One of Hollywood’s staunchest defenders of the unadulterated comedy, Judd Apatow has become synonymous with the onscreen antics of loveable losers in shows and movies including Freaks and Geeks, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Trainwreck. His latest capers? A documentary paying homage to one of modern stand-up’s most criminally under-sung heroes, Maria Bamford, and another on the quasi-centenarian Mel Brooks.
What keeps you up at night?
Wondering why no one seems to be that concerned about how our country is about to be filled with data centers and concentration camps. Seems like a troubling combo. Hello???!!!! Anyone????!!!!
What grounds you, and what invigorates you?
If a family member tossed all of my Apple products into a river, that would ground me. I am invigorated at the prospect of having nothing to do or think about.
What’s one work of art that got you through an important moment in your life?
Schitt’s Creek got me through Covid lockdown. Now I need it to get me to the midterms.
Name an influence of yours that might surprise people.
John Cassavetes. You can see it, right? Right?
What’s been the hardest part of your career so far?
Remembering people’s names. My brain is offloading them at an alarming rate. And I’ve met too many people. It’s given me a social phobia.
What would you be doing if you weren’t working in your field?
Trying to learn the banjo so I could join Mumford & Sons.
What would you wear to meet your greatest enemy?
That hidden gun that is on a spring, which suddenly flies up your arm into your hand.
What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?
I would like people to take more risks. We need more originality. I’d like streamers to make more projects where they think, I don’t care how many people watch it. I like it!
When’s the last time you laughed hysterically?
When [my daughter] Maude surprised me by doing a perfect impression of an old-timey bicycle horn. For some reason it broke me. I didn’t see it coming.
What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?
Do I have any idea what I am doing? And the answer is no, but maybe that’s good.
What’s something people get wrong about you?
I’m not as pleasant as I thought I was.
Who do you call the most?
Pete Holmes. We try to figure out how the universe works. It takes time.
What is your biggest vice? Your greatest virtue?
My biggest vice is sugar. Usually in Häagen-Dazs or KitKats. No amount of Zepbound can prevent this. My greatest virtue is I care deeply about other people. Or am I just co-dependent?
What would you like the headline of your obituary to be?
“Judd Apatow: He Did the Best He Could.”
What are you looking forward to this year?
My daughter Maude directed a film called Poetic License. I’m excited for people to see it.
What do you think is your biggest contribution to culture?
Hopefully something I have done has been someone’s Schitt’s Creek.
To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.
in your life?
