“Knocked Up” funnyman Seth Rogen has delivered a heartfelt and hilarious speech before a Senate hearing on Alzheimer’s research, opening up about his own personal experiences with the disease.
The 31-year-old actor brought a touch of comedy to a seriously unfunny subject when he appeared in front of a Senate hearing as part of his role as head of Hilarity for Charity, an organisation designed to educate young adults about Alzheimer’s.
“Yes, I am aware that this has nothing to do with the legalisation of marijuana,” Rogen said as he took his seat behind the microphone, thanking the senators “for the opportunity for me to be called an ‘expert’ at something.”
Rogen went on to describe his earliest dates with his now-wife Lauren Miller almost a decade ago. On one trip to meet Miller’s parents for the first time, his new girlfriend admitted that something seemed to be wrong with her mother Adele.
Not long after, Adele was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at only 55.
Rogen said at that point, his impression of Alzheimer’s was that it only affected “really, really old people,” and that it mainly involved “forgotten keys and mismatched shoes.”
As his mother-in-law’s condition worsened, Rogen began to see “the real ugly truth” of the disease. By the age of 60, she needed constant around-the-clock care.
“I came here today for a few reasons. One, I’m a huge ‘House of Cards’ fan. Just marathoned the whole thing, had to be here,” Rogen joked.
“Two is to say, people need more help. I’ve personally seen the massive amount of financial strain this disease causes and if the American people ever decide to reject genitalia-driven comedy, I will no longer be able to afford it.
“I can’t begin to imagine how people with more limited incomes are dealing with this. The third reason I’m here, simply, is to show people that they are not alone. So few people share their personal stories.”
Rogen also sent out the following Tweet to his 1.84 million Twitter followers:
This article originally appeared on News.com.au.