It was a tough call as to who would be higher on the list out of Hill and Rogen, but the latter just gets the nod because of his influence on the comedy scene throughout the last seven or eight years. Like many Hollywood funnymen, the 32-year-old is not to everyone's taste, but he is an extremely effective, talented performer with one of the most distinctive voices around. Rogen first came to the public eye in the television show Freaks And Geeks at the turn of the century, and he was still just a (badly aged) teenager at this point. He had small parts in Donnie Darko and Anchorman, but it was The 40-Year-Old Virgin, like numerous actors in this article, where his profile increased greatly. He was hilarious as Cal, and his improvising with Paul Rudd's character David, in particular the "do you know how I know you're gay?" scene, is superb. It was 2007's Knocked Up that made the then 25-year-old a real star, however. He played the main part of Ben, a layabout who gets a high-flying presenter pregnant after a drunken one-night stand, with humour and underrated heart, and the film's success was huge. He co-wrote and had a supporting role in Superbad, one of the best movies of the 2000s, and was terrific in the likes of Pineapple Express, Zack And Miri Make A Porno and Funny People. Rogen has shown no sign of slowing up in recent years, starring in the vastly underrated This Is the End, brilliant Bad Neighbours and the controversial upcoming comedy The Interview. Some of his detractors see him as an overweight, unfunny actor who plays the same slob-like role in every film, but that is unfair. He is a huge talent, both in front of and behind the camera. It's frankly ridiculous that he is still only 32, however, given the fact he looks a decade older.
