Loading summary
Transcript193 lines
- [00:00]
Jason Segel
And so I was like, you know, Dracula has a really hard time with love.
- [00:13]
Jesse David Fox
This is good one. I am Jesse David Fox, writer at Vulture and author of comedy books. My guest today is Jason Segel. We talk about being one of the biggest comedy stars in the world, starring on How I Met yout Mother and making movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And how he had to take a bit of a break after that crazy moment in time to figure out what he really wanted to do with his work, which brought him to Shrinking, the Apple TV show he stars in about a therapist who has to put himself and his life back together after his wife dies. Jason is easily one of the biggest, most revolutionary comedic writers and performers of my lifetime, and we get into how he did it. So here is Jason Segel. Thank you for joining me.
- [00:52]
Jason Segel
It's my pleasure. It's good to see you.
- [00:53]
Jesse David Fox
So I want to start where you currently are as a creator, artist, actor. So as we're speaking, you're currently shooting the third season of Shrinking, a show which comes 25 years into. Into a career of making comedy with varying doses of drama and sort of the reverse as well. Is there a scene of yours from the show that you feel really represents where you currently are as an actor?
- [01:17]
Jason Segel
Wow, that's a great question. So I think there's, like, one scene in particular from Shrinking that comes to mind is in the finale of season two, I give a speech to Alice, my daughter, where I finally come clean to her about how guilty I feel about what a terrible father I've been. The test of a moment like that is how honest are you willing to be on screen? Are you willing to not show off? Are you willing to not try to make everyone think you're a really good actor? But what I like about it, what the comedy around it is, is people under stress, to me are, like, super funny. The moments leading up to giving a big, honest talk are really fraught. You're, like, moving weird, and you might be sweating a little bit. And that, to me, is kind of representative of where I am right now, of trying to be as honest as I can be about these big dramatic moments, but also being honest about how fucking am I allowed to swear? How awkward life is. Yeah, it's so awkward. Even when we're trying to be our most serious. We're clumsy.
- [02:29]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. I mean, things. Nothing in life that feels serious happens without people having sense of humor about it for the most part. I think if that is what. And if you do play drama fully dramatically, it will feel less real than if you play it that you are aware that there's a sort of comedy of it. Yeah. I was thinking about the relationship with you and your daughter, because it's like, for the first 10, 15 years of your career, you're playing friendship or romantic relationship. Like, you're playing relationships, I think, defined a lot of your early acting. And to sort of come back in this way, to be playing a father is different, and it allows you to sort of explore a lot of different things in terms of what their expectations are, what the age difference between you and the other actor is, how you can be funny to your daughter in a different way. Can you talk about how you approached that relationship?
- [03:21]
Jason Segel
Yeah. I mean, it's an interesting dichotomy in that I think that I don't think our brains, our self image ages with us with, like, our biological age. So I at first, like, look at. And I think of her as my contemporary, you know, and then at some point, she calls me Mr. Siegel. I'm like, oh, what the fuck has happened in my life? But that's not totally honest either, because I do think. How old are you?
- [03:47]
Jesse David Fox
I'm about to turn 40.
- [03:48]
Jason Segel
Okay, cool. I'm 45, and it's been a complicated 20 years. You know what I mean? And I think it would be. It'd be a shame to not be standing a little sturdier and be like, yeah, I'm 45, and I've actually been through a lot. I have a lot to say about the subjects we're doing now. So at once, I feel like the same kind of big birdie, childlike wonder thing, but I also feel like someone who's been through a lot and has some scars.
- [04:22]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. I think it's an interesting thing when you watch the. This show has a. Like, a scene will have a lot of moves in it. Like, you have to. You'll like. It's not just like, oh, this is a dramatic scene, and this is a comedic scene. It's like, truly, like you're kind of doing it, and you're kind of going up a little level. And I imagine part of that is you have to do each part of that different. And then in the edit, you figure out. Can you talk about how you approach that? I think there's a scene in the first episode of the second season where you're talking to your daughter where you're apologizing and be like, I'm gonna be better. But then there's also little moments where you're cheating out.
- [04:57]
Jason Segel
I really appreciate you noticing that. I Work really hard on that. I'm very obsessed with prep. I did a movie called the End of the Tour years ago that I was really afraid of. And I started really young, so I had no system of prep that I learned. And so I just played what Would Edward Norton Do? It was just straight up fake it till you make it, you know? And I frontloaded everything I was afraid of. I got a dialect coach. I learned all these lines perfectly. And this is different because all of those movies that we were doing earlier on, they were so improv heavy that your job was kind of to show up nimble, you know, but this. I showed up, like, really, really prepared. And it was the most, like, surfing, like, experience I've ever had where, you know, like, your prep kicks in. And I. It just felt calm and effortless and, like, it could be honest and you could listen. You weren't trying to think of what you needed to do next. So now I prep that hard for everything, and it just makes life really easy. I kind of. I like, look at the scene I chart out where the different moves are. Because, yeah, I mean, I think that you should arc out each scene the same way you arc out all script so stuff stays interesting. I also think. Sorry, sorry. But just to go back, I'm having another thought. I think also what makes this show good, and I think I've discovered as like a kind of Trojan horse, is that you need moves like that to lower the audience's defenses for the drama. So you are using comedy so people feel like, oh, this is gonna be fun. And then you fucking knock them with some drama, and they're not. It's like what we were talking about. If you're in drama, on drama, I think your defenses go up. Like, I don't wanna cry during this whole hour and a half, you know? So I do think that's the benefit of moves.
- [06:57]
Jesse David Fox
What do you think your comedic Persona, your catalog, even your physicality affords you with the audience in a show like this?
- [07:05]
Jason Segel
Well, I write for myself a lot, and so I have to be self aware about this stuff. And I do think that I don't know if it's my face shape or like, kind eyes, I don't know. But you can get away with a lot with me doing it without the audience turning on me. So we knew that. I told that to Bill and Brett, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, when we were writing the pilot. You can have Jimmy at rock bottom be doing things that you might be afraid would turn the audience. And I promise you, from years of doing this, they're just gonna think, like, oh, I hope he gets better, you know? And so, like, I think that that's a real advantage because there's a lot of comedy, like, past the line.
- [07:52]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah.
