I knew I just loved comedy, and I think it was my parents who initially brought up the notion of me trying to do stand-up. I think I actually tried writing jokes just at home, just kind of sitting around. But it seemed like a very real way to step into the world of comedy.

The good thing about L.A. is that there's always someone more famous 100 yards away from me.

I think around that time I met David [Gordon Green] or, well, we all met at Superbad and Judd [Apatow] said, 'I'm thinking about having him direct [ Knocked Up].' Sounded like a good idea.

I feel much more comfortable as a writer than an actor. I feel like I am a much better writer than I am an actor.

It was amazing how much their [Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Shauna Robertson] process seemed familiar to me, translating that into the work that I had done and giving actors a lot of freedom and doing a lot of improvisation and a total respect and collaboration with all the department heads and all the crews, and just really making it an enjoyable industry rather than just clocking in and doing a job which a lot of movies are.

I work under the assumption that, generally speaking, my taste and the taste of the Oscar voters are not one in the same.

To me it's a mystery that you can show the horrific things in the movies, but not some sexual stuff which everyone does.