Seated side by side at a cozy table after their photo shoot, the stars hit it off.
Before landing high-profile movies and magazine covers, you were both TV sitcom sidekicks. Did you ever doubt you’d wind up where you are now?
Seth: Yes! I doubt I’m even at that point.
Megan: I agree. I started acting as a way to make money and avoid college. I sort of fell into it having no idea what I was doing … in “Transformers” as well.
Is it true that you didn’t know you were the female lead in “Transformers” until the end of filming?
Megan: Yes. Everything was on lockdown. The script wasn’t released to anyone. The director, Michael Bay, was the only one who’d seen it.
Seth: Guess what? The robots transform! [Laughs.]
Seth, you recently starred in Zack and Miri for director Kevin Smith, and now you’re in “Funny People” opposite Adam Sandler. What’s it like to suddenly find yourself making movies with your childhood idols?
Seth: It’s surreal! To see these people in real life is weird, and to have them know your name or to get a phone call and see their name pop up [on caller ID] is strange. There are certain events that have happened to me that, were I to tell the 13-year-old me what was going to happen, he would have been much less miserable throughout high school. I wish I could go back and say, “The RZA [from Wu-Tang Clan] will know who you are one day.”
You were already doing stand-up comedy at 13, Seth. Were your parents funny?
Seth: Not in the ways they intended to be. My grandparents are funny. I think that’s where I got my filthy sense of humor. They swear a lot. But I wouldn’t watch a movie with them in it; that’s where I draw the line.
Megan, you and “Transformers” co-star Shia LaBeouf are good friends. Were your make-out scenes uncomfortable?
Megan: It’s always weird. That’s not something that’s ever romantic or sexy. Doing an on-set kiss is just strange, and knowing Shia so well makes it even more strange.
OK, but the ladies want to know: How is he?
Megan: [Laughs.] Very good.
In “Revenge,” you flee evil Decepticons for just about the entire movie. At least your male co-stars hauled butt in comfy sneakers — you were in heels!
Megan: Stilettos — and for the last part of the film, motorcycle boots. I had major shinsplints and threw out my back a couple times. Beyond that, Michael likes everyone freakishly tan, so we were painted maroon, like in the old Westerns when they hired Caucasians to play Native Americans. I had on fake eyelashes, running through the desert with sand stuck in them, and I’m sweating off all the makeup. It looked like we were making a tragedy.
Was the set of “Funny People” a bit more chill?
Seth: No, it was pretty much like that. [Laughs.]
“Funny People”’s director, Judd Apatow, says comedy is a survival mechanism, and “we can either think of things in life as tragic or hilarious.”
Do you agree?
Seth: Definitely. Something that often happens is friends will tell me movie ideas or scripts they’ve been sent, and I always assume it’s a comedy. “It’s about this guy whose dad dies and his mom becomes a hooker. They have no money, and she commits suicide.” I’m like, “That sounds hilarious!” They’re like, “It’s not funny at all!” It depends on how you picture it. Any comedy plot could be dramatic. Take “Ghostbusters.” There are people rising from the dead, and a team of guys has to send them back to hell! That doesn’t necessarily have to be a funny movie.
Megan: I often get in trouble for finding things funny and joking about them when people aren’t ready to hear it. But when it happens to you, it’s different.
Men and women are not always judged equally in Hollywood. If you were the opposite sex but had the same gifts and qualities, how would things be different?
Seth: I would’ve had a much more difficult time being an unconventional-looking woman. I think being an unconventional-looking man is fine. Most of my favorite comedians have been weird-looking: Bill Murray, John Candy, Buster Keaton. It’s almost embraced in the male world. People don’t want their comedy from a real handsome guy.
Megan: I think I would be like George Clooney. He’s sarcastic, and he has a different girlfriend constantly. It’s considered charismatic. He’s like this James Bond, sexy dude. The older he gets, the better he gets. It’s a double standard. To be outspoken, or different at all, is a problem for women. As soon as you curse or, God forbid, make some sort of sexual reference that’s a joke, you’re [labeled a party girl]. They don’t do that with men, so I feel it would be a lot easier.
For many young actors, Megan, being in “Revenge” would be like the pinnacle of their career. But you’ve hinted that, in the end, movies about shape-shifting robots are nothing to write home about. How do you define success?
