Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg began writing the script for Superbad when they were 13, which makes it the only raunchy comedy about teenagers desperately trying to lose their virginity that was actually written by teenage virgins. Directed by Greg Mottola and produced by comedy titan Judd Apatow, Superbad emerged in 2007 as one of the funniest comedies of the year and remains a beloved classic to this day.
Fogell, aka McLovin, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, is arguably the movie’s funniest character — he’s certainly become the most iconic in the years since Superbad hit theaters — but he has plenty of competition from the other characters.
Fogell Is The Funniest: He Steals All His Scenes
From the moment that he crashes Seth and Evan’s home ec class to tell them about his fake ID to his final scene in the parking lot with the cops, Fogell steals every single scene he’s in.
In most of his scenes with Seth and Evan, they’re mercilessly roasting him, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays into the endless roasting hysterically.
Alternative: Francis
Played by Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Joe Lo Truglio, Francis hits Seth with his car, then agrees to take him and Evan to a party to get booze to avoid the cops. In the car, he tries to add the boys on Myspace.
As soon as they get to the party, Francis is beaten mercilessly by the hot-tempered host, who he claimed was his best friend, terrifying Seth and Evan.
Fogell Is The Funniest: Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Performance Is Authentically Dorky
Christopher Mintz-Plasse has since proven with other roles that he’s not as relentlessly geeky as Fogell, but he played that role so authentically in Superbad that if he’d never done another movie, that’s the impression people would have of him.
It’s not easy to play a dorky character without falling into the clichés, but Mintz-Plasse nailed it. Everybody knew a Fogell in their high school, and Mintz-Plasse plays the part perfectly.
Alternative: Officer Michaels
Having started writing Superbad with his best friend and creative partner Evan Goldberg when they were teenagers, Seth Rogen originally intended to play Seth (that’s why he’s called Seth), but since he had aged out of the role by the time it finally got produced, he played Officer Michaels instead.
Rogen shares hilarious chemistry with Bill Hader as Officer Slater and has his fair share of great individual moments, like chasing Evan on foot until he’s so tired and delirious that he fires his gun into the air.
Fogell Is The Funniest: He Has The Most Memorable Quotes
There are a ton of great quotable lines in Superbad, though many of them are too profane to publish.
However, all the most memorable quotes come from Fogell: “I am McLovin,” “Chicka, chicka, yeah, fake ID, fake ID,” “Old enough...to party,” etc.
Alternative: Evan
Evan offers a softer, more sensitive counterpoint to Seth’s brazen bluntness, and Michael Cera couldn’t have been more perfectly cast to play that part.
He brought plenty of George Michael Bluth’s signature innocence and naivety to the role, and he made for a fantastic foil for Jonah Hill.
Fogell Is The Funniest: He Connects The A-Plot And The B-Plot
The A-plot of Superbad sees Seth and Evan trying to get some booze to bring to Jules’ party, while the B-plot sees Officers Slater and Michaels trying to prove they can be cool despite being cops.
Fogell has close ties to both Seth and Evan, as he’s supposed to go to the party with them, and Officers Slater and Michaels, as he’s the one they’re trying to impress in the back of their squad car, so he ends up connecting the A-plot to the B-plot and unifying the whole script.
Alternative: Officer Slater
Bill Hader brings a brilliant deadpan quality to all of his line deliveries in Superbad, like when he’s explaining to McLovin how he discovered that his ex-wife was a sex worker.
Whether he’s dancing to an anti-cop hip-hop track at a party he’s supposed to be breaking up or trying and failing to pull off a cool driving trick in a parking lot, Slater is always a joy to watch.
Fogell Is The Funniest: He’s McLovin
“I am McLovin.” Fogell uses his fake ID to create a new identity for himself: McLovin. Evan thinks the name sounds like an Irish R&B singer, but Fogell’s plan is to reinvent himself as a badass.
By the end of the movie, against all odds, Fogell has actually become the badass he pretends to be. McLovin has since become a beloved icon across the world.
Alternative: Seth
During the production of Knocked Up, Jonah Hill repeatedly asked for the chance to audition for Superbad, but the producers kept turning him down because they thought he was too old for the part. When they finally gave him the opportunity, he proved within moments that he was perfect for the role.
Hill had made a few movie appearances before Superbad, but Superbad is the movie that made him a star. Without Hill in the lead role, this movie wouldn’t work nearly as well.