Jason Jordan Segel (born January 18, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) is a very tall and very funny actor and writer. He is best known as Marshall Eriksen on How I Met Your Mother and as the lead in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which he also wrote. He is also known for working with director/producer Judd Apatow, most notably in the short-lived TV shows Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, and the movies Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
He starred in and wrote the 2011 film The Muppets. Those who find this strange should remember the Dracula Puppet Musical from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which he also wrote.
He also co-wrote the Infant Sorrow music for the movies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek.
He makes anything he appears in much, much better, especially if he sings or plays music.
Partial filmography:
- SLC Punk! (1998)
- Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000)
- Undeclared (2001-2002)
- How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)
- Knocked Up (2007)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
- I Love You, Man (2009)
- Despicable Me (2010) (voice)
- Get Him to the Greek (2010)
- Gulliver's Travels (2010)
- The Muppets (2011)
- Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011)
- Friends with Benefits (2011) (cameo)
- Bad Teacher (2011)
- This Is 40 (2012)
- The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
- This Is the End (2013) (cameo)
- Sex Tape (2014)
- The End Of The Tour (2015)
- The Discovery (2017)
- Come Sunday (2018)
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride (2020)
- Dispatches From Elsewhere (2020)
- Windfall (2022)
- Winning Time (2022)
- Shrinking (2023)
- Actor-Shared Background: He's half-Jewish like his character Tom in The Five-Year Engagement. A marginal case for How I Met Your Mother, where his character Marshall wants to be a lawyer — Jason's father had been a lawyer. Marshall is also a former basketball player, as Jason is in real life too.
- Author Appeal: As he's also a musician and songwriter, some of his songs will find their way into his projects.
- Several of his projects have referenced André the Giant, usually with regards to him being tall, or doing an impression of Andre's thickly-French accented basso profundo voice.
- Creator Backlash: A relatively mild example, but Segel had said in interviews that he was ready to leave How I Met Your Mother after the eight season, both because he wanted to pursue other acting roles, and because he felt there wasn't much left to do with Marshall as a character. He then suggested it would be interesting if Marshall and Lily got divorced, but then acknowledged that such a dark plot wouldn't work within the standard sitcom conventions that the show utilized.
- Dyeing for Your Art: Lost 30 pounds for The Five-Year Engagement. Averted with Marshall's famous head-shave in the Season 2 finale, as he refused to do it for real.
- Production Posse: Collaborates with Judd Apatow a lot.
- Star-Making Role: Freaks and Geeks gave him a cult fanbase, but How I Met Your Mother gave him national attention.
- Written by Cast Member: He wrote Forgetting Sarah Marshall and co-wrote The Muppets and Sex Tape. He also created Dispatches From Elsewhere and wrote or co-wrote several episodes.
