Luca Amato 
Chief Editor
Seth Rogen's Tinseltown satire packs in a host of Hollywood guest appearances
Seth Rogen’s The Studio is chock-full of more cameos than your average Marvel film. And for good reason: being a show about a fictional movie studio, in which co-creator Rogen also plays the lead role of studio head Matt Remick, it’s perfectly poised to feature plenty of familiar Hollywood faces.
Many of which appear in The Studio, almost invariably playing fictionalised versions of themselves. And a joyful time is had by all, even if the cameos entail a little bit of light self-ribbing. For one, audiences enjoy seeing a star willing to make fun of themselves. And for a show set in and round the minutia of the film industry, how else better to provide a booster shot of authenticity than filling the guest cast with auteurs, actors and other regulars on the studio lot?
The parts might sometimes be blink-and-you’ll-miss-them, but there’s a lot of great work going on here. Check out Martin Scorsese putting on an emotional show that could rival De Niro, and Charlize Theron doing the absolute most with a single line-read. After all, it’s all show business — even if the appearance lasts the sum total of 30 seconds. But which are the best cameos of the bunch so far? Here, we have our say.
8. Peter Berg
Episode one, “The Promotion”
Best known as the director of Friday Night Lights and action flicks like Hancockand Deepwater Horizon, Berg appears at the very start of episode one as director of a film starring Paul Dano, who is anxious about his ability to spit. “It’s excellent spitting,” he says to an unsure Dano by way of encouragement. The key to Berg’s performance is how brusque he is with Rogen’s Matt Remick by comparison. Rogen tries to make a suggestion for the movie, and Berg interrupts: ”Buddy, we’re good on ideas.” Ouch.
7. Steve Buscemi
Episode one, “The Promotion”
Buscemi was to be the lead in Martin Scorsese’s big not-really-a-Kool-Aid movie — but alas those plans fall apart when Remick kills the project, buying Scorsese’s script for $10 million so that he can’t sell it to Apple (a la Killers of the Flower Moon IRL). The Fargo actor appears briefly at the end of the episode, excitedly talking up the film with Remick at Theron’s starry cocktail party, completely unaware that Scorsese’s Kool-Aid is already dead. Look, it’s Steve Buscemi. When aren’t you glad to see him on screen?
6. Nicholas Stoller
Episode one, “The Promotion”
This one’s made extra-admirable by the fact that Stoller is essentially volunteering to be positioned as the anti-Scorsese – surely not something any man in his job wants. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Captain Underpantsdirector is looked to as the money-savvy choice to helm the new Kool-Aid movie, in contrast with Remick’s preference for “real filmmaker” Marty. After they think they’ve got Marty on board, Stoller is dismissed with an enthusiastic “fuck Nick Stoller!” – only for Remick to come crawling back, Kool-Aid branded cap in hand.
5. Paul Dano
Episode one, “The Promotion”
The Studio announces its cineaste credentials in its very first scene, where we see cult-favourite There Will Be Blood actor Paul Dano in the midst of shooting what looks to be a gnarly noir flick. He’s intense, incredibly focused, and a little too anal about his spitting method; it’s a delightful send-up of the craft’s most pretentious impulses. The episode even name drops Dano’s deep-cut directorial debut, Wildlife, in one of its first lines of dialogue, and how better to court the Letterboxd generation?
4. Charlize Theron
Episode one, “The Promotion”
One line, and she nails it: “Get the fuck out of here.” Delivered to Remick and co-conspirator Sal on behalf of a heartbroken Martin Scorsese, Theron evicts the execs from her everybody’s-here party with class coming out of her ears. Righteous anger, delivered with a righteous touch.
3. Greta Lee
Episode two, “The Oner”
Past Lives star Greta Lee pops up in episode two, starring in a film whose set Matt Remick visits so as to seem like an “in the trenches” studio exec. While he’s busy ruining everything, she spends her time being excessively nice to him, largely because she wants a private jet to whisk her around on her next press tour — a perk that the (fictionalised) Lee wasn’t afforded on the Past Livesawards run. She switches expertly between serious actor mode in-scene, being genuinely nice to Remick, and pretending to be nice to him in pursuit of those air miles. Great work, Greta.
2. Sarah Polley
Episode two, “The Oner”
Women Talking director Sarah Polley appears as herself at the helm of an artsy new awards movie under the Continental banner. The day’s shoot? A complex one-shot sequence that needs to be filmed at golden hour. With sunlight dwindling and an overeager Matt Remick causing a ruckus, Polley is in peak-anxiety mode — while balancing her temperament with the studio head so that he’ll give her $800k to fund the rights for a Rolling Stones track to score the scene. One has to wonder how much of her own experience made it into this one, such is the credibility in her performance as an auteur under the kosh.
1. Martin Scorsese
Episode one, “The Promotion”
The reason this one’s so great is that Martin Scorsese is a serious figure. A director’s director. And initially he plays himself that way – pitching a heavy-sounding epic on the Jonestown massacre that Remick commissions on the basis that he can turn it into the Kool-Aid movie his boss so desires. But when that doesn’t work out and Remick has to break the news to Marty that the movie won’t be happening, Scorsese turns toddler. In the background and out of focus after Remick drops the bomb, Marty cries and points to the nasty studio executive like a wronged toddler. It’s wonderful TV, and a wonderful cameo from one of Hollywood cinema’s biggest names.
