In The Identical — the story of two musically gifted brothers separated at birth — Seth Green plays a boozy drummer who specializes in getting divorced and backing rock ‘n’ roll impersonators. Vulture caught up with Green at the movie’s Cinema Society premiere and after-party (held at White Street Restaurant, which opens next week) to talk about the film, his family, his new favorite movie, and the problems with this generation’s social-media practices.
If you found out you had a long-lost twin brother in real life, what would your reaction be?
Well, how do you predict that? I have my sister, who’s my older sibling, and she’s really the only sibling I’ve had. And getting married, I sort of inherited a wealth of brothers and sisters from my wife’s side of the family. She’s got a big family. And so that has been a really rewarding experience. I’m getting to form new relationships that I never really had. I’ve all [of a] sudden got younger brothers — who actually are of an age where they need some information.
About what?
My one brother-in-law, he had become the shit-catcher of the family. And his brothers and sisters had gotten into the habit of picking on him, and he had just gotten sort of passive and was taking it. And I told him not to take it, and I bought him a pair of nunchakus for Christmas. And I was like, “This is a rite of passage, man. Every boy should learn to swing some nunchakus.â€
Why nunchakus?
It’s a man thing. I think you need to embrace your inner ninja at a young age. That’s why the turtles are so popular, because boys naturally gravitate toward the disciplines and the strength and friendship of those kind of characteristics.
Did you have nunchakus when you were growing up?
Oh yeah, man. I had all kinds of nunchakus.
I didn’t know there were different kinds.
Oh, yeah, you get the soft-core ones, so you don’t break your nose the first couple times you swing them. Then you can graduate to something stronger, something made of wood, maybe with a metal base, better chain, that kind of stuff.
Do you still have them?
Nah, [laughs] I don’t need that anymore.
Have you seen any good movies lately?
I saw Guardians, and I really love it and probably can’t stop talking about it. So anybody who hasn’t seen that movie, I would say, “Do yourself a favor.â€Â Guardians is the story about a bunch of Han Solos — it’s about a bunch of misfits with no family, and no friends who are all really good at what they do, but also lonely and sad and have personality disorders. And this is the story of them coming together. So it’s kind of like the family you choose, versus the family you’re born into, which is something I really relate to.
Had you read the comics before seeing the movie?
I was never a fan of the comics. I knew a couple of the characters just because they cross over in so many ways. The Marvel universe is so dense. You’re going to know who Thanos and Rocky Raccoon are, but I was never into Guardians, except to recognize Star-Lord iconography or whatever. But that movie. That movie is just so good, and I’m so proud of James Gunn.
What did you think about the ending?
The after tag? He told me that didn’t mean anything. He told me that was just for fun. Because Disney acquired Lucasfilm, so as a result, they’ve got access to that thing. And since Guardians doesn’t need to connect to Age of Ultron, it doesn’t need to tease anything. You could do whatever you want. And he was like, “Oh, let’s do Howard the Duck.â€
A Howard the Duck movie could be kind of a game-changer, though.
[Laughs.] You know … I wouldn’t expect it. I think the Marvel universe has other stories to tell first. That character may make a reprise in some other movies, but I would not expect it to be its own movie.
Do you have any reaction to the nude photo leaks?
We’ve become really dangerously entitled as an audience, and I feel like this is a unique kind of violation. A lot of reality stars have pushed the audience to believe that everything a celebrity has, they’re entitled to witness, and that’s just not true. Especially in the case of women in this industry. It’s very hard to be a woman in this industry. You look at someone like Jennifer Lawrence who’s already — literally — laid herself bare. And then we’re not satisfied. We want to see the private moments, we want to see the pictures that aren’t meant for us, the stuff that she took herself, because it’s not enough for us. That’s a fucked-up axiom to take on. I think theft is theft, and if you are peeking through somebody’s window and photographing them or stealing pictures off their phone, that’s stealing, and I don’t know when stealing became okay. But somehow because it’s celebrity, and because we’re all titillated by naked human beings, we’re all like, Oh, yeah, that’s acceptable. They owe us that. I just don’t think that’s right.
You’re talking about a different generation. You’re talking about a generation that was born inside social media. Look at the way that kids are representing themselves to each other. They give everything: They’re videotaping themselves, they’re photographing themselves; their every moment is shared with one another. So that’s a generation that doesn’t even understand the notion of withholding, the notion of modesty. But it’s just like anything, you just gotta educate people. Human beings are inherently decent, and if you correct them, you’ll take that course.