Seth Rogen's Vancouver high school misadventures hit the big screen

Superbad movie based on experiences at Point Grey Secondary

Last Updated: Friday, August 17, 2007 | 4:36 PM PT

CBC News

Sammy Fogell's most embarrassing high school moments will be brought to life for the world to see when the teen movie Superbad opens in theatres Friday.

Sammy Fogell attended a special premiere of Superbad, featuring his movie alter-ego. It hits the screen on Friday.
(Chris Brown/CBC)

The Vancouver real estate analyst doesn't appear in the movie, but screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Fogell's real-life high school friends at Vancouver's Point Grey Secondary School, used their experiences as an inspiration for the movie.

"I thought it was funny," Fogell, 25, told CBC News on Thursday. "I gave them a bit of hell for it, just because I wasn't here to defend myself. Made me the butt of every joke?"

Rogen, who has starred in movies such as Knocked Up, and Goldberg started writing the script when they were in Grade 10, loosely based on their own experiences of trying to buy booze and pick up girls.

The pair decided to keep all their old friends as characters, including Steven Glanzberg, who gets a mention as the school loner.

Steven Glanzberg, a former Point Grey student, is featured in a one-line joke in Superbad.
(CBC)

"In Hollywood, after the premiere, everyone that meets me is like, 'Did you really eat alone in high school?'" Glanzberg told CBC News on Thursday.

"And we're like, 'You Americans just don't get it. These are our friends.  We're just having good times,'" Glanzberg said.

Fogell said his on-screen self is far nerdier, but he does remember a story about buying booze with a fake ID.

In a promotional video, Rogen and Goldberg say there's a difference in Fogell and the character that's based on him. There's a strange confidence in him, they said,  but people had the sense they wanted to pick on him.

Superbad is a coming-of-age story based on experiences at Vancouver's Point Grey high school, featuring Christopher Mintz-Plasse (as Fogell), Jonah Hill (Seth) and Michael Cera (Evan).
(Sony Pictures)

"I hope it doesn't resemble me too much!" Fogel said. "The same with Seth and Evan's characters, [since] they made a lot of fun of themselves … so I think it works."

Rogen submitted his first screenplay, written with Goldberg, to Judd Apatow, who directed the feature films Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The producer was impressed and turned the screenplay into Superbad.

Superbad is a coming-of-age cautionary tale about two socially inept teenage boys about to graduate high school.