Seth Rogen gave Olivia Wilde a note at the end of the shoot for “The Invite.” In it, he wrote, “I love screaming at you.”It wasn’t some toxic jab from a volatile actor to his director and co-star after a difficult shoot; They really have found a kind of magic in screaming at each other on screen, first in the Chinatown-ish “Missing Reel” episode of “The Studio,” in which Wilde plays a satirical version of herself as the crazed director, and then as a couple on the rocks in the acerbic chamber dramedy “The Invite,” which expands nationwide on July 10.“There’s nothing precious about either of us really,” Wilde said. “There was, like, a permission speak — permission to scream — freely.”Rogen, 44, and Wilde, 42, came up in the same class of sorts, with memorable roles on television, in the late 90s and early-aughts, that blossomed into movie stardom and, eventually, directing. But until recently, they’d only ever really crossed paths meaningfully once: At a table read for Judd Apatow’s slacker pregnancy comedy “Knocked Up” over 20 years ago. Wilde did not get the role, and they went their separate ways.
And perhaps it was for the best. “Knocked Up” might not have been the right use of Wilde and Rogen together. They seem to excel not as a traditional romantic comedy duo, but in a realm that’s more prickly, more abrasive.
