Seth Rogen Gets Serious (Kind Of) About Alzheimer’s Disease

Actors Seth Rogen and Chris Mintz-Plasse visit the University of Vermont for a special screening of their film “Superbad.” The pair hosted a live commentary on April 25 as a prize for the student group that raised the most money for Hilarity for Charity U, which benefits the Alzheimer’s Association. (Photo: Fritz Cohen/Corbis)

Funnyman Seth Rogen isn’t known for being a guy who takes life too seriously. He’s sarcastic and self-deprecating, known for playing lovable slacker-types in comedies such as The Interview and Knocked Up.

But when he talks about Alzheimer’s disease, he gets dead serious.

Seth met his wife, actress and screenwriter Lauren Miller Rogen, 10 years ago. Early into the couple’s relationship, Lauren’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In the nine years that have passed since, they’ve watched her go from repeating stories and forgetting words to, now, needing round-the-clock in-home assistance.

“You see someone disappear painfully slowly,” Lauren tells Yahoo Health. “The worst part is losing someone who’s sitting right in front of you, and mourning the loss of their speech, and then seeing them the next day, and mourning the loss of their walking, and then seeing them the next day, and constantly having to live in that loss.”

Related: Early Signs Of Alzheimer’s Found In Patients As Young As 50

Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen at the University of Vermont to promote their Alzheimer’s disease charity, Hilarity for Charity U. Lauren’s mother has suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for the past decade. (Photo: Fritz Cohen/Corbis)

Lauren was familiar with Alzheimer’s disease because two of her grandparents suffered from dementia. Seth wasn’t. “I kind of just knew what I saw in movies, like most things I know,” he tells Yahoo Health.

Now, Lauren and Seth are outspoken Alzheimer’s disease advocates. Seth even presented at a Senate hearing on Alzheimer’s research last year. (“Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for the opportunity be called an expert at something, ’cause that’s cool,” he joked during his opening statements.)

In 2011, the pair founded Hilarity for Charity, a comedy and music variety show benefiting Alzheimer’s research, support, and awareness. They even raised nearly $1 million for the Alzheimer’s Association in 2014.

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and Alpha Chi Omega sorority at the University of Vermont raised more than $30,000 for Hilarity for Charity U. Seth Rogen and Chris Mintz-Plasse pose with UVM student Ryan Fox at an event for the charity. (Photo: Fritz Cohen/Corbis)

Alzheimer’s is typically thought of as an “old person’s disease,” Lauren explains. When she and Seth started talking about their experiences, however, they started being contacted by young people who were losing parents in their 50s to the disease, or who had family members in their 30s with early-onset Alzheimer’s. “It sort of became clear that there was a huge group of people who wanted to take action but didn’t quite have a way in,” she says.

The comedy community has been unbelievably receptive to Hilarity for Charity (HFC), Seth says, adding that, “almost everyone we’ve asked has agreed to do it.” (“There was a moment where some of them were very confused,” he jokingly admits.) HFC U, which challenges college students to host their own Hilarity for Charity benefit shows, launched last year. The couple is also crowdfunding to finish a documentary, This Is Alzheimer’s, which profiles three families affected by the disease.

Related: Were We Getting Alzheimer’s Wrong? New Study Could Pave Way To Better Treatment

Working with HFC has made a profound difference for Lauren personally. “I spent the first couple years of my mom’s diagnosis feeling really terrible, and really being [in] a dark place and feeling super powerless,” she confesses. “And then we started to take action, and that completely shifted my perspective and gave me a lot of energy and hope that wasn’t there before.”

She continues, “You can look at these things and you can let them take you down, or you can say this is what’s happening, this is reality, let’s at least try to find a way to smile about it.”

As for Seth? He says: “I’m willing to fly a lot more to attend charity events.”

Read This Next: 5 Ways To Lower Your Risk For Alzheimer’s Disease

Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Have a personal health story to share? We want to hear it. Tell us at YHTrueStories@yahoo.com.