Seth Rogen authentic until the very end This star-studded comedy follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. Starring James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera Apocalypse: Seth Rogen with James Franco and Jay Baruchel, gets to cut loose. SETH Rogen has killed pop superstar Rihanna. He's laid waste to the cream of America's young comedy crop, from Michael Cera and Mindy Kaling to Aziz Ansari and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. He may also have done grievous bodily harm to sweet little Hermione from Harry Potter. Will fans hate him for it? Are you kidding me? Rogen bellows, breaking into that unique laugh. No way! They'll love this movie! The aforementioned bloodletting takes place in This Is the End, Rogen's first film as director along with his regular writing partner Evan Goldberg. As you'd expect from the pair behind Superbad, Pineapple Express and The Green Hornet, the new movie is pretty outrageous. Perhaps so his first time in the co-director's chair wasn't too hard, Rogen plays himself - albeit a heightened version, messing with the public's perception of who he is. His usual comedy crew - James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Danny McBride - do likewise. The set-up goes that, during a party at Franco's house, the apocalypse begins. As every Hollywood party needs random famous attendees, the likes of Rihanna and Co. all agreed to drop by, as themselves, to face a grisly death. Rogen and Goldberg - who will tour Melbourne and Sydney next week to promote the film - understood going into This Is the End that their big hook was a dangerous one. We knew if there was one major miss we could have on this movie, it was that it's not relatable, it seems self-indulgent, it seems like us just making jokes to entertain ourselves. So it was very gratifying and relieving when we finally showed it to audiences and that idea was by far the thing that they liked the most about it, that we were playing ourselves. Besides, Rogen adds, "They always say we essentially play ourselves in these movies anyway, so we might as well just play ourselves because everyone complains about that in the first place." With much of the action taking place in the "house" of Spider-Man and 127 Hours actor Franco, he especially gets to go for broke in the comedy. He gets it. I mean, we all get it. We all know what people say about us," says Rogen. Franco's more aware of what's said about him than you might think. It's funny because it's not like we're setting the record straight on ourselves, either - if anything we're damaging our images even more. But that's what's been so fun for everyone - it's almost like acknowledging we know how we're perceived and it doesn't bother us. When it came to playing up his own public persona, Rogen's choice was easy: "I'm like a stoner idiot in the movie - I think people expect that." SEE This Is the End - opens July 18. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg introduce the film at a screening for Village Movie Club members, Jam Factory, Melbourne, Monday 7.30pm, villagecinemas .com.au