Seth Rogen Isn’t Expecting To Upset Trump With ‘Long Shot’ President Character

In “Long Shot,” the film delicately takes aim at President Donald Trump by featuring a U.S. President who happens to be a former TV star looking to advance his acting career. Despite the commonality between the film’s character, played by Bob Odenkirk, and the current POTUS, producer and star Seth Rogen said he isn’t anticipating any blowback from Trump when it comes to the film’s character.

“I don’t think so. I think, you know, the character is based clearly on reality in some ways but I don’t think it’s a reality that is controversial,” Rogen told International Business Times ahead of CinemaCon’s Big Screen Achievement Awards in Las Vegas on April 4. “No one could argue that the type of person who could become president isn’t always the type of person that we always assumed could become president.”

“Celebrity really parlays into political power, and yeah, I don’t think that’s like a controversial statement,” he continued. “I think that’s something everyone can agree on and that’s why those types of ideas were appealing to us because they just acknowledge reality without trying to have too strong of an opinion on it, really.”

Besides its presidential role, the filmmakers also did a great deal of research making the film’s other characters appear authentic. In the movie, Rogen portrays impassioned journalist Fred Flarsky to Charlize Theron’s Secretary of State turned presidential hopeful Charlotte Field. The stars said they spoke to individuals who held both titles before filming.

“We wanted it to at least pass a level of reality that was not egregious,” Rogen said. “I don’t think our prime role was to make a documentary-style film but we wanted it to hold up to intellectual scrutiny.”

While Theron called the film “a lot of fun,” due in part to the cast and crew, she did admit it was a difficult filming experience. “It was a really collaborative experience. I think we were on the same page from the beginning. We wanted to make the same movie and I think that’s sometimes really important to achieve what you want to achieve and so we worked really hard.

I think Johnathan Levine, our director, wanted the film to feel big. It was a challenging film to make and I was definitely exhausted most of the time. But when we were on set, we had a good time. These are fun people to hang out with.”

“Long Shot” releases in theaters on May 3.