Seth Rogen has opened up about the best advice he has received in his career.

Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, Rogen recalled advice he got from mentor Apatow that he still uses, admitting it “is going to sound crude at face value, but there’s actually a lot of depth to the advice”.

“At one time, when we were shooting , we would improvise a lot, and we were improvising and Judd screamed from the other room, ‘Less semen, more emotion!’” he said (via ).

“And honestly, as I’ve gone on to make films, it’s amazing how much I come back to ‘Less semen, more emotion,’ and how many times I’m writing with my friends and we’re making ourselves laugh and then we stop and go, ‘You know what? Less semen, more emotion.’”

Rogen shared that the words taught him “that understanding of how to balance humor and emotion and reality and comedy and how to navigate tone”.

Meanwhile, back in July Rogen revealed an awkward moment he had with Pharrell Williams at a dinner party, recalling to : “I was at a dinner and I had made the movie and I sing in the movie.

“And I had been doing interviews and I’ve been talking about how Pharrell Williams got really frustrated with my singing. Then I was at a dinner and Pharrell was there and he was like, ‘Hey, I don’t like how you suggest that I got frustrated with your singing.’”

He added: “I was like, ‘you did [get frustrated]’, and then he was like ‘I don’t like you suggesting that I feel frustration’. And I’m like: ‘you’re feeling it right now, Pharrell. It’s happening. It’s happening at this dinner.’”

Earlier this year, Rogen spoke about the “unbelievable challenge” of making the second season of without star Catherine O’Hara, who passed away in January.