When the smash comedySuperbadlanded 15 years ago, each of the people involved could not have been in a more different place. In fact, stars Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse had a completely different dynamic than they do now.
WhenSuperbadstarted filming, nobody could’ve predicted where its creators and stars would end up a decade and a half later, and they couldn’t have even known they were creating a modern classic. Part of that was built on the chemistry, or anti-chemistry, of the stars involved, such as Jonah Hill, who played Seth (named forcreator and writer Seth Rogen) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who played Fogell, a.k.a. “McLovin."
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When casting was taking place on what would be the mega-hit, Hill and Mintz-Plasse were, much like the drawings young Seth was addicted to making, dicks to each other during it.Producer Judd Apatow saidto Vanity Fair, “Jonah said, ‘I don’t like that guy. I don’t want him doing it.’ And I said, ‘That’s exactly why we’re hiring him. It couldn’t be more perfect. The fact that it bothers you is exactly what we want.'” Added creator (and Officer Michaels in the film) Rogen, “Jonah immediately hated him. He was like, ‘That was f—ing with my rhythm. I couldn’t perform with that guy.’” Mintz-Plasse would go on to become what would be 2007’s equivalent of a meme as Fogell, better known to audiences around the world as “McLovin,” which is the name of the 1981-born Hawaiian, per the fake ID he carried around to attempt to cadge illegal booze during the movie’s runtime.
“It was my first movie, and I was nervous. I remember the weekend after, going to Chipotle. I got recognized, and a girl would climb over my friends to try and touch me. And I wouldrun out of the Chipotle, and all of their friends would run after me,” Mintz-Plasse said. As Apatow remembers, “[Mintz-Plasse was] very caustic and attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah” during his third callback. Hill himself says something similar, while still praising his co-star, saying, “Chris was really, really amazing off the bat. And I think he was really annoying to me at that time.”
But what makes for bad chemistry off-set can make for great filmmaking onscreen, the callow Mintz-Plasse grating against Hill’s slightly more seasoned comedic knowledge made the relationship between Seth and definite third-wheel Fogell that much more believable to audiences. That popularity hasn’t abated, which means that McLovin, out of the entire cast, might be the mostSuperbad, indeed.
