Seth Rogen says he thought he was going to be ‘fired’ after making Steven Spielberg cry on Fabelmans set

‘It was really strange and emotional,’ actor said

Seth Rogen was worried he would be fired after making Steven Spielberg cry on the set of his new film.

The actor was recruited by the director to play a character in his new biographical film, titled The Fabelmans.

Based on Spielberg’s upbringing, The Fabelmans, also starring Michelle Williams and Paul Dano, sees Rogen play a character inspired by the filmmaker’s uncle.

Rogen, who also directs, said that after completing one take, he approached Spielberg to ask for feedback on his performance.

“I didn’t know what kind of feedback he would give and how that would go,” he said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, adding: “So the first day, we start shooting and we do a take and I go back to where he’s standing, and I’m looking for feedback.”

It was then that Rogen, 40, noticed the 74-year-old director “was just sobbing uncontrollably”.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m so bad he’s crying and he’s going to fire me right now,’” Rogen said. “He’s going to say, ‘I made a mistake!’

“But no, it’s such a deeply personal movie that he cried a lot actually. When the scenes were happening, you would go back and he would be weeping.”

Rogen joked: “I never thought it would feel great to make Steven Spielberg cry all the time, but it did – it felt wonderful. It was really strange and emotional.”

Also during the interview, Rgen pointed out a “stressful” fact about the hair of the cast of Avengers: Endgame.

Seth Rogen in ‘The Fabelmans' (Universal Pictures)

The Fabelmans, which is out now in the US, is being touted for Oscar success alongside The Banshees of Inisherin, Women Talking and Tár, starring Cate Blanchett. The Fabelmans will be released in the UK on 27 January.

One film assumed to have been an awards frontrunner was Babylon, the new film from La La Land director Damien Chazelle. However, its chances have diminished somewhat following its extremely divisive Hollywood premiere.

The film will debut in the UK on 23 January, one month after its US release on 23 December.