Ah, 2008 was a much simpler time. I was finishing high school, Barack Obama was President Of The United States, the Beijing Olympics went off with barely a hitch, and moviegoers were blessed with the stoner masterpiece that is Pineapple Express.
Flashforward to 2018 and boy has everything changed. High school is well in my rear view mirror, we now have a walking cheese puff as POTUS, and we just had the FIFA World Cup in Russia, who isn’t exactly the most loved country in the world right now.
But there’s a silver lining because it is also the 10-year anniversary of Pineapple Express, and I’m pleased to say that it is still as brilliant in 2018 as it was in 2008.
To commemorate the 10th birthday of his stoner magnum opus, Seth Rogen rolled up his sleeves (and probably a joint) and tweeted out a bunch of facts about the movie that ranged from “oh that’s interesting” to “no freaking way!”.
Rogen started off slow by lobbing out a few lowball (but still interesting) facts, such as the term “pineapple express” being around long before the movie, and how he and his writing partner Evan Goldberg had to roll every cross joint in the movie because no one knew how to. Real life experience helps in situations like these, folks.
The name #PineappleExpress was around for years before the movie. It’s a Hawaiian weather system that sometimes hits the Pacific Northwest, which is where we’re from. Evan heard the name and said “that would be a great name for a movie.” Years later we found a perfect fit.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) August 6, 2018
In #PineappleExpress, me and my co-writer Evan had to roll all the cross joints needed to film (about 100) ourselves because nobody else on the crew could roll them properly.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) August 6, 2018
But then Rogen kicked things up a notch by revealing how he, James Franco, and Danny McBride all suffered some pretty nasty injuries while making Pineapple Express. Rogen also revealed that he did “99%” of all his stunts, which basically makes him as tough as Jackie Chan, if Jackie Chan were, you know, Canadian.
Throughout the fight scene in Red’s house in #PineappleExpress, I broke my finger and Danny McBride got his head cracked open when Franco hit him with the bong.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) August 6, 2018
The reason Saul wears a headband in #PineappleExpress is the result of another injury. There’s a shot (that’s in the movie) when we are running through the woods, Franco hits his head on a tree. He actually hit his head on a screw that was holding a pad in place and got stitches.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) August 6, 2018
I did my 99% of my own stunts in #PineappleExpress, (which might explain all the injuries) including this one: pic.twitter.com/DrV9jF1wIS
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) August 6, 2018
My personal favourite fact is that they actually duct taped McBride to a desk chair and left him there all day because it “took too long” to re-tape him up. Sure, whatever you say, Seth.
While we were filming the scene where Red is taped to the chair in #PineappleExpress, Danny had to actually be taped in the chair all day and we couldn’t let him out because it took too long to put him back. pic.twitter.com/vBmmcRTuiL
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) August 6, 2018
But the biggest bombshell didn’t come from Rogen. Instead, it came from his frequent collaborator Judd Apatow, who revealed that Bryan Cranston had in fact auditioned for a role as a drug dealer in Pineapple Express.
However, Apatow deemed Cranston to be not “scary enough” to be a drug dealer. Well, okay then. I guess hindsight is 20/20.
I’ve got one. Bryan Cranston auditioned. He may have even read at a table read and I said “I don’t think he seems scary enough to seem like a real drug dealer.” If he did PE maybe the Breaking Bad people would have said, “not him, he always plays drug dealers.” https://t.co/YqJE1pr2QH
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) August 7, 2018
In Apatow’s defence, this was well before Breaking Bad became THE thing. Plus, had Cranston played a drug dealer in Pineapple Express, he probably wouldn’t have been as convincing as Walter White since we would’ve already seen him be a drug dealer. Ah well, it all worked out for the best in the end.
Happy 10th anniversary, Pineapple Express, you brilliant little masterpiece, and here’s to 10 more cross joint filled years.