Eugene Levy thinks the American Pie films have led to other movies focusing "too much" on bodily functions.

The 65-year-old actor - who plays Jim's dad Noah Levenstein in the film series - believes the franchise has inspired other productions to push the boundaries of taste in comedy to the limit, but warns there is a point where such bathroom humor "can step over the bar."

"The dangerous thing about what it's spawned is that sometimes there's a little bit too much emphasis on, y'know, bodily functions. It's the anti-Noel Coward approach to getting a laugh. At some point you can't go any lower. You'll get to the point where you can step over the bar."

Eugene believes the first American Pie movie in 1999 - which featured a scene where Jason Biggs pleasures himself with a warm apple pie - has led to other directors feeling they "have to" include some bathroom humor in their film because it's "too easy" to get a "big laugh."

In an interview with The Guardian, he added, "Sex was the thing on everybody's mind. And it got kinda graphic and that's why it cut such a big swathe. But now you have other movies which, no matter what their subject is, feel they have to go there. Filmmakers know studio executives will look at the script and say, 'Ooh there's a big laugh. It's too easy.'"

Eugene is reprising his role of Jim's dad in the fourth movie in the franchise, American Reunion, which also sees Alyson Hannigan (Michelle), Chris Klein (Chris Ostreicher), Seann William Scott (Stifler) and Jason (Jim) return.