While Superbad is still hands down one of the most iconic teen comedies ever made, there was one bizarre rule behind the scenes that even the film’s creators found hard to believe.
Sony, one of the companies that financed the 2007 movie, had one very specific demand: Jonah Hill’s character, Seth, was not allowed to touch a PlayStation.
According to writer Seth Rogen, Sony took issue with the idea of Hill’s character interacting with one of their consoles on-screen, and the reason is pretty hilarious if you look at it from a corporate mindset.
Talking to Rotten Tomatoes on the red carpet at South by Southwest, Rogen was asked about the most ridiculous note he had ever received from a studio. It turns out that Sony’s demand was for Hill’s character to be kept far, far away from a PlayStation gaming console.
Advert
Advert
Rogen recalled: "Seth was so reprehensible to the studio that they were like, there’s a scene where they’re playing video games and [Sony] was like ‘Jonah can’t touch a PlayStation’".
He went on to explain that the company didn’t want their brand associated with the character, saying: "They were like ‘we can’t have him interact with our products, because it’s too vile a character’ and I was like ‘it’s based on me, that’s very insulting’, but we accommodated them, ultimately."
That joking mention of it being “insulting” comes from Superbad being semi-autobiographical, with Rogen and his childhood friend Evan Goldberg basing the two main characters — Seth and Evan — on their teenage selves.
If you’ve seen Superbad at least once, you may remember the gaming scene in question. Michael Cera’s character, Evan, is seen playing The Getaway: Black Monday on a PlayStation 2 while he and Seth chat. But while Evan gets to enjoy the console, Seth is noticeably being kept at a distance.
Advert
Thanks to Rogen’s revelation, we know now that this wasn’t a random choice — it was a very deliberate move to keep Jonah Hill’s character from laying a finger on the console and being linked to the brand.
While it’s slightly disappointing to think we’ll never know what game Seth would’ve played with Evan if they were allowed to get a split-screen co-op session going, it’s not uncommon for studios to be protective of their brand image — even if but banning an actor from even touching a console because of their character’s personality is arguably a level too far.
At least, if anything, this story adds an extra layer of fun trivia to Superbad’s legacy among the comedy greats from the long-gone 2000s era.