Megan: I’d like to develop my skills to where I can be recognized as a good actress. That’s my end goal. It has nothing to do with the box office. It’s about peer recognition and critical acclaim, even on a small level. I mean, I’m not trying to take Cate Blanchett down. I just want to improve.
Seth: If you’re doing what it is you want to do creatively, you’re successful. That’s where I’ve been most fortunate. I’m making the exact movies I want to make. We didn’t make Superbad thinking, if we make this, then maybe one day we’ll get to make that. Each one has been the exact movie we wanted to make, and they’ve all turned out better than we ever hoped they would. I don’t need an escalation of events at this point. If they maintained themselves for, you know, the next 45 years, I’ll be pleased with that. [Laughs.]
Megan, despite being voted sexiest woman in the world by “FHM,” you’ve said you’re a dead ringer for Alan Alda. He’s over 70!
Megan: Well, I didn’t mean present-day Alan Alda. I meant, like, 1989.
Seth: [Laughs.] Sure, “Crimes and Misdemeanors” Alan Alda.
Um, OK … How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10?
Megan: I can’t possibly do that.
Why? Are you disgusted with your looks?
Megan: It’s not that. I just don’t think there’s anything particularly special about it either.
Seth, looks have played a big role for you, too. Part of your initial appeal was your chunky physique. Now you’re all cleaned up. Will audiences accept the new you?
Seth: Pffft. I don’t know. That’s not something I ever think about. It’s all a movie-to-movie thing. We’re about to shoot “Green Hornet,” and the character is a vain kind of L.A. [jerk]. Again, physical appearance would be important to that person. It’s really whatever just makes the movies funnier. That being said, it’s probably not healthy to eat nothing but cheeseburgers every day. [Laughs.] You may die eventually from that.
Is that what you did during “Knocked Up?”
Seth: I was just one of those guys who never thinks about what he eats. There was no sense of, like, that’s healthy and that’s unhealthy. Now, I’ve become increasingly aware.
This diet must mean no more late-night munchies excursions.
Seth: I’ve never been a big munchies guy. Most true potheads have eliminated munchies early on.
Megan: That’s true.
Seth: It makes you not high anymore.
Olympian Michael Phelps recently got in trouble for photos of him holding a bong. Any incriminating photos of you taking a hit?
Seth: [Big laugh.] Yeah, definitely.
Megan: But you’re not on a Wheaties box.
Seth: Exactly, I never claimed to be a role model.
But you both claim to be major geeks who love comics. Which ones do you read?
Seth: I like where Wolverine comics have been going lately. [Laughs.] The Punisher is a character I like, and “The Authority” is a comic I read a lot. But it’s more writers that I follow than comics — Warren Ellis, Mark Millar, Jeff Loeb and J. Michael Straczynski — there are a ton of them. Kevin Smith gave me a hand-drawn panel from “Preacher,” which is my favorite comic, signed by Garth Ennis, my favorite comic-book writer. So that, to me, is very exciting.
Megan, didn’t you just sign up for two movies based on your favorite pastime?
Megan: Yep. “Jonah Hex” [shooting soon] is adapted from a post-Civil War, apocalyptic-type graphic novel. The main character is this real like bloody badass, and I play the love interest. It’s a new take on the Westerns. It’s not slow, and the suspense is totally different. I’m also doing Fathom. That’s a comic book property by my favorite artist, Michael Turner. It’s about this underwater race of people, and it’s plausible, really, because so much of the ocean is unexplored. We don’t really know what’s under there. It could be happening, which I like.
Who has the best superhero costume?
Seth: Rorschach in “Watchmen.” Simple: nice mask, hat. It’s a nice outfit, badass.
Megan: It’s not really her costume, and she would not be considered a superhero, but I’ve always liked Sindel from [the video game] “Mortal Kombat.” She used to fight with her hair. One of her special moves was that she’d grab you with her hair and throw you down.
OK, let’s see how geeky you really are. If you were planning a “Rock Band” video game marathon, who would you invite over as your dream geek bandmate?
Seth: Stephen Hawking on vocals, because I like electronica.
Megan: Oh ****, dude! [Laughs.]
