Jason Segel Biography

Jason Jordan Segel (born January 18, 1980) is an American actor, screenwriter, songwriter, singer, and musician. He is known for his work with producer Judd Apatow on the cult classic, short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared; the films Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Knocked Up; I Love You, Man; Gulliver's Travels; Bad Teacher; Despicable Me; The Muppets and The Five-Year Engagement; and also for his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Early life

Segel was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Jillian (née Jordan), a homemaker, and Alvin G. Segel, a lawyer, and grew up in Pacific Palisades, California. His father is Jewish and his mother is Christian. He has stated that he was raised Jewish, as well as "a little bit of everything". He went to Hebrew school and had a Bar Mitzvah, and also attended St. Matthew's Parish School, a private Episcopal school. He has an older half-brother, Adam, and a younger sister, Alison.

Following elementary school and middle school, Segel completed his high school studies at Harvard-Westlake School, where his frame helped him as an active member of the 1996 and 1997 CIF state champion boys' basketball team. He was a backup to the team's star center, Jason Collins, who went on to play in the NBA. Segel had hopes of becoming a professional actor while in college, although he ultimately chose not to go to college. Instead, he acted in local theater productions at Palisades Playhouse.

Career

Segel's first major role was as stoner "freak" Nick Andopolis on the critically acclaimed but short-lived 1999 NBC comedy-drama series Freaks and Geeks. The series revolved around a group of suburban Detroit high school students circa 1980. Segel personally composed a song for his character, Nick, to sing to the lead female character, Lindsay (Linda Cardellini). Cardellini and Segel dated for a few years following the show's cancellation. It was rumored that she broke up with him for gaining too much weight, but it was later revealed that the statement was in fact a joke taken out of context.

Segel had recurring roles on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Neil Jansen and on Undeclared as Eric. He currently plays Marshall Eriksen on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother; he had previously stated he would move on to other projects in 2013 when his contract expired, but was successfully convinced to finish the series after its ninth season in 2014. Feature film appearances include Slackers, SLC Punk!, The Good Humor Man, and Dead Man on Campus. In 2007, he appeared in Knocked Up, directed by Freaks and Geeks creator Judd Apatow. Segel starred in the lead role of 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a film he wrote and Apatow produced with Shauna Robertson for Universal Pictures. He also starred in I Love You, Man, which was released on March 20, 2009 by DreamWorks.

In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Segel's character writes a "Dracula" musical performed by puppets. He also appeared in a full frontal nude scene in the film. In an interview, he stated that the Dracula musical with puppets, as well as being broken up with while naked, were real experiences he wrote into the movie. Those cloth creatures were custom-made by the Jim Henson Company, and the experience emboldened Segel to pitch his concept for a Muppets movie. Segel performed a song from the film, entitled "Dracula's Lament", on the 1000th episode of Craig Ferguson's show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

For the 2010 comedy Get Him to the Greek, Segel co-wrote most of the soundtrack's music which was performed by the fictional band Infant Sorrow. He also appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and sang an original song entitled "Wonky Eyed Girl".

In 2010, he voiced Gru's arch-rival Vector in the Universal's CGI animated film, Despicable Me and appeared as "Horatio" in a fantasy comedy film Gulliver's Travels directed by Rob Letterman and very loosely based on Part One of the 18th-century novel of the same name by Jonathan Swift. Segel appeared in Bad Teacher, starring Cameron Diaz, which opened in June 2011. He played gym teacher and thwarted suitor Russell Gettis. Along with Nicholas Stoller, Segel approached Disney in 2007 to write the latest Muppets film. Disney was unsure on how to take the request, as Segel had just done frontal nudity in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but after realizing that he was an avid fan, the project was approved. Segel stated that he wanted to do the film because the last film in the series to be released in theaters was Muppets from Space in 1999, and he felt that the younger generation was missing out on enjoying one of his childhood favorites. He has stated that he will not star in the sequel to The Muppets. He filmed The Five-Year Engagement, with Emily Blunt, in spring 2011, in Michigan, and the film was released on April 27, 2012.

In 2013, Segel revealed he was working on a series of young adult novels, based on a story he conceived when he was 21. Segel will also be in the cast of a film based on the 2012 Quebec maple syrup heist, which will be directed by Seth Gordon.

Personal life

Segel dated his Freaks and Geeks co-star Linda Cardellini for a few years following the show's cancellation. Segel dated actress Michelle Williams for about a year, breaking up at the end of February 2013. He is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church. He performed a wedding ceremony on The Tonight Show on July 6, 2010 for a couple that solicited his services by placing wanted pictures of him around his home town and the bar he frequently visits.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Can't Hardly Wait	Watermelon Guy
1998	Dead Man on Campus	Kyle
1998	SLC Punk!	Mike
2001	North Hollywood		TV Movie
2002	Slackers	Sam Schechter
2003	'	Leon (Paramedic #1)
2003	Certainly Not a Fairytale	Leo
2004	LolliLove	Jason
2005	'	Smelly Bob
2006	Bye Bye Benjamin	Theodore Everest
2006	Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny	Frat Boy	Scenes deleted
2007	Knocked Up	Jason
2008	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Peter Bretter	Also writer
2009	I Love You, Man	Sydney Fife
2010	Despicable Me	Vector	Voice
2010	Get Him to the Greek		Writer/producer only
2010	Gulliver's Travels	Horatio
2010	Todd vs. High School	Himself
2011	'	Gary	Also writer and executive producer
2011	Friends with Benefits	Brice	Uncredited
2011	Bad Teacher	Russell Gettis
2011	Jeff, Who Lives at Home	Jeff
2012	This Is 40	Jason
2012	The Five-Year Engagement	Tom Solomon	Also writer and executive producer
2013	This Is the End	Himself	Un-credited

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999"2000	Freaks and Geeks	Nick Andopolis	18 episodes
2001"2002	Undeclared	Eric	7 episodes
2004	Harry Green and Eugene	Eugene Green	Unaired pilot
2004"2005	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Neil Jansen	3 episodes
2005	Alias	Sam Hauser	Episode: "The Road Home"
2005"present	How I Met Your Mother	Marshall Eriksen	Main role
2005-present	My Big Big Friends	Phillip, Additional Boys	Voice
2009	Family Guy	Marshall Eriksen	Episode: "Peter's Progress"
2011	Saturday Night Live	Himself, Host	Episode: "Jason Segel/Florence and the Machine"
2011	Take Two with Phineas and Ferb	Himself	Episode: "Jason Segel"

Awards and nominations

Year	Title	Award	Result
2000	Freaks and Geeks	Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series: Young Ensemble
2008	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment
2008	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Breakout Male
2011		Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
2011	'	Critics Choice Award for Best Song shared with Amy Adams and Bret McKenzie
2011	The Muppets	Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay