Jason Segel | |
|---|---|
 Segel in 2025 | |
| Born | Jason Jordan Segel (1980-01-18)January 18, 1980 (age 45) Santa Monica,California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1998–present |
| Partner(s) | Kayla Radomski (2023–present; engaged) |
Jason Jordan Segel (/ˈsiːɡəl/SEE-gal; born January 18, 1980) is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his role asMarshall Eriksen in theCBSsitcomHow I Met Your Mother from 2005 to 2014. He began his career with director and producerJudd Apatow on the television seriesFreaks and Geeks (1999–2000) andUndeclared (2001–2002) before gaining prominence for his leading roles in various successful comedy films in which he has starred, written, and produced.
Segel's comedic films includeKnocked Up (2007),Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008),I Love You, Man (2009),Bad Teacher (2011),The Five-Year Engagement (2012),This Is 40 (2012), andSex Tape (2014), as well as family films such asDespicable Me (2010), andThe Muppets (2011). For his role asDavid Foster Wallace inThe End of the Tour (2015) he received a nomination for theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He also starred in the dramasJeff, Who Lives at Home (2011),The Discovery (2017),Our Friend (2019), andWindfall (2022). From 2022 to 2023, he played the role ofPaul Westhead in theHBO seriesWinning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
In 2023, he began starring as Jimmy Laird, a therapist in theApple TV+ seriesShrinking, which he also co-created alongsideBill Lawrence andBrett Goldstein. For his performance, he was nominated for threePrimetime Emmy Awards and aGolden Globe Award.
Segel was born on January 18, 1980, inSanta Monica,California, to Jillian (née Jordan; born 1952) and Alvin Segel, a lawyer.[1][2][3][4] He grew up in thePacific Palisades neighborhood.[5] He has an older brother, Adam,[1][6] and a younger sister, Alison.[7]
Segel's father isJewish,[8][9][10] whereas his mother is of English, Scottish, Irish, and French descent.[11] He has stated that he was raised Jewish,[12] as well as "a little bit of everything".[13] Segel went toHebrew school and had aBar Mitzvah ceremony. He also attendedSt. Matthew's Parish School, a privateEpiscopal school.[9][14][15]
Following elementary school and middle school, Segel completed his high school studies atHarvard-Westlake School, where his 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) frame helped him as an active member of the 1996 and 1997CIF state champion boys' basketball team.[16][17] He won a slam dunk contest in high school[18] and he was nicknamed "Dr. Dunk."[19] He was a backup to the team's star center,Jason Collins, who went on to play in theNBA.[16]
Segel's first major role was asstoner "freak"Nick Andopolis on the critically acclaimed but short-lived 1999NBC comedy-drama seriesFreaks and Geeks. The series revolved around a group of suburbanDetroithigh school students circa 1980. Segel personally composed a song for his character, Nick, to sing to the lead female character, Lindsay (Linda Cardellini).[20]
Segel had recurring roles onCSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Neil Jansen and onUndeclared as Eric. He playedMarshall Eriksen on theCBS sitcomHow I Met Your Mother; he had previously stated he would move on to other projects in 2013 when his contract expired,[21] but was convinced to finish the series after its ninth season in 2014.[22]
Segel made his film debut withCan't Hardly Wait in 1998. His other early feature film appearances includeSlackers,SLC Punk!,The Good Humor Man, andDead Man on Campus. In 2007, he appeared inKnocked Up, directed byFreaks and Geeks producerJudd Apatow. Segel starred in the lead role of 2008'sForgetting Sarah Marshall, a film he wrote and Apatow produced withShauna Robertson forUniversal Pictures. He also starred inI Love You, Man, which was released on March 20, 2009, byDreamWorks.[23]
InForgetting Sarah Marshall, Segel's character writes a "Dracula" musical performed by puppets. He also appeared in the most prominent scene containingfull frontal nudity in the film.[24] In an interview,[25] 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 theJim Henson Company, and the experience emboldened Segel to pitch his concept for aMuppets movie.[26] Segel performed a song from the film, "Dracula's Lament", on the 1,000th episode ofThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.[27]
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For the 2010 comedyGet Him to the Greek, Segel co-wrote most of the soundtrack's music which was performed by the fictional celebrity singer, Aldous Snow, includingInfant Sorrow[broken anchor]. He also appeared onThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and sang an original song entitled "Wonky Eyed Girl".[28]
In 2010, he voicedGru's arch-rival Vector in Universal's CGI animated filmDespicable Me and appeared as "Horatio" in afantasycomedy filmGulliver's Travels directed byRob Letterman and very loosely based on Part One of the 18th-centurynovel of the same name byJonathan Swift. Segel appeared inBad Teacher, starringCameron Diaz, which opened in June 2011. He played gym teacher and thwarted suitor Russell Gettis.[29] Along withNicholas Stoller, Segel approachedDisney in 2007 to write the latestMuppetsfilm. Disney was unsure on how to take the request, as Segel had just appeared nude inForgetting Sarah Marshall, but after realizing that he was a 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 wasMuppets from Space in 1999, and he felt that the younger generation was missing out on enjoying one of his childhood favorites.[30]
Segel decided not to star in the sequel toThe Muppets,Muppets Most Wanted.[31] He filmedThe Five-Year Engagement withEmily Blunt in the spring of 2011 in Michigan, and the film was released on April 27, 2012.[32]
In 2013, Segel revealed he was working on a series of young adult novels, based on a story he conceived when he was 21.[33] In the fall of 2014, the first novel of the seriesNightmares!, co-written withKirsten Miller, was released with the follow-up coming out the following year.[34][35]
In 2015, Segel received praise[36][37][38] for his portrayal of the late authorDavid Foster Wallace in the independent biographical drama filmThe End of the Tour. For his performance, he earned anIndependent Spirit Award nomination forBest Male Lead.[39]
In 2017, Segel and Miller released a new book,Otherworld, the first of a new young adult series. A second book in the series,OtherEarth, was released in 2018, and a third novel,OtherLife, in 2019. Segel created and starred in the American drama television seriesDispatches from Elsewhere, which premiered on March 1, 2020, onAMC.
