Doing irreparable damage to his status as Earth’s most productive person, comedy specialist Judd Apatow was spotted closing down the party at last night’s Time 100 Most Influential People in the World Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Naturally Vulture accosted him, and he was nice enough to answer our questions on his favorite “fake Apatow†movies and to clarify one of his friend Diddy’s recent tweets.
Last week, Diddy tweeted that he’d had dinner with you. But we don’t know your side.
What did he say?
That you’re a brilliant man and a nice guy. What did you talk about?
Well, it was the cast dinner for Get Him to the Greek at Little Door in Los Angeles. And me and Sean have a lot in common.
Like what?
We don’t know what it is, but we know that there’s a connection there. There’s chemistry, but we don’t know what to do with it yet.
Sexual?
We don’t know. We don’t want to rule anything out.
So what did you talk about?
Well, we talked about the movie, because we’re about to start shooting, and he has a really funny part in the movie. It’s hilarious.
Does he play himself?
He’s playing the owner of a record company. And he’s funny enough that it’s bothersome. You want to feel like you’re better than Diddy at something, but then when he’s super funny, you’re like, “Okay, he defeats me in all areas of life.â€
On Twitter, he’s seemed nervous about his acting ability …
Well, I’m glad he’s nervous. Because I want to dominate him somehow. But I think he’ll be nervous for about five minutes and then he’ll be great.
Where did these rumors come from that you’re producing Ghostbusters 3?
I think because I am one of the producers of Year One, which is a Harold Ramis movie that he wrote and directed that comes out in June, so somewhere, somebody, I don’t know, just typed wrong.
Would you consider producing Ghostbusters 3?
I’m not one of the people who makes those movies. Obviously, I’d consider anything!
What would you do if you could produce it?
I don’t know! I’ve never thought about it before. But I’m sure the people who do it do it very well. But you know, it was one of my favorite movies I ever saw when I was growing up, so it’s in good hands.
What did you cut out of Year One to secure its PG-13 rating?
Well, every movie you have a few go-arounds to figure out where the line is. We cut, uh … I don’t know if we can even say it online. It’s that dirty.
Tell us!
There was a joke about a certain character who could put a part of his anatomy in his own mouth. I don’t think you can say that online. It’s not one of the main characters. We removed that. It was definitely one of our favorite jokes.
Over the past few months, there have been lots of movies like Role Models and Zack and Miri Make a Porno involving your actors, but they aren’t produced or directed by you. Do you have a favorite “fake Apatow†movie?
I love all those movies. I went to see Adventureland and Observe and Report on the same day a few weeks ago. And I could not have been happier. I feel bad that anyone makes the connection to me, because they’re doing amazing work. I wish I could have made something as good as that.
We have to say, we’re impressed at how long you’ve lasted at this party.
I always close the Time magazine party down. I’ll literally stay in the lobby until it becomes a U.S. News & World Report party. That’s how long I’ll be here.
Are you partying hard because you’re burned out from editing Funny People?
I’m taking a break to clear my head before I have to do the last two weeks. So it’s good to take a step away to think about it and make sure I’m doing what I should be doing. I do this every time I’m editing. I take a break, I chat with Oprah, then I go back to editing my movie.
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