- [07:53]
Jason Segel
But normally you can't go there because the audience will turn on the character and, like, you know, the big note is make sure your lead is likable, you know? But I think if there's something else, it's like a style of acting that I learned first from Kermit the Frog. Not making a joke. Sure, sure. You know, and I think as you get older, that becomes like, Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart, which is like a surrogate style acting. I am you. There's another kind of acting, like, if you're James Bond that's like, aspirational, like, they're better than you, you know, like, oh, my gosh, look at him go. But I think hopefully what I try to do is like, oh, look at me in that situation.
- [08:31]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. I imagine also because a lot of the people watching grew up with you.
- [08:36]
Jason Segel
Isn't that weird? I mean, it really is. Yeah, it really is. I am just me. And so I also have, like, whatever built in self deprecation where I have a hard time, like, fully feeling viscerally that, like, oh, people, like, really know who I am. It's a very weird thing.
- [08:59]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. There's something I found really interesting, which was you're talking about how you got the role. And it was Bill Lawrence saw you on a walk, I think, in. Bill Lawrence's producer saw you on a walk in Ojai, and he goes, he seems happy. And it stuck in my mind because I was reading that the reason you were cast at the end of the tour was the director said, I saw you, and I said, well, that guy's unhappy.
- [09:24]
Jason Segel
Yeah. And also the reason I take those walks is because I'm trying to get to zero.
- [09:30]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Yeah. So it's like, do you think that's in it also? That the audience is feeling that aspect of you, this sort of war of happy versus unhappy?
- [09:37]
Jason Segel
I hope so. It's like, I think it's what I have to contribute.
- [09:40]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [09:41]
Jason Segel
Honestly, I mean, I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I mean, for, like, probably 10 years, I've been thinking about this, but more and more every day, why am I doing this job? What do I have to contribute that is, like, unique to what I have to offer? And I think it's that I have unquiet mind. I have a hard time settling into happiness. I can, I can catch it for a minute, but I find it elusive. And then I gotta find it again and put together all these tools. And it gets exhausting to use the tools. You know, you look around at people like, do they not have to do anything to seemingly be so happy? I try to remind myself, like, which brings me some peace. The same brain that makes life feel a little complicated for me is the brain that thinks of the Dracula puppet musical.
- [10:30]
Jesse David Fox
So I want to talk a little bit about forgetting Sarah Marshall.
- [10:32]
Jason Segel
Oh, sure.
- [10:34]
Jesse David Fox
Because there are two scenes that really point to you go, that's Jason Segel. That's the thing that it pops up and it's exciting to see. So the first is the breakup scene. Start with where it came from, but then to actually make it a scene in a movie.
- [10:49]
Jason Segel
So what actually happened was I was dating somebody great person who was away, and when they got back in town, they called me from the airport and said, I need to come see you. And in my 24 year old brain, I thought that meant like, I want to have sex. So I said, yeah, come on over. And when she arrived, I was waiting on the couch completely naked in like that Burt Reynolds pose, you know, like kind of coquettish. And I said, I've got a surprise for you. And then she said, we need to talk. And it's never like, we need to talk. I love you so much. I knew instantly what was happening. I knew that I was naked and this breakup began. And the whole time I am thinking to myself, I swear to God, and this is like a problem, but the whole time I was thinking to myself, this is gonna be so funny. When I put in a movie, I mean, the thought was like literally occurring to me as it's happening. Like, oh, this is perfect. Nothing more perfect has happened in this moment. The thing that got cut out of the movie, which is actually my favorite part of the story, is like halfway through the breakup I turned to her and I said, I need to go get dressed. And she said, okay, go get dressed. And I went back into my bedroom and picking out an outfit for the second half of a breakup is like the hardest outfit I've ever picked up. I was back there for like 10 minutes ripping clothes off of hangers and everything. And then I came back in a button up blue shirt and khaki pants tucked in, and I said, I'm wearing your favorite outfit. She just looked at me and the breakup finished. Turning it into a scene in a movie. I think that she left and I went home. Like, I Went back upstairs and I wrote that scene. It was like. I knew it was the start of a movie, so I wrote that scene. And. And then how this all unfolded was actually really crazy. But we had just done Knocked up and Knocked up did well. And Jud took me to a Laker game and was like, hey, I think it's you're at bat. Do you have any ideas? Yeah, I said, yeah, I actually started writing something, and I had the, like, loose idea for a Sarah Marshall, and I pitched it to him at a Laker game. And the next day, the contracts arrived from Universal to go write the movie. Really crazy, right? It's not like that now. And so I went to Hawaii and wrote this movie. And there was a lot of resistance about two things. A lot of resistance about the full frontal nudity and the Dracula puppet musical.
- [13:36]
Jesse David Fox
The two things we're gonna be talking about.
- [13:38]
Jason Segel
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [13:39]
Jesse David Fox
The things that will, like, will be remembered forever.
- [13:42]
Jason Segel
Yeah, of course. Well. And I guess that's right when you say, like, these are the things that are uniquely you. Those are the things that I fought for most. Because I was like, no, this is what makes it different. Look, the thing I hate about a romantic comedy is you're gonna put a guy on a poster and a girl on a poster with some artificial opposition. Like, he's a scientist, she hates science. And they're gonna end up together at the end. So I'm like, how do you make this different? And the thing about the full frontal nudity, it wasn't just like being an exhibitionist. It was that if the opening scene, your male lead, does full frontal nudity. Cause it hadn't really happened at this point yet. You're forced to throw out your expectations. I don't know what the fuck is gonna happen in this movie. And that's an awesome place for comedy if you don't know what's gonna happen. And so that was that. And it was really scary to shoot it. And they were very respectful about it. But we found out all these rules about, like, how long.
- [14:42]
Jesse David Fox
Well, I wanna talk about the story. Cause there's many. These are the slight decisions that tip the scene, one or the other. And I'm curious if you remember from. It could have been in the writing stages. I know Judd has people rewrite things over and over again. It could be how it's improvised or shot. There could be also in the edit. It could be after you get feedback from an audience in the edit, where it's like, how much do you want to tip your hat that, you know, this is a funny scene and how much do you want to play it? We're not even acknowledging this as a funny scene. Cause, like, there's there's really basically two nods where Kristen a little bit in a comedic performance is like, you want to, like, put your clothes on.
- [15:22]
Jason Segel
Yeah, yeah. If something. This is my point of view.
