On Screen

August 1 - 7, 2020—3 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN August 1 - 7, 2020 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) greene cnty farmers b) swango's 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens 2 x 1.5" ad midway const. By Jay Bobbin For Seth Rogen, one role in his lat- est project wasn't enough. The comedy star plays both hu- mor and pathos as an immigrant preserved for 100 years in a barrel of pickle brine — really — plus his great-grandson in "An American Pickle," which becomes HBO Max's first original movie when it starts streaming Thursday, Aug. 6. The el - der (like, way elder) man awakens in the present day to find everyone he knew is gone, so he seeks out his one remaining relative, who literally lives in a completely different world. Adapted by Simon Rich from his series "Sell Out" published in The New Yorker, "An American Pickle" makes Rogen (also a producer of the film) his own co-star in many of its scenes, and he allows that challenge was considerable. "We were trying to make a movie that was highly technical but seemed effortless," the friendly talent says, "and that if you didn't know the same actor was playing the two roles, there would be nothing (unusual) about it. We went to extreme lengths to make sure the movie seemed seamless in that way." Rogen insisted on having a real beard as the 100-years-old-plus Herschel, though descendant Ben is clean-shaven. "I just don't think they look good," he says of fake beards. "You can always kind of tell, in how the actors are restricted in their facial movements. That decision made it even more complicated, since we essentially had to shoot the movie twice ... once with me as one charac - ter, then as the other." Directed by Brandon Trost, the chief cinematographer on several of Rogen's earlier films, "An American Pickle" originally was planned as a theatrical release. Rogen — whose controversial 2014 comedy "The Interview" largely bypassed a run in theaters to go straight to On Demand — says he's more than satis - fied Sony Pictures struck a deal with HBO Max (and Warner Max, its movie imprint) for the picture. "To his credit, Tom (Sony Pictures chairman Rothman) was very sup - portive of us finding a home that could better serve the film," reflects Rogen. "He was one of the creators of Fox Searchlight, so he knew more than anyone that Sony's infrastruc - ture was not the type that this movie needed. It needed a more boutique approach." Rogen's acting career began with the much-lauded series "Freaks and Geeks," and he's often kept televi - sion or a form of it in his plans, as he's also been proving lately as an executive producer of Amazon's "The Boys" and Hulu's "Future Man." However, he admits, "I have a much better understanding of a film struc - ture than the seasons of a television show. It's hard for me to wrap my head around that." Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop Seth Rogen is in 'An American Pickle' Cover Story Cover Story By George Dickie As one who helps people get through a life transition through home renovation, Orlando Soria of "Build Me Up" views his role as part designer and part therapist. Indeed, in the series that airs Wednesdays on HGTV, the Los Angeles-based designer, artist and writer helps people work through a significant event — be it the death of a spouse, a child going off to college, or a divorce — by making big changes to their home's interior. This not only requires his impec - cable design skills, but also an atten- tive ear and the occasional shoulder to cry on. "Design and therapy are lightly linked," Soria explains, "in that in order to be a good designer, you have to be a really good listener, because you have to be trying to Checking in with Orlando Soria decipher what people want and try- ing to figure out how to enact it in their space. So the interactions with the clients are kind of a combina - tion of those two things ,and I kind of pride myself on being a good listener so I can be there as sort of a design facilitator for them, but I'm also there to just allow them to tell the story that they want to tell." The idea for the show came out of a breakup Soria went through a few years ago, which resulted in his 2019 HGTV series "Unspouse My House," in which he helped people rid their homes of memories of past mates. He found the process of remodeling to be therapeutic, so he wanted to open that up to others going through change. "For me, my design philosophy is really that I want the home that I design for my clients to look like my clients designed it themselves, but they just did a really excellent job and had really sophisticated, great taste.," he says. "So that always starts with a lot of listening." Name: Orlando Soria Birth date: July 5, 1982 Birthplace: California Residence: West Hollywood, Calif. Family ties: Single Alma mater: Has degrees from Cornell University's Col - lege of Architecture, Art and Planning and the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design Business interests: E-Design Other TV credits include: "Se - crets From a Stylist," "Un- spouse My House" Book credit: "Get It Togeth- er!: An Interior Designer's Guide to Creating Your Best Life" 921 W. 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