians and were invited to at the big table. a round table, seinfeld and riser and all the big boy was sit at. if they invited to us sit with them we were like, we talked with about it for days. yeah, we got to the table. we bot to the big table. and we shot a scene which had a bunch of comedians we looked up to siting together and talking. it was very nice. >> there is also video of him as a young comedian. >> that's true, yes. >> stand up. >> yes, yes. there a lot of video. i thought it would be interesting because people aren't family with adam's stand-up because he never did an hbo special or anything, that you could use all his old actual video of doing stand-up in the movie to show the beginning of george's career. and we do the same thing wiwi leslie's character, laura there are clips from all her commercials and coke commercials where she is is with king kong and stuff to show what her early act cag rear was like. and when we started saying to adam what footage do you have, do you have anything

weird. and then he had they this clip of adam walking down the street in new york at 19 years old getting recognized on the street for the second time ever. and running up to his friends and he's so excited. i got recognized for the second time. >> are you wonderful. what a jerk, what a jerk. >> all right, funny people opens tonight. >> that's right. >> in theatres around america. >> uh-huh. >> congratulations. >> we let the canadians see it tonight too. >> how about latin america. >> we'll get to those guys. >> rose: thank you. >> thank you very much. good to see you. thank you. >> thank you for joining us. see you next time

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