- [15:25]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [15:25]
Jason Segel
If something like that is going to happen, it's taking care of the comedy.
- [15:28]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [15:29]
Jason Segel
So you should then write a dramatic scene.
- [15:31]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [15:31]
Jason Segel
And it's actually the advice Jed gave me about comedy early on, which I still keep to this day. And I'm actually the voice of this point of view on shrinking quite a bit, where I'm like, write a drama. That's what the audience is actually there for. And it'll be funny because the people you've hired are funny. I think Judd said to me once, like, if you write a drama, it's gonna end up being funny without you trying.
- [15:55]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [15:55]
Jason Segel
Because of how you see the world. So I think that scene you just write as a drama, you play it as a drama. The only thing that I'm aware of when I'm doing a scene like that or like, the scene with Alice, like I said, is I think people move funny when they're under stress. Like, they do weird things with their arms. Or, like, you try to put your hands on your hips, but you do it too high. You know, like, I'll do shit like that, but besides that, I try to play it as a drama. The big question in editing was, how often do you cut back to my dick?
- [16:27]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Were you pro more or pro less often?
- [16:33]
Jason Segel
We actually did pretty thorough testing of that scene. My favorite. So this is the first thing I've ever written. It's like my first time I've ever been a lead. And I went to the first test screening, and it played so the whole movie played so great at the first test screening, like your dream. Like, it really could not have been better. So then we do the Q and A after, which is how test screenings go. I'm hiding in the back. No one's in there. And people are like, they love it. They love this. They love that. And then one guy. It's always one guy raises his hand, and they're like, yes. He said, is no one gonna talk about this guy's weird dick? It had never occurred to me it was weird ever in my life.
- [17:18]
Jesse David Fox
Where you could tell that guy the whole movie was like, is it gonna come back?
- [17:22]
Jason Segel
And it does. Yeah.
- [17:23]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [17:23]
Jason Segel
And we get him one Last time.
- [17:25]
Jesse David Fox
Obviously you have not done that, but it does feel like that scene is like a talisman or whatever to something in you. Can you think of. Are there moments when you're shooting anything where you're like, what is the version of this? Of having my dick out?
- [17:39]
Jason Segel
Yes, for sure. Well, it's interesting. I made a conscious choice because there were a few things where it was physical nudity. It's not showing my dick, but do it a bit. And knocked up a few times where I do that, and I started to feel like this is so. I. I really don't want to repeat myself. And I didn't realize at that age that one of the things that you're really encouraged to do is repeat yourself. It's like, oh, that worked really well.
- [18:10]
Jesse David Fox
Do the.
- [18:11]
Jason Segel
Yeah, do it again. Do the old number 22, you know, and, like, you start doing increasingly less vital copies of yourself. And I got really tired of that, so I stopped doing it. Like, physical nudity stuff. But I do think so. I know we're going to talk about the Dracula musical, too, but the nudity and the Dracula musical both. While I was having this sort of existential crisis at 33, I was like, don't forget the guy who was that guy who was, like, brave enough to say, you know, it makes sense after it works. Yeah, yeah, but before it works, it's like, people are telling you, don't do this. But I really believed in it. I knew it was right. And then and you become, like, increasingly savvy and you stop doing that stuff. You know what I mean? You become too aware of what works. And so I think that as I've evolved, when I try to think of, like, who is the guy who did the full frontal nudity, who is the guy who did the Dracula puppet musical, it's being willing to, like, be ugly on camera, be ugly emotionally, be vulnerable, be just weaker than I think that you would normally want to be as a male actor on screen and say, like, no, people feel this way.
- [19:39]
Jesse David Fox
Talk about thinking of the sort of Dracula musical where it lived in you, and then what it meant to write a movie where a character was making the Dracula musical and what it said about that person and then what ultimately it was saying about you.
- [19:51]
Jason Segel
Sorry for all the wrong I've done. So that song I wrote about the same breakup, and I recorded it as just like a very fucking morose emo human being, not Dracula singing it. And I sent it to everybody. I was like, we broke up. Probably was like, the subject. And then just this Fucking song. Because I was that guy. And I still am to some extent. I try to reserve it for, you know, like, making stuff. I mean, I was really sad, and so I wrote that song. And then I'm also really weird. And so I was like, you know, Dracula has a really hard time with love. It's also really hard on Dracula. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [20:36]
Jesse David Fox
So you wrote the song not about Dracula?
- [20:38]
Jason Segel
No, I wrote the song as me.
- [20:39]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [20:39]
Jason Segel
And then I was feeling Jason's Lament. Jason's Lament. And then I was like, boy, this would be really hard on Dracula. Cause he has to live with this for eternity.
- [20:47]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [20:47]
Jason Segel
You know, this is like. I was also smoking a lot of weed at the time.
- [20:51]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [20:52]
Jason Segel
But anyway, so I recorded it as Dracula. Cause I had a habit of recording a lot of songs about love as Dracula. I would, like, do covers of, like, all youl Need Is Love as Dracula. But I would say all you need is blood. I just. I don't know why at the time. So Gary Oldman's Dracula was, like, really impactful on me. So I wrote this song as Dracula. And then I was like, oh. And I was already a puppeteer at this point. So I was like. I had puppets all over my house and I would make little short films with them. So it got in my head that I was gonna make a Dracula puppet musical. And I was in a bit of a stall in my career, if you can call it that. I was like 24 when I wrote this movie. So I was like, I was just too young to play anybody serious. And I was too old to play a kid. You're in this weird in between stage. So I was like, what I'm gonna do is write this Dracula puppet musical. So I recorded that song and I triumphantly burned it on a cdr and I drove over to Judd Apatow's house. I called him, I said, I have to show you something. I need your help. And I played this song for him. And he sat there respectfully and listened. And then he said, you can't play this for anyone ever. And I sort of put it away.
- [22:07]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [22:08]
Jason Segel
So then as we were. As I was writing Sarah Marshall, and we were like, trying to think of, like, the main guy's job is always, you know, anyone's job. It's always like this kind of mushy area. Like, what does a real person do for a job? You know? And I want it to juxtapose well with Sarah Marshall, where they're like, kind of tangentially in the same field, but he can feel less than her, you know. So I decided to make him a composer because I knew it would give me a chance to play music. And the thing. And then the Dracula musical popped into my head and I was like, if we're going to be personal in this thing, let's be personal. Let's have his dream be to make this Dracula puppet musical. And it was half, like, it was half self aware of. I know that this is a pathetic thing to give somebody as their dream, but honestly, another half of me was like, I'm gonna show everybody that this was a good idea.
- [23:04]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you needed was the frame of it. It is a bad idea for people to be open to it, to be like, oh, it's a good idea. Because if it's done supplewear, so many.
- [23:15]
Jason Segel
People now are like, when are we gonna see the Dracula puppet musical? Exactly.
- [23:19]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, I think you'll get asked that question for the rest of your life. When will you make a Dracula puppet musical?
- [23:26]
Jason Segel
Yeah, we have a good idea for it, actually. Nick Stoller and I have a really good idea for. It's like, I don't even know if you call it a sequel or like a spin off of forgetting Sarah Marshall about Peter trying to make the Dracula puppet musical.
- [23:41]
Jesse David Fox
What is the likelihood of you doing that.
- [23:46]
Jason Segel
Time or anybody expressing any interest for that to happen?
- [23:49]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah. You know, well, if you're listening studio execs or whatever.
- [23:53]
Jason Segel
Yeah, yeah.
- [23:54]
Jesse David Fox
It's so distinctly to your voice. And so there are moments when there these things happen. Like on Shrinking, you're like the same guy. You're not like. It's not even about replicating yourself. It's like this comes from the same brain. And the closest is there's a scene in Shrinking season one where you're playing back. You're supposed to be playing backing piano for your friend to propose.
- [24:15]
Jason Segel
This was. You told me to think of some things and this was a scene I was gonna bring up.
- [24:18]
Jesse David Fox
And you immediately play it. The thing about all of these scenes is it's just a sad thing that is happening. And so play the scene in Shrinking where you're playing piano for your friend because you are, you know, it's wrapped in sort of your feeling about your wife passing away. And you just play it sad and then you throw up. But that is not like. It's not like a funny throw up, but it is like to me, it's like one of the funniest scenes of the show. And it just really is like that's the guy. That's the thing that he can do.
- [24:56]
Jason Segel
Yeah, thanks. Well, the reason that I thought of that scene is because I have an aversion to things calling themselves comedies that are just pleasant. Do you know what I mean? Like, it kind of like passes for comedy that you kind of have a little smile on your face.
- [25:14]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [25:16]
Jason Segel
I come from a school of comedy where like big heavy hitter comedians who I admire fucking like Kristen Wiig and Sandler and Jack Black and Will Ferrell and all these amazing Kate McKinnon are amaz making you like, cackle, you know, Melissa McCarthy just like these giant fucking laughs. And so I think a big set comedy piece is important. You know, there is the thing about comedy that I think is the real measure is it's binary. You're either laughing or you're not. And I think that that is a great test. Like, did it make you laugh? Sometimes in writers rooms, people are like, that's funny. I'm like, that's not good enough. Your face is frowning.
- [26:06]
Jesse David Fox
You know, you get Freaks and geeks when you're 18, 19, you then are in undeclared in North Hollywood. Like, essentially the time period you would be in college, you were in Jedi without project. Is there beyond advice, do you remember any specifical day on any of these sets that was sort of foundational in one way or another?
- [26:25]
Jason Segel
There was a moment when Seth and I are doing. I don't think he'll mind me telling this story. There's a moment where Seth and I are on Freaks and Geeks and the Matrix came out and we smoked a bunch of weed and we went to opening night of the Matrix and we walked out of that. Like, that movie changed everything. And also this idea of like, we need to fucking attack. Like, you know what I mean? We were young. Like I said, there was the naivety of youth of why can't you?
- [26:57]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [26:58]
Jason Segel
And I just remember. I remember this relationship of camaraderie, specifically with Seth, of like, we can do this. You know, there also was this like really like, blissful period. It's only happened on a couple other projects, but Freaks and Geeks, it was every time we would get the scripts and a bunch of us would get together at my house on Saturday and Sunday and rehearse the scripts alone. That's crazy. Like, we would sit there and we would like go through the lines. We would think of alts. Like, there was a lot of freedom on Freaks and Geeks when we were shooting and we were all fucking, like, we had Our eye on the prize. Like, we're gonna make this the best show that ever existed on TV. And then we got canceled, like, after 13 episodes. I've told this story before, but it is true, and it is so funny to me now, knowing how things work. We knew we were gonna get canceled because when we started the show, there was this lavish craft service table of, like, the most beautiful snacks, like, uncrustables and shit, whatever they're called. And, like, by, like, episode six or seven, it was down to, like, a box of corn pops and some creamer. And we were like, oh, we're getting canceled.
- [28:22]
Jesse David Fox
Is there a scene from Freaks and Geeks that was instructive for you as an actor to realize what you could play? Like, oh, this is the thing that I didn't realize I was able to do. This is how people see me, right? This is like, Jud and Paul were writing how they perceive you, especially as they were sort of going on. Like, was there something where there's a.
- [28:44]
Jason Segel
Scene I could do better? Now? This is why I have mental problems. It's, like, 25 years later, reshooting. Can we run this back where I tell Linda that I was Lindsay, that I need to go off to fight in the war because I failed at a drum audition or something. And I'm trying too hard. I'm trying too hard in that scene. But there are other scenes, like when I sing lady to her in the basement, where I'm like, oh, this is when I start to discover, you know, you asked me, like, what's unique? I can walk this line between charming and creepy. And just at the last moment, tip to charming. But it gets really close to creepy in a way that I think is, like, really fun. But I think maybe, like, the most important moment happened because I had to sing a song on guitar that I had to write because I was, like, writing a little music at that time called Lady Ly. And Judd told me this on a Thursday. Hey, tomorrow, I need you to sing a song to Lindsay on guitar. Just write it. Like, we don't have somebody to write it. And I said, well, can it be on piano? I only play piano. And he said, no, it needs to be guitar, because Seth's gonna bust it. I said, judd, I don't play guitar. He said, you'll figure it out. And, you know, it's an interesting thing because, like, what option was there? Yeah, I had to figure it out. And so I figured it out.
- [30:33]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [30:33]
Jason Segel
And I've realized that that's. That's probably true. Of everything. Like, of all of us. And, like, fear gets in the way. But I do believe in my bones, I will figure it out.
- [30:46]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. It really is like, that is a different sort of way of shaping a comedic mind than being like, okay, here's advice of how to write a script. It's, like, truly, like, empowering people. It's like, ultimately, what he was doing.
- [31:02]
Jason Segel
Yeah. I mean, he said this other thing, which actually was the most defining thing, and it is advice, was he said, look, if you can improv like this, then you can write. I'm gonna teach you how to write because, you know, there's, like, structure and stuff, but the only way you're gonna make it in this business is if you write your own material. And it was the best advice I ever got, because to this day, like, I'm pretty successful, but I do not get offered the parts I want. I have to write them.
- [31:30]
Jesse David Fox
I've heard you say that. I wonder. It's like, so let's say you didn't listen to it. You're like, screw you, Judd.
- [31:35]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [31:36]
Jesse David Fox
You get How I Met yout Mother.
- [31:38]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [31:38]
Jesse David Fox
There is a career. But I think he's saying the career I think you will want. Right. If you do how you Met yout Mother, you can get another sitcom.
- [31:48]
Jason Segel
Yes.
- [31:49]
Jesse David Fox
Of diminishing quality. Hypothetical.
- [31:52]
Jason Segel
For the rest of your life.
- [31:53]
Jesse David Fox
Yes.
- [31:53]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [31:54]
Jesse David Fox
What he was saying was, I think slightly the note behind the note was like.
- [32:00]
Jason Segel
The note behind the note is that you are unique. And the only way you're ever going to be able to express your uniqueness is if you write your own material. And also, the thing that I have really Learned over now 25 years is anytime you want to make a pivot, no one gives a shit. So you're responsible. You're responsible for the pivot.
- [32:25]
Jesse David Fox
I want to talk to you about pivot. So comedy is made up of eras, and it's possible to know when the culture is going to move on and in what way. And that time where all of y' all were making movies and you're inspired is clearly an era you've been open about. 2014, and sort of a lot of sort of things ended at the same time. And you had this moment of reflecting the sort of work you've done, the work you want to do. And I wanted to spend a little bit time there because it's so instructive of sort of where you are now. First is sex. Tape comes out. Movie you wrote, you star in, and it does solidly, financially, actually, sort of forgot about it.
- [33:00]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [33:00]
Jesse David Fox
Because it did seem, though it did all right. Not to feel like zeitgeisty as the other things you're doing.
- [33:08]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [33:09]
Jesse David Fox
What did that feel like? How did it feel like when it felt like, oh, I am not the cutting edge. I'm not part of what comedy is right now.
- [33:18]
Jason Segel
When I was trying to figure out why I was doing any of this, and I went on this exploration, this is after that, of like, working with people I admired, I would ask people all these questions like, how do you choose parts? How long do you wait between movies? Do you look at the paycheck? All these really reductive questions because I hadn't really thought about them or had somebody teach me that stuff. And one of the questions I would ask was, what is art? And a really great actor said to me, he thought for a minute and he said, I think art is performing an act of self exploration on behalf of an audience. So it's like I'm going to explore something that I'm really thinking about, and hopefully that will be of use to the audience watching because maybe they're thinking about the same thing. I think actually that's the leap of any artist of any medium saying, like, this is something that I am struggling with, and I think it should be something you're struggling with. And by me going through it, maybe it will help other people going through it. And looking back retrospectively, I think at that period, I was not doing that at 24 or 25, writing for eating, Sarah Marshall. That was what I was going through. Trying to, gosh, every breakup felt like your heart was broken, but at 33 years old, making a movie about being afraid of girls is just dishonest. You know what I mean? I'm six four, I have a bunch of money at this point, I'm famous. And I'm like, well, I hope it works out with this girl.
- [34:53]
Jesse David Fox
I hope a girl's not mean to me.
- [34:56]
Jason Segel
Yeah, you know what I mean? And so I think that that translates. I think that you feel like that's not somebody that's not vital, like what they're going through. So I think I was thinking at that point because I was in distress emotionally during that point, I was thinking less about how it felt in relationship to the business, and I was thinking more like, why do I not feel good? Yeah, like every on paper I have won, you know, I had like giant TV show and movies that were doing really well, but I really didn't feel like a value. And actually Jonah Hill said something to me that was really Worthwhile. Where he said, look, you can't take another job ever for a paycheck. You get to say that once, but we've gotten our paychecks now. Why are we doing this? And that was a really good piece of advice, too. And so I think since then, I try to make sure that anything I do is, like, reflective of where I am at a given moment. But, yeah, that moment, that period in 2013, 2014, we're also. Look, How I Met yout Mother is one of the best things that ever happened in my life. But we're also nine seasons in at that point, and you're, like, starting to vaguely repeat ideas and storylines. Is this guy gonna meet the wife or what? You know what I mean? Like, starting to tip into weird, you know?
- [36:25]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [36:26]
Jason Segel
And so I just was feeling like none of this is really what I'm actually thinking about right now.
- [36:31]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. I wanna ask about how I met your mother in terms of, like, the job of it.
- [36:35]
Jason Segel
Right.
- [36:36]
Jesse David Fox
Regardless of the creativity. Cause I think it reflects about a lesson that you've learned. So I wanna put it this way, which is, do you remember the best day on set shooting it, and the worst day on set, or maybe a frustrating day on set?
- [36:49]
Jason Segel
The best day on set. And this is not. This is. I actually mean this sincerely. When we shot the last scene of How I Met yout Mother, I was really flooded with an immense sense of, like, gratitude and accomplishment of that. Me and this group of people. Like, that was our 20s.
- [37:14]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [37:15]
Jason Segel
We did it all together. We all liked each other by the end. We all felt good about. Came to a dignified end. I think that. That I cried hysterically during that last scene, like, disproportionate to the occasion, you know, I think that that was honestly my best day. What a cushy. What a cushy 10 years that was.
- [37:35]
Jesse David Fox
So I wanna talk a little bit about your 2020 anthology series, Dispatches from Elsewhere.
- [37:40]
Jason Segel
I love that we're talking about Dispatches.
- [37:42]
Jesse David Fox
Well, it's just like, I remember when you did. I was like, oh, it's cool. He's doing, like, a weirdo thing. I'm sorry. That's not dismissive. It's sort of like, it. Well, I'll put it this way, since we're. You said that. Which is like. It did feel like I want to expand the bounds in which people see me, even if they don't even see this show.
- [38:04]
Jason Segel
Yeah, it brought me out of a hole. I was in the process of making that show was so meta in Terms of. And I wrote it to be this way, but it is about somebody coming out of being trapped in their own head, acceptance about themself and coming out on the other side like, this is who I am. And that's great. And it ends with everybody saying, I am you. All these people from around the world. Because I think that we all go through these periods. Like, each of those characters was designed to be somebody who was not feeling reconciled with their inner self and realizing, God, we must. To some level, I sure believe my artistic leap of faith is that we all feel that way. Just another thing about Dispatches was I hadn't written anything since Muppets, and anything that I really felt like was me, you know? And I got sober in 2013, and I stopped finding things funny. I was, like, having this moment of, like, we talked about, like, I know how to write about a guy being afraid of girls, but I don't really know how to write about anything else. And what I was going through was not funny. And I saw this documentary about this experience that people had in San Francisco that was just like, art for art's sake and reminding people of childlike wonder. And I watched this thing, and I had, for the first time in, like, seven years, I had the thought of, like, I want to write this. And I followed that instinct and I just started writing. And it was the first thing I wrote in, like, almost a decade. And it's what I do, you know, What I do is write. And I was very scared. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to write again. Like, I was having all these fears and writing that series. That series is the Dracula musical.
- [40:01]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [40:01]
Jason Segel
You know what I mean? You ask, like, how does it evolve? That series is Full Frontal Nudity. That series is the Dracula musical laid out in whatever way that I wanted to, you know? And, yeah, I still, like. I hope that show ends up on Netflix or something someday so people can see it.
- [40:18]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. So there's a line in the first episode. It's basically introducing the problem, the philosophical problem the show is going to wrestle with. But it reminded me of your career and sort of a meta comment on the life of making a certain type of TV show. So in the first episode, Richard E. Grant is introducing the show at large and the monotony of your character's life. And he says of your character that he is, if you ended your day in the same place you began it, with no change every day like the others, with the exception of meaningless and arbitrary deviation. And this is a Tragedy in its most quietly devastating costume. A life without risk. A life without real pain. A life without real joys. This is existing, not living.
- [41:06]
Jason Segel
Yeah, I wrote that.
- [41:08]
Jesse David Fox
I know. How does it feel? Like I could hear you breathing about it. And it is. You wrote it. What is that? Do you remember writing that?
- [41:16]
Jason Segel
Yeah, sure. I remember feeling that.
- [41:18]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [41:18]
Jason Segel
Yeah. I felt every ounce of everything I wrote in that show, which goes back to our thing. That's the point, isn't it?
- [41:27]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [41:29]
Jason Segel
Yeah. That is where I found myself at, like, 32, 33 years old, which is like, you can't have a pity party when you're, like, doing so well. But. But it also doesn't matter, you know, Like, I was really not feeling good. And I think you gotta be brave. You have to be brave. Like, it's the whole point of making art is to be brave. And I think that by the time I got to kind of the end of the run of, like, stage one of my career, I was doing a lot of stuff that required, like, 20% of my resources. Does that make sense?
- [42:14]
Jesse David Fox
Well, sure, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's a very low percentage.
- [42:17]
Jason Segel
Yeah. Well, I mean, by the time you're on season nine of a TV show, you really know how to do it. You know, it's like, that's the point of a sitcom. The point of a sitcom is the repetition of it so that when it goes to syndication, you can check in to any episode and it feels familiar. It feels the same. You know, there's that old. I don't know, it's like, kind of trite idea of like, if. If you're not afraid, it's not, you know, you're not challenging yourself. I think there's some truth to that. I just think that it's a really potent recipe for something to work and to be electric if you're not sure if you can pull it off. David Bowie has an amazing quote about that about walk out into the water and as soon as your feet can no longer touch the ground. That's a potent place to make art. And I think that's true. My feet were on the ground for a long time towards the end of Phase One.
- [43:16]
Jesse David Fox
One other thing that was, I think, partly related to sort of just sort of your feeling about what it means to sort of create in the Hollywood system is. So in 2014, also, the Muppets Most Wanted comes out, which is you were not involved in. Even though it's essentially a sequel to the Muppets movie you made. And you talked about the Muppets were a huge influence for you. Making that movie was a dream for you. It was a. To get to do that was almost like a. Was like a real drive, but that was. You had to do it in collaboration. Air quotes. But in essentially, like, conflict with the people who were the stewards of the Muppets estate. And I think it probably was up that point, Judd allowed you guys a certain amount of freedom, and then you're in this position. So can you talk a little bit about making Muppets where you. You are making this thing that you're dreaming about, but also sort of wrestling with sort of these other creative forces?
- [44:22]
Jason Segel
I mean, it was a weird thing to do that movie. I just, like, talk about lack of strategy. Yeah, yeah. I had just made For Getting Sarah Marshall that, like, did really well. Okay.
- [44:34]
Jesse David Fox
It is funny in this era where there's no comedies get released at all, to be like, there was a time period where you specifically made a giant hit and it was just a romantic comedy.
- [44:44]
Jason Segel
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then you know how the business works. Like, after that happens, they're like, what do you want to do now? Yeah, you know, you got some juice. I was like, I want to make the Muppets. And they were like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like, that's not how this goes. And I said, no, I want to make the Muppets because I love them. And also, I just. I've never been that strategic. I probably could have maximized all of this a little bit more. But it's like every four or five years, I make something that I'm really fucking proud of. And I'm learning that that's. That's a good path. You know what I mean? It's a good path for me.
- [45:22]
Jesse David Fox
Speaking of sort of working with studio or. What do you think of working for Apple, Especially at this time where it appears the upper tier of Apple corporate, which is well above the Hollywood portion of Apple corporate, is like, debating if the studio is spending too much money or even, like, if the entire project is worth it. What is. What is your feeling about Apple specifically and sort of the streaming climate?
- [45:47]
Jason Segel
I'm saying this not because they're my bosses. It's been dreamy. They love shrinking. I think you get a particular experience if something works. You know what I mean? And so I can't speak to what it's like if something is not working. But Bill Lawrence was coming off of Lasso, which is like the biggest hit that ever existed on television. And then we went into shrinking, and shrinking works and shrinking Has a lot of heart and people love it. And so my experience with them has been nothing but lovely.
- [46:24]
Jesse David Fox
So we speak now a decade or so removed from 2014, and that moment where you reflected about the work you wanted to make, insomuch as shrinking is rooted in similar ideas of characters who are stuck in figuring out how to unstick themselves. And how did you get unstopped?
- [46:42]
Jason Segel
It's a great question. Well, it took a lot of time. I went through a lot of fear of, like, you know, it's like identity shedding. Because I started at 18 years old being very specific guy, you know, And I think at 33 years old, I was like, but I'm not that guy, you know? And so I need to shed it. And I'm sure a lot of people go through this, you know, but I need to shed it and figure out, like, who I am today. And then these check ins need to be way more frequent. That's how you end up at, like a midlife crisis, right? It's like someone waits till 45 to do the check in. I realized I had gone about a decade before I, like, checked in and just did whatever, like micro adjustments. It's like cleaning out your card every few days as opposed to waiting till it's a mess, you know? Grown up shit, really. It's just grown up shit.
- [47:46]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [47:47]
Jason Segel
And so I started just paying attention to where I was at any moment and what I was thinking about and making sure that what I was writing was reflective of that, regardless of strategy and if it was gonna be a big hit or if people were even going to buy it or like it. Sometimes you make a piece of art and you hang it in your garage, you know? You know what I mean? And that doesn't make it any less meaningful to you. Honestly, Dispatches from Elsewhere was seen by very few people. And the people who did see it, like, who it resonated with, it was very meaningful to them. And it was like, really meaningful to me. It has as much value to me. More value than some giant hits that I'm like, oh, no, don't say that one. When you say you recognize me, you know what I mean?
- [48:37]
Jesse David Fox
Now I'm like, what is the thing he's least proud of from his entire catalog?
- [48:41]
Jason Segel
You know, it's interesting. I've done, like now with a little distance, like, when you're immediately having them, you have shame, whatever. But now I look back and I'm like, your fucking hit rate's pretty good. You know what I mean? Like, I have made so much that I'm proud of. I don't keep much memorabilia, but I have, like, posters of the movies that I made that I've never hung up. And I got them out of storage the other day because we were moving, and I was looking at them like, oh, there's really good stuff in here.
- [49:15]
Jesse David Fox
Will you name the project that used to be most embarrassing?
- [49:18]
Jason Segel
No, never. Because you know what? People work as hard on those as they do on the ones that I love. You never set out to make something shitty.
- [49:26]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah.
- [49:26]
Jason Segel
You know.
- [49:29]
Jesse David Fox
Part of what you approach your career was you went into jobs looking to learn, and you specifically would just ask people questions. And I just want to ask you specifically people you worked with and what you learned directly from them or learned from working with them. Do you remember a day working with Jesse Eisenberg where you learned something from him?
- [49:52]
Jason Segel
Oh, yeah. I steal a lot from Jesse Eisenberg. No, I really do. I learned a lot sitting across doing scenes from Jesse Eisenberg, and I steal from him shamelessly. My performance in Winning Time as Paul Westhead is ripping off Jesse Eisenberg and into the tour. I do a ton of his mannerisms, like, with the confidence that were dissimilar enough that you won't be able to tell, but he does. There's just something he does with his face. These kind of, like, micro expressions of dissatisfaction in that movie that I've taken with me to a bunch of projects. I think he's a master at that of, like, in that movie end of the tour, he is listening to me with this. He has to put on the facade of fascination, but he has contempt, you know, and it was like a master class in that duality.
- [50:53]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Working on Winning Time, do you remember something you learned from Adrien Brody, where you were playing Paul and he was playing Pat Riley?
- [51:05]
Jason Segel
He really was aware of the set, of everything around him, and, like, a real mastery of film acting, you know, like, understanding when to flick a lighter. I'm a little more loosey goosey, you know, I'm like, what's happening? Let's go. Let's go. He really understands, like, film acting and where the fucking camera is and how to maximize, like, the emotion of a moment. I learned that from him. It's like. And he seems effortless at it, but he knows exactly what he's doing.
- [51:41]
Jesse David Fox
What did you learn shooting with Andre 3000 in dispatches?
- [51:44]
Jason Segel
Dude, Andre 3000. I, in addition to being an amazing actor, but he is my model for how to carry yourself on a set. He is a leave no trace performer. He shows up, he knows his lines perfectly. If he has a question, he asks it. But he does his acting and he disappears into the night. And you're like, fuck. Never was there. Never was there anything besides the work. There was no pretense. There was no ego. I remember being really scared of giving the finale to people, of Dispatches from elsewhere, because it's a, you know, look. It's like big, big swing writing wise. And I tried to copy Infinite Jest in that the end of Dispatches leads back into the beginning, you know, leads back into episode one. And there were some people who, like, weren't thrilled with the ending and were. And talk to me about it.
- [52:49]
Jesse David Fox
Actors.
- [52:51]
Jason Segel
Yeah, sure. And now look up the actors in that. So I hadn't seen Andre yet and I'm like. I'm like a little nervous to see Andre because I've had some people have a hard time with it. And Andre walks onto set and he sees me and he said, hey, you made a loop. And I said, yes, thank God I made a loop. And he said, but he's the guy for that show. You know what I mean? He's the guy for that show.
- [53:32]
Jesse David Fox
He's like, exactly.
- [53:33]
Jason Segel
He's like, yeah, man, you made a loop.
- [53:35]
Jesse David Fox
Cool. What have you learned from Harrison Ford?
- [53:39]
Jason Segel
Working with Harrison Ford has been one of the honors of my life. Look, there's so many things I've learned from Harrison Ford. The first one being the first thing he does which is so generous is whatever awe that he knows is gonna exist in the dynamic. He fucking busts right through and makes you feel like his contemporary. Like you belong there and he asks you questions and all this stuff. So all of a sudden I felt like, tremendous ease. I learned a ton from him, acting wise. But what I've learned from him more than anything is like, personal stuff about, like, hey, you're doing great, you know, like, it's all of this other stuff that you're complicating your head and your heart with. It's like it's never gonna go away. So give into it and just know you're doing great. And it's nice to be talked to that way, you know.
- [54:43]
Jesse David Fox
So, you know, we talked a lot about the past, but I wanna look forward a little bit. So you're currently shooting the third season of Shrinking. At the start of the show, your co creator, Bill Lawrence said he had planned out three seasons of the show. As you're shooting it, does it feel like a final season?
- [55:03]
Jason Segel
I'd be really surprised if it was the final season. You know, look, it's like. I don't know. We've all been around a long time. It seems to be doing really well. I don't. Yes. Maybe it's. Maybe it's. Maybe it's the final season. Maybe. You never know. I don't know. We're all having a great time.
- [55:22]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [55:23]
Jason Segel
You know, we're all having a great time. The stories haven't run dry. I know there are ideas for how to make sure they don't run dry. I think the real. I think the real truth of when the show will end is when we as creators call it. Like, when we say, I mean, look, Apple could pull the plug. I don't know. But I think when we feel like we're repeating ourselves or that we've run out of things to say, then we'll call it.
- [55:48]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Do you feel like that's part of the lesson? The hard lesson you learned from How I Met yout Mother is the feeling of this is a show that is not as creatively vibrant as it once was and you don't want to.
- [56:01]
Jason Segel
Yeah, I only get to do so many things in my life, I'm realizing. And, like, boy, you know, you're getting older, and all of a sudden, this, like, 85 all of a sudden seems so much closer than it did when I was making Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Where I go, this will be endless. I'm like, oh, no. But probably by, like, 65, I'm gonna want to really slow down. That's, like, only 20 more years. A project takes a year and a half. You're like, oh, I got, like, 15 things left, you know? And so, yeah, I want to do stuff that I'm proud of.
- [56:42]
Jesse David Fox
You know, we talk a lot about risk. You know, is there a risk you'd like to take?
- [56:47]
Jason Segel
I would really like to play a proper villain. I just did a movie where I'm pretty darn close. I end up tipping Hero, but is not a great guy. I think that that, like, line of charming to creepy could be really interesting if I tipped it the other way, you know?
- [57:08]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Or even, like, it's a trick where they. They think you're like, oh, he's doing his thing of being charming to creepy, but actually, the whole time, he was being creepy.
- [57:16]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [57:16]
Jesse David Fox
Charming. So now it's time for the final segment of the show. It's called a laughing round. It's like a lightning round, but because it's a comedy podcast, I call it the laughing round.
- [57:24]
Jason Segel
Okay. Have I been funny enough for A comedy podcast.
- [57:26]
Jesse David Fox
I think you've been funny enough for this comedy.
- [57:28]
Jason Segel
Okay, great.
- [57:29]
Jesse David Fox
We'll see. We'll see what my producer says.
- [57:32]
Jason Segel
Okay, great.
- [57:32]
Jesse David Fox
This is how this is. You know, it's my show.
- [57:35]
Jason Segel
Yes. Oh, you get to do what you want.
- [57:36]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Yeah.
- [57:36]
Jason Segel
Great.
- [57:37]
Jesse David Fox
Well, we'll talk about it later.
- [57:41]
Jason Segel
There we go. We just added a laugh.
- [57:43]
Jesse David Fox
What do you remember from your week hosting snl?
- [57:45]
Jason Segel
Oh, man. Okay, so now we're talking. So this was the best weekend of my life, because I think on Friday night, I did David Letterman for the first time. I'd never done David Letterman. This is a dream come true. Saturday night, I hosted SNL with the Muppets. And then Sunday, we took a train to Washington, D.C. to the White House, where I showed Barack and Michelle Obama Muppets with a group of veterans. It's like the craziest three days of a young man's life. So I was waiting. You're waiting in this room. You're waiting in this room in the White House, and then all of a sudden, you feel Barack Obama's coming. No one has to say anything. You just know he's coming in. So he walks into the room, and he sees me, and he puts his arms out, you know, and he says, hey, I love you, man. Cause I had made a movie called I love you, man, and I froze up. I'd also been up all night the night before hosting SNL. And I said, I love you too, Mr. President. And then I said. He said, I hear you're doing a screening of the Muppets over at Georgetown later. And I said, you should come, Mr. President. There'll be free snacks. And then he said, because that's what's missing in my life, free snacks. And he left the room. I think about it all the time, and I sweat profusely.
- [59:25]
Jesse David Fox
It's wonderful. And for how much people talk about SNL and 50th anniversary, it's like, yeah, that was sort of the entree point to my Barack Obama story.
- [59:34]
Jason Segel
Yeah.
- [59:35]
Jesse David Fox
Do you have any advice for an aspiring actor, writer, comedian?
- [59:38]
Jason Segel
I think it's important to celebrate every step, because if you keep moving the goalpost, you're never gonna get there. So a great audition. Celebrate. You write the end on a script you're writing. Celebrate. I try to keep that in mind. Like, if you keep waiting for what's opening weekend, do we get nominated? Did it do well? You're gonna miss it. Don't miss it. That's the key for me.
- [60:02]
Jesse David Fox
Can you think of a joke, a scene Or a moment that didn't work for one reason or the other for other people. But you will go to your grave being like, that was funny. And everyone was wrong.
- [60:12]
Jason Segel
Yeah. I wrote, with two of my really good friends, Bart Nickerson and Ashley Lyle, a script for space ghost, the movie live action space ghost that for all sorts of reasons, didn't end up getting made. But it's one of my favorite things that I've ever written with them. The basic arc of it was that. So space ghost in real Life has had three iterations. There was, like, the 1960s space ghost where he was as famous as Batman for like, a brief little moment in that old, like, spandex superhero era. Then he got brought back as an ironic talk show host. As we all remember our generation then in this, like, modern superhero era, they tried to bring him back as, like, grizzled space ghosts. Right. There's, like, a limited run of comics, so we wrote a script. That was the arc that he started. He was like the superhero who got left behind. Became kind of a washed up talk show host. And then because of some shit that happens, all of the other superheroes are off planet when there's an on world thing and he has to, like, rise from the ashes and become. Step into his own manhood.
- [61:18]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [61:19]
Jason Segel
Classic Jason Segel.
- [61:19]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, it's good. What was your best day ever on set?
- [61:22]
Jason Segel
You know, there's a speech that Harrison Ford gives at the end of season two. It's the best acting I've ever seen in person. Where I thought to myself, this is the luckiest you'll ever be. Don't forget. Don't forget this moment. Like you're watching an idol, one of the greats. Bear his guts on screen in front of you in an environment where we're equals.