It’s always unsettling when a random age stamp slaps you in the face, and it’s only piled on for us middle-of-the-pack millennials (though, I know none of us will escape this fate). When I put two and two together and remembered that The 40-Year-Old Virgin premiered in 2005, and is just shy of its 20th anniversary, my mind needed to take a lap. Thankfully, I’m not the only one marveling at the latest somewhat shocking anniversary date; Seth Rogen thinks it’s a little wild, too.
Though the A-lister has been pretty busy popping up all over our 2025 TV guide, including his own show, The Studio (which is streamable with an Apple TV subscription), he took the time to honor this iconic ‘00s flick. While it’s not the first time he’s reflected on the film and how much Hollywood’s dynamics have changed since its release, he stated that it’s “crazy” that it’s been over 20 years since that happened. Along with the exasperation, he shared with People about how the Judd Apatow-directed film was his first big leg up on a project. Rogen also mentioned it’s where his undeniable raunchy influence on Hollywood began, saying:
It was the first movie I made where I feel like … I was a co-producer on the movie and I helped write a lot of it with Steve Carell and Judd [Apatow]. It was the first movie that I was a part of that I really had a creative voice in, and a lot of the R-rated humor and tone came from me really advocating for that. And so it was really rewarding when it came out and people really responded to both the heart and the filthiness of it.
Hearing this behind-the-scenes bit makes so much sense to me. While the movie’s star, Steve Carell, and Apatow haven’t shied away from that edginess, the boundary-pushing jokes, early style and blunt overtones scream Rogen’s beginnings. This blended comedy pocket had a wildly undeniable influence on the mainstream comedy genre that still influences today. Case and point, Carell was filming this breakout role right after the pilot of The Office and reportedly had anxious energy while filming, but The 40-Year-Old Virgin’s success saved Dunder Mifflin.
Now, two decades after the oddball romantic comedy’s arrival, the Superbad alum is one of Hollywood’s biggest names, and his resume is bigger than ever. He carries a lot of weight with getting a project going, and The Studio, which got renewed for Season 2, feels like a cherry on top of it all. Rogen has plenty ahead on the 2025 movie guide, too, including Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune and Andy Serkis’ animated Animal Farm.
Whether or not they’ll rank with The 40-Year-Old Virgin and the rest of Seth Rogen’s best movies remains to be seen. I do think that it’ll be safe to say the Hollywood star, his fans and I will be reeling at the next big unsuspecting project milestone to hit us one day. (And don’t remind me it’ll have been 25 years since Freaks and Geeks ended this fall!)