Judd Apatow: Man behind the mirth

In the year 2009, Judd Apatow is the King of Funny.

He has been the man behind $100 million movies for Seth Rogen, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell and Michael Cera. Next up is Adam Sandler, who stars in "Funny People" along with Rogen, which opens at midnight tonight.

The film also stars Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann, and their two daughters, Iris and Maude.

"Thank God they have those Coogan laws protecting the kids' salaries," Apatow says over the phone from Los Angeles. "'Cause if not, I would steal them."

Not that he needs the money. But prior to 2005 that might not have been the case.

Before that, Apatow, now 41, was the one-time stand-up comic turned TV producer who'd given the world the critically acclaimed but ratings-challenged "Freaks & Geeks" and "Undeclared."

Things changed in 2005 when he took a little-known comic named Steve Carell and put him in a film called "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." It was the first film Apatow had written, produced and directed, and it made $109 million.

Two years later, he did the writer-producer-director thing again with an unknown comic actor. This time it was Seth Rogen in "Knocked Up." The movie made $148 million.

And even though Apatow's name has been attached to many other films over the past four years -- as producer ("Superbad," "Pineapple Express," "Step Brothers") or writer ("Fun with Dick and Jane," "You Don't Mess with the Zohan") -- "Funny People" marks his return as a triple-threat writer-director-producer.

"It's more personal," Apatow says. "There are stories that are so specific to me that I feel I have to direct them myself. Usually I'm working out some personal problem when I'm directing.

"It's a fabricated version of some of my history."

And that history has long involved his former roommate, Sandler.

"(For) both Adam and I, (the character) George Simmons is what we could have turned into if we didn't get married and have nice wives straighten us up," Apatow says.

In "Funny People," Sandler plays Simmons, a former stand-up famous for his dumb movies, who learns he has a disease that's likely terminal. Which sounds like a downer.

But it's not, as Sandler hires an aspiring comic (Rogen) to be his initially star-struck assistant. Together they stare down George's mortality. While laughing a lot.

Eventually Simmons recovers and tries to rekindle his love for an old flame (Mann) who's married with children.

As with both "Virgin" and "Knocked Up," "Funny People" runs longer than most comedies, and Apatow makes no apologies.

"If you really care about the characters and their journey, then it's kind of rewarding to make that investment in the story," he says. "When we were in editing I always said, 'Where is everybody in such a rush to go? To go eat after the movie? Do they need to go home and watch 'The O'Reilly Factor'? They can handle sitting down for an extra 10 minutes. That 10 minutes is free.

"You need that extra (time) to get to know people more deeply," Apatow says. "I'm glad there are 100 hours of 'The Sopranos.' I don't wish there were 82."

"Funny People" is a cameo-studded affair, with everyone from Ray Romano to James Taylor to Sarah Silverman and Paul Reiser popping up in George's celebrity world.

Among the most surprising cameos is Eminem's.

"There's nothing more fun than improvising with Marshall Mathers," says Apatow of the Detroit rapper. "He is one of the funniest people ever -- that's why he's so successful is because of his humor."

Still, Apatow admits he was a little worried about rubbing the rapper the wrong way.

"I did worry about coming up with something that would offend him, and then I realized, I think he's the most un-offendable person on the planet," he says.

In essence, though, the film is a family affair, with Apatow using old friends like Sandler and Rogen, film regulars like Jonah Hill, and his own wife and kids.

"These movies work better when people have real relationships you can tap into. Adam and Leslie have known each other for 14 years," he says.

"And the same with the kids. My kids have known Adam since they were born. They've known Seth since they were born," Apatow says. "And so when they're around them they're very comfortable and I can get performances I don't think I could get otherwise."

Thus saith the King. And who are we to argue?

tlong@detnews.com">tlong@detnews.com (313) 222-8879 Read Tom Long's blog at detnews.com/tomlongblog.