What’s the opposite of a meet cute story? A meet terrified one? After years of making movies with a hard R rating, Seth Rogen is psyched to finally be in a family-friendly flick that he could take his young nephews to see. And while hopping into the role of lovable wart hog Pumbaa in the upcoming reboot of The Lion King was amazing, meeting one of his A-list co-stars was kind of daunting.
“Everyone was losing their mind… I’ve never seen this happen before,” Rogen told Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night (July 10) about the scene on Tuesday night when the film’s director, Jon Favreau, had each cast member come on stage one-by-one at the premiere at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. “Beyoncé was called out and the audience stood up and went crazy. And I was like, ‘she’s getting a standing ovation for just existing.’ Her mere presence was a reason to stand and go crazy, and I totally got it. I was like, ‘yeah, like we should be celebrating. We made it. We’re all in a room with Beyoncé.'”
And though he knew the clapping wasn’t for him, for a brief second Rogen said he got a sense of what it feels like to be universally loved. “I got a smattering at best,” he said. Rogen did get a chance to speak to Bey backstage, but only after she came up to chat with him, given what happened last time they interacted. They first met at the Grammys 11 years ago, and when he approached the singer, things went south real fast. “Her security knocked me so hard that I spilled my drink all over myself,” he said of the singer. “It was terrible. So I was wary of going near her, ’cause I look like someone who you would want to keep away from Beyoncé in general. So I waited for her to approach me.”
Frankly, Rogen doesn’t understand why the Mouse House would want a notorious stoner to promote their film, but he’s happy to be able to be a spirit guide for anyone who indulges too much and maybe freaks out at the sight of talking animals. “I could only hurt things,” he joked. “I’m genuinely curious why they think this is anything but potentially bad for them!” Rogen also discussed being in the studio with Pharell Williams and composer Hans Zimmer to record his first major singing role in the film, who he said were very, very patient with him.
Beyonce also curated and produced the accompanying album, The Lion King: The Gift, which is out July 19, along with the live-action film, which features Bey as Nala, Donald Glover as Simba, Chiwetel Eijiofor as Scar and James Earle Jones as Mufasa.
Watch Rogen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below: