Knocked Up took the box office on both side of the Atlantic by storm this summer following on from the success of The 40 Year Old Virgin.The has made household names of Jonah Hill and Jason Segel as the geek clique movies rule the big screen.

Tell us about the work process with Judd?

Jonah Hill: I would write a lot of ideas. Judd is our favourite person to work with ‘cause he trusts the people he works with to be funny.Jason SegelS: It’s nice to be challenged like that because you know you have to show up sharp every day because not only do you have Judd to contend with, but you are acting against four improvisation geniuses. So if you want to get a joke in the movie you’d better show up sharp. JH: If you don’t come prepared and stay sharp you will have less time in the film.

So there is a sense of competition?

JH: Not really. I was happy to suggest jokes to other people. We wanted to elevate the work so everyone was hilarious.

How did Katherine fit in?

JH: I was so impressed with her. She came into the environment with five or six people who do comedy for a living and she could hold her own, and even be more hilarious than us. She fitted in so easily and gave it back to us.

JS: I thought she would be intimidated, but she wasn’t. She had the eye of the tiger and even when you thought you could throw her, she stood her ground and hammered it back.

There was one scene after she became pregnant and I was trying to hit on her in front of Seth and she gave me this gross look. I’m pretty familiar with that look from women, but the way she did it was hilarious.

What was the best and worst thing about making the movie?

JH: The worst was when we were shooting in Northridge in California and it was 120 degrees (F) and we were sweating profusely.

JS: I passed out. I was on the ground wearing an oxygen mask.

JH: The best part is to work with your friends and people who are hilarious.

JS: For me it was like being in a great sports team where you know it’s really clicking. It was like a beautiful improvised volley ball game.

The 40 Year Old Virgin was a big hit. Do you think there was pressure to make this just as successful?

JH: Judd has had all this success and he can make all these movies but I still feel like they are under the radar.

None of us are like big movie stars. But people really respond to them. I was in Evan Almighty and that was a crazy massive production but Judd’s movies feel like they have this underdog mentality compared to them.

JS: One of the great things about Judd is, it’s not a strict comedy. They are like a slice of life. Comedy from pain is one of the things Judd is good at.

JH: I feel Knocked Up is as much a drama as it is a comedy. It’s about a guy who is completely unprepared to have a child and he gets a girl pregnant.

That’s not really a funny premise but because of the way Judd works there is humour from real situations.

How close are you to the characters in the movie?

JH: As immature as we may seem, to do what we do for a living, to write and act in movies, you have to be responsible. You can’t mess around and drink all night. We have to be on a movie set early in the morning. You don’t get to do what we do and be irresponsible and crazy.

JS: I had a profound moment with Judd when I was 22, it was after Freaks and Geeks and Judd invited me to his house, which was a palatial mansion, and he said to me Funny bought all of this.

He told me the only way I would make it, is if I started writing and he sat me down at a table and showed me how to write an outline and a script. So it’s wonderful to have him as a mentor.

JH: He is definitely a mentor type figure and showing us how to make films. There were very few people in my life who believed in me so when someone lets you do this; it gives you more drive to do it properly.

JS: Judd’s strength is picking talent, he met Seth in Vancouver when he was 17 years old, and now Seth is on billboards everywhere.

Knocked Up is released on DVD on 26th December.

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