Ike Barinholtz Did Not Care for Seth Rogen’s Driving in Apple TV+’s The Studio

The Studio takes “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” to a whole new level. Created by legendary comedic collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (alongside Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, Frida Perez), the Apple TV+ comedy series gets so deep into its satire of Hollywood that it simply becomes a major Hollywood production itself. Rogen […] The post Ike Barinholtz Did Not Care for Seth Rogen’s Driving in Apple TV+’s The Studio appeared first on Den of Geek.

Mar 26, 2025 - 08:33

Ike Barinholtz Did Not Care for Seth Rogen’s Driving in Apple TV+’s The Studio

The Studio takes “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” to a whole new level. Created by legendary comedic collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (alongside Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, Frida Perez), the Apple TV+ comedy series gets so deep into its satire of Hollywood that it simply becomes a major Hollywood production itself.

Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the newly-appointed head of the fictional Continental Studios who must keep the company afloat with formulaic action tentpoles (including the studio’s long-running MKUltra franchise and a proposed Barbie-esque Kool-Aid Man film) while still making room for more artful endeavors. As the show follows Remick and his team’s creative trials and tribulations over 10 episodes, it employs the very same stylistic tactics he craves to see onscreen. Long, continuous takes are deployed generously, including for the span of an entire episode fittingly called “The Oner.” Budget-bursting rights to Rolling Stones songs are secured. Major Hollywood stars are enlisted for “blink-and-you-miss-it” cameos.

The surest sign that The Studio becomes what it sets out to poke fun at, however, is its commitment to practicality. Like any good story set in Southern California, much of the season’s action takes place in liminal automobile spaces as Matt Remick and his partner Sal Saperstein (Ike Barinholtz) commute between sets. This isn’t a “fake background in front of a stationary vehicle while an actor swings around the steering wheel” situation – Rogen and Barinholtz are very clearly cruising around Los Angeles…much to Barinholtz’ discomfort.

“It was really, really scary,” Barinholtz tells Den of Geek. “When you see me in those scenes I’m very uncomfortable. Seth drives really fast and these cars were all made like 25 years before I was born.”

“They have no safety features. Your fear was palpable all the time,” Rogen adds.

“I was like ‘Is there a seatbelt?’ And our transport guy was like ‘eh no, just hold on to the clutch.’ Every time we’re driving, I’m gripping white knuckles, hoping that this is not how I go, because I’m not ready.”

In true Studio-style, Rogen and Barinholtz continue to get into the weeds of the show’s practical car approach.

“My dad was a driving instructor and for a portion of my childhood, I had one of those cars with two steering wheels and two gas pedals,” Rogen says. “I am a very capable driver. Especially in ‘The Oner’ where we’re driving up the driveway. The resets were very frantic, because if something went wrong, I had to back the car up.”

“Going 40 [mph] backward through the fucking hills!” Barinholtz says.

Rogen and Barinholtz ultimately survived The Studio but Matt Remick’s career as Continental Studios head might not. The series has a good handle on the state of play in Hollywood at the moment, with the balance between art and commerce as precarious as ever. The ever-shifting landscape of the entertainment industry in the streaming era looms large as theme, with Rogen’s Remick taking over for Patty Leigh, Continental’s previous lead who couldn’t quite hack it.

Leigh is played by Catherine O’Hara, yet another legendary comedic performer in the show’s stable, whose lengthy career has endured through many stable and chaotic Hollywood eras. The Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek star has a unique perspective on how the movie business has and hasn’t changed.

“I think of Entertainment Tonight – when that came on the air, that was the first time I ever heard of a box office or that your average person was supposed to care about it,” O’Hara says. “There’s so much more of that now, and everyone is one-hundred percent educated on it. I don’t think we have to teach anybody anything with this show, everybody knows how basically it works.

“The internet has definitely changed things. I’m imagining that, many years ago, [studio execs] would go more on gut feeling. There would be a little more bullshit confidence about what’s going to work, what’s going to play, and why these people are the best cast. Now they put it all out there and the world has a really strong influence. That must make people in these positions feel crazy.”

Amid all the commentary, imitation, and satire, The Studio is a love letter to movies above all else. In addition to the show’s main cast, the series includes nearly a dozen famous directors (including Martin Scorsese, Sarah Polley, and Ron Howard) playing themselves as they try to get their Continental projects off the ground. For Rogen and company, the studio setting allowed them to get creative with some of their favorite filmmakers.

“It was a scary part of the show, honestly, because we didn’t know how well some of these people would be able to perform and if it would work,” Rogen says. “Sarah Polley was the first person that we approached with a role in the show right when we came up with the idea. Part of the appeal, for sure, was getting to work with people that I knew or was a fan of. I know I’m never going to be put in Martin Scorsese’s movies so if I want to work with him, I have to cast him on my television show.”

The first two episodes of The Studio are available to stream on Apple TV+ now. New episodes premiere Wednesdays, culminating with the finale on May 21.

The post Ike Barinholtz Did Not Care for Seth Rogen’s Driving in Apple TV+’s The Studio appeared first on Den of Geek.