Judd Apatow name-dropped all his famous friends in his new book, Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures.
“I’ve worked on this book for a few years. It’s emotional getting to the end of this process,” Apatow, 57, wrote in the book, published on Tuesday, October 28. “I have always been a hoarder, and I have hope that completing this project will allow me to finally throw out a hundred boxes of stuff that I always thought essential in case I might do something like this one day.”
Apatow noted that he’s “blessed” to have experience working with “so many amazing people,” when reflecting on his career.
“I hope that continues going forward, at least in a slightly less neurotic way. Life is so wonderful, but also so mysterious, dark, and strange,” he added. “We all need a language to try to understand and get through it. This is mine.”
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Along with anecdotes about his movies — some hits and others not-so-successful — Apatow shared a lot of photos from his time in Hollywood. He was also super honest about working with some of the film industry’s biggest names.
Keep scrolling to read the biggest celebrity name-drops from Comedy Nerd:
Living With Adam Sandler
During the early days of their respective comedy careers, Apatow and Sandler lived in an apartment for $900 a month in Beverly Hills.
“Rob Schneider lived across the street and David Spade lived down the road,” Apatow recalled. “Nobody was ever funnier than Adam before he got famous, when he had an enormous amount of comic energy and no outlet other than trying to make his friends laugh.”
Apatow knew, even when Sandler was “struggling and doing auditions to play the cab driver in a movie and not getting it,” that he would be a star.
“Adam didn’t only believe in himself, he was a real cheerleader and supporter of all his friends,” Apatow wrote. “His enthusiasm for what I was trying to do helped me believe in myself when there wasn’t a lot of evidence I would ever succeed.”
Helping Out Jim Carrey
Initially, Apatow was one of Carrey’s stand-up comedy openers. Then, he became Carrey’s go-to joke writer.
“For a while, he would pay me out of his own pocket to write sketches with him for In Living Color,” Apatow recalled, noting that he wouldn’t get hired on the show. The writer-director praised Carrey for “his genius, daring, and kindness” over the past three decades.
Meeting Leslie Mann Became Love at 1st Sight
The first time Apatow saw his now-wife, he referred to her as “the future Mrs. Apatow.” Their first date was at a Los Angeles Lakers game.
“She only realized on the drive there that I thought it was a date,” he wrote. The two got married in 1997, and share daughters Maude and Iris.
Nothing But Net! Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow’s Relationship Timeline
Putting His Daughters in Front of the Camera
The director wrote that the only reason he used Maude and Iris was because he “didn’t want to meet other people’s children.” He also revealed that in 2007’s Knocked Up, “the monologue about how babies are born was completely improvised” by Maude.
The Robert De Niro Smile
Apatow did a panel with Universal for their 100th anniversary in 2012.
“Afterwards we took photos and I kept hearing Mr. De Niro make a strange noise. I listened carefully and thought I heard him say cheese to make himself smile,” Apatow wondered. “Does the greatest actor in the world really need to say cheese to work up a smile?”
His wife, Mann, later confirmed it when working with De Niro.
Paul Rudd Had a Cameo in ‘Bridesmaids’ That Was Cut
Rudd played “a seemingly perfect man” on a date with Kristen Wiig’s Annie in the film.
“They go ice-skating,” Apatow wrote. “While on the ice Paul slips and falls only to have the tip of his finger run over by a twelve-year-old boy, Paul jumps to his feet and starts chasing the boy, screaming and cursing like a lunatic when clearly his finger isn’t that injured at all.”
It wasn’t “strong” enough, Apatow explained, so it didn’t make it into the movie.
An Awkward Moment With Steve Martin
Apatow was 12 years old when he first crossed paths with Martin — in front of the actor’s house. The young Apatow asked for an autograph from Martin, who declined. Upset with the encounter, Apatow wrote a letter to Martin.
“Dear Mr. Martin, I think you are the funniest man on earth, but you treat your fans like crap. If I didn’t buy all your albums and go to all your movies you wouldn’t live in that house,” the young Apatow wrote. “If you don’t send me an apology I am going to send your address to ‘Homes of the Stars’ and you will have tour buses passing by 24 hours a day. I left it in his mailbox-for effect.”
Six months later, Martin wrote back with an autographed copy of his Cruel Shoes book.
Subtly Discussing Diddy
Apatow revealed that he does “love” 2010 movie Get Him to the Greek — but offered a subtle dig at Diddy, who is in the cast.
“At the time of filming we thought everyone in the cast was a delight,” he wrote. “Sometimes you don’t know what is going on behind closed doors and when it is revealed, it puts an uncomfortable stain on the work. It makes people debate whether or not we should, or can, separate the art from the artist.”
Diddy was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and sentenced to 50 months in prison earlier this year.
