LOS ANGELES, California—Seth Rogen, the roly-poly slacker many have come to love in such films as “Knocked Up” and “Pineapple Express,” has gone super model slim on us.

Seth dropped a lot of pounds to play a super hero in “The Green Hornet.” No, it won’t be a comedy, they say. It would be an action film. Teased by a reporter who said that now he understands why women in his movies chase after him, the suddenly trim Seth laughed and said in that familiar gruff voice, “Exactly. They had foresight.”

In the meantime, you can see Seth in the Kevin Smith-directed comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” which he shot before he lost his doughy figure. You’d think that he’d lose the hefty frame for “Zack and…” but in this raunchy comedy about two debt-ridden, lifelong friends who tap pals to make a porn movie for some quick bucks, Seth is fully clothed when he does the deed. Miri is played by Elizabeth Banks who portrays US first lady Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s “W.” — talk about range!

Seth himself is making a drastic jump from stoner-loser roles to the masked avenger in “The Green Hornet,” which he will co-write. Told that he’s in fine company since at one point in the project’s long gestation, George Clooney (Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Wahlberg and even Brad Pitt were also being bruited about) was reportedly in talks for the role, Seth laughed and dished, “Well, yeah, it’s true. I still replaced him.”

Below are excerpts:

What is your experience with pornography?

It’s thorough, I would say. I saw my first porno movie when I was 13 years old. It was called “The Fisherman’s Wife.” It had very little to do with fishing. I don’t know if there was any fishing in it at all, to be honest (laughter) and it was a particularly dirty one. It was on the dirtier end of the spectrum. My friend Michael had it. He gave it to me. He said, “You got to check this out.” I was not ready and I think it scared me off sex until I graduated from high school.

It’s very interesting that the US is such a liberal country but many have very rigid views (about pornography).

I don’t know who said that America was supposed to be such a liberal country (laughter).

The rest of the world thinks so. It’s okay to carry a gun but showing a woman’s breasts or male genitalia is considered quite controversial.

Oh, yeah (laughter).

How were you raised in your family?

I was definitely raised that guns were worse than penises, I’ll tell you that much. Yeah, I’m from Canada and there, it is not nearly as violent a culture as it is here. That being said, I make pretty violent movies every now and then so I’m probably part of the problem in some ways but I don’t believe any of it should really be censored. I think it should all be treated the same.

I think it’s crazy that a movie series like “Saw” has no problem getting advertised. “Saw IV” is all about people getting tortured. No one has a problem with those movies’ ads. It’s ridiculous that people make such a big deal out of porno yet violence is completely ignored. It’s shocking how people reacted too. It’s stupid and childish.

What made you do this movie?

I have been a fan of Kevin Smith since I first saw “Clerks.” That was around the same time I first saw porno actually (laughter) and man, maybe there’s a coincidence there, a link. Then I read the script which was hilarious and that was all I needed.

Do you remember exactly when you first came to Hollywood?

I’m from Vancouver. My family and I would come to Disneyland often which is not like Hollywood. Hollywood is not as fun as Disneyland, I’ve learned (laughter). I came down here to do stand-up comedy a few times when I was younger. I had some very bad shows at the Improv (laughter) and The Comedy Store where people were not as interested in seeing a 14-year-old Jewish kid as they were in Andrew Dice Clay, for example. But when I moved here, I had “Freaks and Geeks.”

There have been some rough times but it has been great ever since then. I can’t believe I get to meet and work with these people. That Kevin Smith knows my name is a f***ing shock. It’s all very thrilling.

Is there a Hollywood casting couch for boys?

No (laughter). I wasn’t invited to it if there was one, believe me (laughter). It’s not part of my world. There probably is but comedians are not invited to it. There’s no sexy side of comedy (laughter).

Have you done any real porno movies?

Any real ones? Those I’ve done in my past, if you can find them on YouTube (laughter).

Are you still with your girlfriend (writer-actress Lauren Miller)?

Yes, I am.

[An actor] has reportedly been quoted as saying that his wife said that sex was never so good as when he did [a movie where the actor lost a lot of weight for the role].

Really? Oh, that’s gross because he was all bones (laughter). That’s disgusting. My girlfriend — I don’t know. I always just feel bad for her after sex. I feel like she calls her friends afterwards and cries about it. Maybe now it’s slightly less painful physically on her. Emotionally, I can only judge. I can’t guess (laughter). I feel better about myself.

Do you feel good about yourself now?

I feel okay. No, I actually feel a little worse about myself. I feel like I would make fun of me. Like if I were just a guy who saw me on TV I’d be like, “What did Seth Rogen do? He lost weight. What a sell-out.” I feel lame talking about what I eat now. I’m the type of guy who talks about his diet. What is that about? That’s just like the lamest thing ever, I think (laughter). I hate what it has turned me into.

You have Traci Lords, a former porn star in the movie. Did you guys consult her?

Oh, you talk to her about it. Oddly enough, through my career I’ve met many porn stars (laughter) so it’s one thing I’m kind of familiar with.

We worked with Stormy Daniels in “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” In “Superbad,” we had Jenna Haze and Aurora Snow. They’re very big porn stars. We had Nautica Thorn and Stormy Daniels again in the strip clubs in “Knocked Up.” I don’t think I’ve done a movie without porn stars in it (laughter).

In Hollywood, actresses tend to get big fake boobs and dye their hair blonde.

I did that (laughter).

Do you find that if you’re in shape, you can say something outrageous to women and they tend to be lenient?

I think that’s not true in a lot of ways because in general women are more lenient with handsome men.

I would like to go back to Traci Lords.

Me, too (laughter).

Tell us more about her.

She’s really cool. She’s funny. She has a husband and a child. She is somewhat prudish, I would almost say. In our dirtier scenes, she’d be like, “I can’t believe we’re saying this stuff.” But she’s really funny, great and has really good timing. I had a really good time working with her.

Why did she become such an icon in the porno world?

I think because she was under-aged, for one thing. She became the most famous porn star around and she wasn’t even legally allowed to be in porn at the time. I think that was one of the big reasons for the controversy that surrounded her. And she was just good at it (laughter).

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.