This Is 40 , starring Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, and Megan Fox, was basically the sister sequel to Knocked Up .
With new and familiar faces, it took a comforting comedic approach to the mid-life crisis that is turning the big 4-0.
As it’s been almost a decade since the film came out, new behind-the-scenes secrets have been revealed. This includes how there was almost an update to Knocked Up in the film!
1. It was written and directed by Judd Apatow.
He’s the funnyman who’s brought you several classics across the years — and even decades, starting with Freaks and Geeks .
His films include Knocked Up , Funny People , and The 40-Year Old Virgin .
2. The movie was a family affair.
That’s because Apatow cast his wife and daughters in both Knocked Up and This Is 40
His wife, Leslie Mann, played Debbie and their daughters, Maude and Iris, played Pete and Debbie’s daughters.
While working as a family was hard at times, Mann also called it “the greatest experience ever.”
“I think it’s so fun to be able to do a project together as a family and to be able to sit down together at the dinner table and have creative conversations about what we’re going to do at work the next day. Like, who gets to do that?” she said .
3. Apatow’s daughter Maude actually watched all the seasons of *Lost*.
She would even hyperventilate during the show’s dramatic scenes!
Lost was a running joke in the film, which was made even funnier when Apatow cast Ryan Lee from the show.
4. Rudd refused to have the hemorrhoid scene on the movie’s poster.
While he did some crazy things during filming, like get naked, he drew the line at hemorrhoids.
“Yeah, I didn’t want it on the poster,” he told Jewish Journal .
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He was already unhappy with him sitting on the toilet on the movie’s poster.
The reason? “Because you’re not seeing it in the grand scheme or the context of the movie. It’s not my proudest moment.”
5. Apatow wanted Lena Dunham to have a bigger role in the film.
That’s because she helped with the script and the pair worked together on Girls (Apatow’s was an executive producer ).
In the end, though, her appearance was brief.
6. Mann spent her real-life 40th birthday at a strip club in Hawaii.
That’s one way to ring in the big 4-0!
“It was like a Wednesday night or something and … we had a lot to drink,” the actress told City News . “And the next day we were covered in bruises from the pole, because you have to be in really good shape to go on those poles.”
7. There was almost an update to *Knocked Up* in the film.
Since This Is 40 is basically the sequel to Knocked Up , Apatow wanted to give viewers an update on Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl’s characters.
If he did, it would have shown a Rogen as a single dad.
8. Albert Brooks improvised a lot of his lines.
Like when he said , “Every time I don’t see a hunchback, you make money” when he was excited about John making a lot of money as an orthopedic surgeon.
9. Melissa McCarthy made one scene so difficult to film.
That’s because the cast was laughing so much!
“The scene with Melissa McCarthy was the hardest scene to shoot without laughter. That was impossible,” Mann revealed in an interview with Screenrant .
It was her first time not being able to hold it together in a film.
“Finally we just gave up and Judd said that he was using more than one camera so we could laugh because we couldn’t keep a straight face. And the crew was all laughing. It was ridiculous. She is the funniest person ever.”
10. Rudd improvised a fart in one scene.
Talk about skill. This happened when Pete and Debbie were lying in bed.
“We were doing that scene and I wasn’t going to fart, but I felt like I probably could at the moment,” he told Jewish Journal .
11. Apatow and Mann’s kids were allowed to curse in the movie, but not at home.
This led to some blurry lines between what’s allowed and what’s not.
“So that’s fun for her but then she gets home from work and she tries to use the F word or whatever and we have to shut her down,” Apatow said.
12. The script was inspired by Apatow’s marriage to Mann.
The film may center around Pete and Debbie, but it was really a way for the real-life couple to work through any issues.
“So Leslie can complain about Pete, but not about me,” he told IndieWire .
“So I’ll say, ‘Don’t you think we should have a scene where we really point out how controlling Debbie is?”
“And then she’ll say, ‘Yeah, but maybe there should be a moment where Pete says he knows he’s a [expletive].”
Who needs marital counseling when you have this?
13. It was Rudd’s idea to have Pete and his friend fantasize about their wives dying.
Hopefully, his real-life wife didn’t take offense!
He told Jewish Journal : “I thought that could be funny but also incredibly raw and exposed and hopefully not offensive, though I’m sure it will come off that way to some people.”
14. Mann wanted to get that groping scene with Megan Fox over as soon as possible.
In the film, Fox plays Desi, one of the workers in Debbie’s boutique.
Since Debbie is griping with turning 40, Debbie gets jealous of her youthfulness.
In one deleted scene, Debbie jiggles Desi’s breasts, which caused Fox to break down laughing.
Meanwhile, Mann felt protective of Megan.
“I just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible because I felt very protective of her,” Mann said.