Seth Rogen’s The Studio is chock-full of more cameos than your average Marvel film. And for good reason: being a show about a fictional movie studio, in which co-creator Rogen also plays the lead role of studio head Matt Remick, it’s perfectly poised to feature plenty of familiar Hollywood faces.
Many of which appear in The Studio, almost invariably playing fictionalised versions of themselves. And a joyful time is had by all, even if the cameos entail a little bit of light self-ribbing. For one, audiences enjoy seeing a star willing to make fun of themselves. And for a show set in and round the minutia of the film industry, how else better to provide a booster shot of authenticity than filling the guest cast with auteurs, actors and other regulars on the studio lot?
The parts might sometimes be blink-and-you’ll-miss-them, but there’s a lot of great work going on here. Check out Martin Scorsese putting on an emotional show that could rival De Niro, and Charlize Theron doing the absolute most with a single line-read. After all, it’s all show business — even if the appearance lasts the sum total of 30 seconds. But which are the best cameos of the bunch so far? Here, we have our say.
8. Peter Berg
Episode one, “The Promotion”
Best known as the director of Friday Night Lights and action flicks like Hancockand Deepwater Horizon, Berg appears at the very start of episode one as director of a film starring Paul Dano, who is anxious about his ability to spit. “It’s excellent spitting,” he says to an unsure Dano by way of encouragement. The key to Berg’s performance is how brusque he is with Rogen’s Matt Remick by comparison. Rogen tries to make a suggestion for the movie, and Berg interrupts: ”Buddy, we’re good on ideas.” Ouch.
7. Steve Buscemi
Episode one, “The Promotion”
Buscemi was to be the lead in Martin Scorsese’s big not-really-a-Kool-Aid movie — but alas those plans fall apart when Remick kills the project, buying Scorsese’s script for $10 million so that he can’t sell it to Apple (a la Killers of the Flower Moon IRL). The Fargo actor appears briefly at the end of the episode, excitedly talking up the film with Remick at Theron’s starry cocktail party, completely unaware that Scorsese’s Kool-Aid is already dead. Look, it’s Steve Buscemi. When aren’t you glad to see him on screen?
6. Nicholas Stoller
Episode one, “The Promotion”
This one’s made extra-admirable by the fact that Stoller is essentially volunteering to be positioned as the anti-Scorsese – surely not something any man in his job wants. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Captain Underpantsdirector is looked to as the money-savvy choice to helm the new Kool-Aid movie, in contrast with Remick’s preference for “real filmmaker” Marty. After they think they’ve got Marty on board, Stoller is dismissed with an enthusiastic “fuck Nick Stoller!” – only for Remick to come crawling back, Kool-Aid branded cap in hand.
5. Paul Dano
Episode one, “The Promotion”
The Studio announces its cineaste credentials in its very first scene, where we see cult-favourite There Will Be Blood actor Paul Dano in the midst of shooting what looks to be a gnarly noir flick. He’s intense, incredibly focused, and a little too anal about his spitting method; it’s a delightful send-up of the craft’s most pretentious impulses. The episode even name drops Dano’s deep-cut directorial debut, Wildlife, in one of its first lines of dialogue, and how better to court the Letterboxd generation?
4. Charlize Theron
Episode one, “The Promotion”
One line, and she nails it: “Get the fuck out of here.” Delivered to Remick and co-conspirator Sal on behalf of a heartbroken Martin Scorsese, Theron evicts the execs from her everybody’s-here party with class coming out of her ears. Righteous anger, delivered with a righteous touch.
3. Greta Lee
Episode two, “The Oner”
Past Lives star Greta Lee pops up in episode two, starring in a film whose set Matt Remick visits so as to seem like an “in the trenches” studio exec. While he’s busy ruining everything, she spends her time being excessively nice to him, largely because she wants a private jet to whisk her around on her next press tour — a perk that the (fictionalised) Lee wasn’t afforded on the Past Livesawards run. She switches expertly between serious actor mode in-scene, being genuinely nice to Remick, and pretending to be nice to him in pursuit of those air miles. Great work, Greta.
2. Sarah Polley
Episode two, “The Oner”
Women Talking director Sarah Polley appears as herself at the helm of an artsy new awards movie under the Continental banner. The day’s shoot? A complex one-shot sequence that needs to be filmed at golden hour. With sunlight dwindling and an overeager Matt Remick causing a ruckus, Polley is in peak-anxiety mode — while balancing her temperament with the studio head so that he’ll give her $800k to fund the rights for a Rolling Stones track to score the scene. One has to wonder how much of her own experience made it into this one, such is the credibility in her performance as an auteur under the kosh.
1. Martin Scorsese
Episode one, “The Promotion”
The reason this one’s so great is that Martin Scorsese is a serious figure. A director’s director. And initially he plays himself that way – pitching a heavy-sounding epic on the Jonestown massacre that Remick commissions on the basis that he can turn it into the Kool-Aid movie his boss so desires. But when that doesn’t work out and Remick has to break the news to Marty that the movie won’t be happening, Scorsese turns toddler. In the background and out of focus after Remick drops the bomb, Marty cries and points to the nasty studio executive like a wronged toddler. It’s wonderful TV, and a wonderful cameo from one of Hollywood cinema’s biggest names.
