The History Of Seth & James' Epic Bromance

Even though The Interview and the resulting Sony hacks are the first things that come to mind when you think Seth Rogen and James Franco these days, these two have been making movies together for a long time. They're so close that it actually wouldn't surprise me if they'd exchanged matching necklaces in secret — that is how long they've been friends. Before they joined forces in pissing off North Korea, there was Pineapple Express, This is The End, Knocked Up... in fact, their bromance has been so prominent in pop culture for so long that it's hard to remember where it actually began. So how did Rogen and Franco meet? It all began when they were both cast in the short-lived but brilliant 1999 series, Freaks and Geeks.

If you haven't seen the show — and if this applies to you, head straight to Netflix right now and get watching, because it's amazing — Rogen and Franco star as Ken Miller and Daniel Desario, two of the "cool kids" who spent more time smoking behind the bleachers than actually in class in the high school-themed show. At the time, Rogen and Franco were 17 and 21, respectively, and although they were strangers when they first showed up on set, it didn't take long before they bonded for life.

In an interview with The New York Times, Franco admitted that he's written poems about the power of their friendship — seriously, this is not a joke — and that back then, their friendship was mostly hanging out in co-star Jason Segel's basement, smoking weed, watching movies, and talking about the projects they wanted to make in the future:

We’d read the scripts a few times, and then there wasn’t that much to read. So we’d just watch Kubrick movies. Seth was writing stuff that we all talked about doing. Today, we would have shot it on our iPhones, at least. But we didn’t have the technology or the wherewithal to get a camera and do our little things.

Thankfully, their friendship has only gotten stronger since then, and Franco totally credits Rogen with helping him get through the media circus surrounding The Interview when theaters were pulling the movie after North Korea's threats. "At one point he texted me and said ‘I’m glad it’s you I’m going through this with,'' Franco said of Rogen. If that isn't the cutest thing you've heard all day!

And if you haven't seen Freaks and Geeks yet, go watch it. Right now. I'm not kidding!

Images: Getty Images