'The movie is very silly': Seth Rogen on The Interview

Actor-Director Seth Rogen defended the choice to parody North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in raunchy comedy The Interview, the movie that sparked a real-life threat from the country and is suspected as the possible cause of a damaging cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Rogen, who wrote, produced and directed The Interview with filmmaking partner Evan Goldberg, told Good Morning America on Monday that he had not anticipated the media storm surrounding the film.

“I don’t know if the hacking honestly is because of our movie, definitively or not. I know that it has been the centre of a lot of media attention lately,” Rogen said.

“The movie itself is very silly and wasn’t meant to be controversial in any way.”

Rogen said the film goes to great lengths to separate the regime ruling North Korea from the North Korean people themselves, saying they are “victims of a horrible situation.”

Emails released by the hackers shed light on Sony’s internal debate about the film, showing that Sony Corp CEO Kazuo Hirai ordered that the movie be toned down after North Korea complained. Rogen objected but complied before the cyber attack.

“With every movie we do, there’s a conversation creatively about what happens, but ultimately I’m 100 per cent behind the finished product of the movie,” Rogen said, when asked about the changes he had to make.

The Interview follows flamboyant TV host Dave Skylark, played by James Franco, and his hapless producer Aaron Rapaport (Rogen), who score an interview with the elusive Kim. The duo are recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim, but not without a series of comic obstacles filled with crude, male-centric humour.