In 2019, Segel starred inOur Friend based on Matthew Teague's 2015 essay "The Friend".[40]
Segel is an ordained minister with theUniversal Life Church.[41] He performed a wedding ceremony onThe Tonight Show on July 6, 2010, for a couple that solicited his services by placing pictures of him around his hometown and the bar he frequently visited.[42]
Segel dated hisFreaks and Geeks co-starLinda Cardellini for several years following the show's cancellation.[43] He datedMichelle Williams from 2012 to 2013.[44] From December 2013 to April 2021, Segel dated photographer Alexis Mixter.[45][46] Since 2023, he has been dating formerTaylor Swiftbackup dancer Kayla Radomski.[47] In June 2025, Radomski announced their engagement via Instagram.[48]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Can't Hardly Wait | Matt | |
| Dead Man on Campus | Kyle | ||
| SLC Punk! | Mike | ||
| 2002 | Slackers | Sam Schechter | |
| 2003 | 11:14 | Leon (Paramedic #1) | |
| Certainly Not a Fairytale | Leo | ||
| 2004 | LolliLove | Jason | |
| 2005 | The Good Humor Man | Smelly Bob | |
| 2006 | Bye Bye Benjamin | Theodore Everest | |
| Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny | Frat Boy | Deleted scenes | |
| 2007 | Knocked Up | Jason | |
| 2008 | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Peter Bretter | Alsowriter |
| 2009 | I Love You, Man | Sydney Fife | |
| 2010 | Despicable Me | Victor "Vector" Perkins (voice) | |
| Gulliver's Travels | Horatio | ||
| 2011 | Bad Teacher | Russell Gettis | |
| Friends with Benefits | Brice | Uncredited cameo | |
| Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Jeff Thompkins | ||
| The Muppets | Gary | Also writer andexecutive producer | |
| 2012 | The Five-Year Engagement | Tom Solomon | |
| This Is 40 | Jason | ||
| 2013 | This Is the End | Himself | Uncredited cameo |
| 2014 | Sex Tape | Jay Hargrove | Also writer and executive producer |
| 2015 | The End of the Tour | David Foster Wallace | |
| 2017 | The Discovery | Will Harbor | |
| 2018 | Come Sunday | Henry | |
| 2019 | Our Friend[49] | Dane Faucheux | |
| 2022 | The Sky Is Everywhere[50] | Big Walker | |
| Windfall[51] | Nobody | Also story writer and producer | |
| 2023 | Mooned[52] | Victor "Vector" Perkins (voice) | Short film |
| 2024 | Despicable Me 4[53] | Archival audio | |
| TBA | Over Your Dead Body† | TBA | Post-production |
| Anxious People† | TBA | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | Freaks and Geeks | Nick Andopolis | Main role; 18 episodes |
| 2001 | North Hollywood | Unairedpilot[54] | |
| 2001–2002 | Undeclared | Eric | 7 episodes |
| 2004 | Harry Green and Eugene | Eugene Green | Unaired pilot[55] |
| 2004–2005 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Neil Jansen | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Alias | Sam Hauser | Episode: "The Road Home" |
| 2005–2014 | How I Met Your Mother | Marshall Eriksen | Main role; 208 episodes |
| 2009 | Family Guy | Marshall Eriksen (voice) | Episode: "Peter's Progress" |
| 2011 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: "Jason Segel/Florence and the Machine" |
| 2020 | Dispatches from Elsewhere | Peter | 10 episodes; also creator, writer, director, and executive producer |
| 2020 | Home Movie: The Princess Bride[56] | Fezzik | Episode: "Chapter Two: The Shrieking Eels" |
| 2022–2023 | Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty | Paul Westhead | 12 episodes |
| 2023–present | Shrinking[57] | Jimmy Laird | Main role; also creator, writer, and executive producer |
