Vancouver native Seth Rogen got his start in commercials, and by his early teens was working the Canadian stand-up comedy circuit, coming in second in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest at age 16. He went on to land hometown gigs as well as appearances in Los Angeles comedy clubs. In 1999, Rogen landed his first acting role, playing Ken Miller on "Freaks and Geeks" (NBC). The stocky brown-haired actor was a perfect fit as an average high school student, right down to his self-conscious delivery of countless acerbic insults. An overwhelmingly sarcastic 'freak' with a little-shown soft side, Ken was a somewhat guarded character. Both his bored, barbed side and his charming, lovestruck side were handled well by the young actor, who developed Ken into a multifaceted, likable character by the series' end. Suffering an early demise due to lackluster ratings, the critically acclaimed "Freaks and Geeks" only ran for 15 episodes from 1999-2000. By the time it left the air, Rogen was working on his feature debut, taking a supporting role in the Drew Barrymore-produced teen drama "Donnie Darko" (2001) starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Reteaming with "Freaks and Geeks" co-creator Judd Apatow, Rogen signed on for more TV work, cast in the executive producer's short-lived college series "Undeclared" (Fox, 2001), where Apatow also hired the actor to write an episode of the series (he would also pen lines and premises for segments of Brit comic Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da Ali G Show" (HBO, 2003-2004). Apatow continued to mentor Rogen, landing him a role as an eager cameraman in the Apatow-produced comedy "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy" (2004), and casting him to terrific effect as Cal, one of Steve Carell's supportive if sometimes misguided co-workers who try to help him gain some sexual experience in the hit comedy "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" (2005), which Apatow wrote and directed.
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