HBO Max released a trailer for its upcoming film An American Pickle today.

It’s…weird.

An American Pickle is a Seth Rogen comedy, but not like you’ve seen before. Rogen stars as Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling laborer who immigrates to America in 1920 with dreams of building a better life for his family. One day Herschel falls into a vat of pickle juice at his factory job. He’s brined for 100 years before being dredged up and sent out into the world of modern-day Brooklyn.

Herschel – who hasn’t aged a day, thanks to the pickle brine – aims to seek out what’s most important to him: family. Of course, 100 years later his only surviving relative is a great grandson, Ben Greenbaum (also played by Rogen). The film focuses on the relationship and culture-clash of these two distant relatives.

Check out the trailer below to see Rogen play opposite himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBC0pTh6GDM&feature=youtu.be

An American Pickle is based on a New Yorker novella by Simon Rich, who also adapted the screenplay.

Director Brandon Trost said the opposing worldviews of the two characters serves as the driving force of the film.

“What would he think of me?” said Trost. “The ultimate answer is that he would probably hate me or basically think I’m living the wrong way of life. Old world ideals are so different from what they are now.”

Rogen’s Beard Complicated Filming

Films where an actor plays multiple characters in the same scene provide a unique challenge in production. They require split-screen technology and a special editing process to make the shots blend together.

On An American Pickle, this process was made even more difficult by…Seth Rogen’s beard?

“I’ve done many movies through the years. The one thing that is consistent is that fake beards look terrible,” Rogen explained. “We didn’t use any fake beards throughout the entire movie.”

Because Rogen insisted on growing his own beard for the film, all the bearded-Rogen (Herschel) appearances were filmed before the non-bearded-Rogen (Ben) appearances.

This meant the film crew returned to each location a month later and determined the exact camera placement and conditions that would allow the two halves of the scene to match up. Rogen completed the dialogue by using an earpiece to get the timing right.

If you’re ready for a double-dose of Rogen in this comedy, you won’t have long to wait. An American Pickle will be available to stream exclusively on HBO Max Thursday, August 6.

For more on what’s coming to HBO Max or any other general pop culture, be sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Source: USA Today