Jason Segel reveals why he started not to enjoy himself during ‘How I Met Your Mother'
The actor, 45, opened up about how working on the long-running sitcom made balancing his movie career difficult.
'The way my life was for about six years was I would be shooting 'How I Met Your Mother,'' Segel said on Monday's episode of The Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter' podcast. 'And during that time, I would be writing a movie that we would then shoot on the four months off and get done in time to get back to 'How I Met Your Mother.''
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6 Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel in 'How I Met Your Mother.'
CBS
The show aired for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014 and also starred Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan.
'And it was an amazing time. It was an electric time. But I also was getting a little tired and I was starting to not enjoy myself so much,' admitted Segel. 'And that was a bummer because I was doing such cool things.'
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6 Jason Segel in 'How I Met Your Mother.'
FOX
During his time on the hit show, the 'Shrinking' star received some sound advice from Judd Apatow.
The director, 57, was the one who executive-produced the young star's first-ever television series, 'Freaks and Geeks,' in 1999.
'Judd had instilled this thing in us during 'Freaks and Geeks,' where he said, 'If you can improv the way that you can, then you can write. I just need to teach you how to write,'' Segel explained.
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He recalled that Apatow told him, 'You're a weird dude, and the only way you're going to make it is if you write your own material.'
6 Jason Segel in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'
Photo Credit: Glen Wilson
Segel then 'pitched' Apatow 'lightly' on a script of his own: 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'
'I went to Hawaii, and I rented a little house in Hawaii. And I wrote 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' in two months, and then we made it. And then I was kind of off to the races,' he recounted.
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Segel wrote the script during a hiatus from 'How I Met Your Mother' after the first season.
The 2008 rom-com went on to be a huge hit and starred Kristen Bell, Russell Brand, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill.
6 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'
Photo Credit: Glen Wilson
Podcast host Scott Feinberg spoke about the benefits and downfalls of Segel's position, sharing that while the sitcom gave him 'financial security' and recognition, it also 'locked [him] into playing a guy for a long, long time.'
'Listen, it's like the best problem you could ever have, for sure, especially when you're scared you might never work,' Segel responded.
When the actor made the 2011 movie 'The Muppets' — which he starred in and also co-wrote — he would shoot 'How I Met Your Mother' during the day and the movie at night.
6 'Freaks and Geeks' on NBC.
NBC Photo: Chris Haston
That same summer, the star filmed his other script 'The Five-Year Engagement.'
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'So I was a tired dude,' Segel admitted.
These days, after a slew of comedic and dramatic hits, the actor revealed which role he'd love to dive into next.
6 Jason Segel attends the American Cinematheque's This Is Not Fiction 2025 Festival Closing Night Premiere of HBO Max's '100 Foot Wave.'
Getty Images
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'I would like to play a really archvillain,' Segel told Parade in October 2024. 'I think that I walk this line between charming and creepy, and I always kind of fall at the very end towards charming. But if I fell towards creepy, it could be really interesting.'
Segel said he just wants to portray someone 'really bad,' but who 'seems so nice.'
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