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Close-Up: Jason Segel
Alternative Press - John Millin on 7/13/09 @ 6:02 PM - altpress.com
Interview: J. Bennett
Photo: Ralf Strathmann
What has full-frontal nudity done for your career?
I don't know how it has affected my career. I think Forgetting Sarah Marshall holds up even without the nudity, but the fact that it's the first scene makes it so you have to kind of throw out your preconceptions about what the movie is gonna be like. I mean, if I'm showing my dick in the first scene, who knows what might happen next?
What do you think you'll have to do to prevent this from coming up at least once in every interview?
[Laughs.] You know, I don't really mind it being the topic. But I will say that it was a scary thing to walk out there in front of a crew completely naked. I kind of take a little pride in the fact that I did it, just as an exercise. So I don't mind the question. I kinda dig it.
But once you've gone full-frontal, where can you go next?
Right-there can't be any more physical exposure. I swore I would never do nudity again. I'm done with it. Although, it would be funny to pull it out one more time when nobody expects it...
Like 10 years from now, when you've got some salt and pepper down there.
[Laughs.] Yeah, yeah-absolutely.
How much do you have in common with Sydney Fife, your character in I Love You, Man?
Not that much-I have the kind of laissez-faire attitude to a certain extent-but that's why I wanted to do the movie. I usually play the emotionally wounded, real nice, sweet, big teddy bear kind of guy. But Sydney Fife isn't like that. And, well, I was a little bit in awe of Russell Brand in Sarah Marshall. I was thrilled that we found someone so good. So with Sydney Fife, I feel like I got to play the American Russell Brand. I just stole his moves. It's an American accent, so you wouldn't connect it, but I'm just playing Russell, basically.
How did Lou Ferrigno end up in I Love You, Man?
I couldn't believe it. He was in the original script, and I guess he was happy to do it. It was crazy acting with Lou Ferrigno. I wrestled him! I was pretty intimidated because let me tell you, he is strong. He doesn't just look strong-he's strong, man.
Rush's music is featured prominently in I Love You, Man, and the band even perform live in one scene. Are you a fan?
I'm a little bit too young for Rush, but I became acquainted with them through Freaks And Geeks. I had to play a bunch of Rush on that show. But I dig music. I wrote the music for Sarah Marshall; I wrote some for Get Him To The Greek, the [Sarah Marshall] spin-off that's coming out. Music has always been a big part of my life. For Freaks And Geeks, I had to write this song called "Lady L" that I sang in the show. That was the first time I got the sense that you could be really funny with music. The key is that it has to be really good, though. You watch guys like Flight Of The Conchords and Tenacious D, and that's why it works. Their stuff is great and it holds up melodically.
Are you gearing up to do a musical comedy album?
I don't think I'll do a comedy album, but I've written a few movies now that have strong music themes. I just finished a script called Beale Street Blues-it's about Memphis in the '70s. It's not a comedy at all, but I'm writing some of the music for it. I'm writing some of the music for the Muppets movie I'm doing, too. But I never wanna put out a comedy album.
Good move.
Thank you. [Laughs.] I think my thing works because I write the songs as best I can, but I'm not that good, so they end up being funny. [Laughs.] It's like me at my musical best is funny. Sadly.
What's the story with the Muppets movie you want to do?
We're trying to bring the Muppets back to their early '80s glory. Nick [Stoller, Get Him To The Greek] and I have written the script. We're still waiting to see what's gonna happen with it, because it's not just making a movie-there are rides and toys and stuff like that to think about. [The Jim] Henson [Company] designed my puppets for Sarah Marshall, and while I was there, I asked if I could see a Kermit or a Miss Piggy, and they said kinda sadly that they didn't own the Muppets anymore. They sold them to Disney. When Sarah Marshall came out, I was having this weird little moment of [confidence], so I called and arranged a meeting with Disney. I told them that I wanted to write a new Muppets movie and put all my friends in it. There was kind of a smattering of laughter, but I told them I was serious. Next thing I know, I went to London and wrote it. We're, like, six drafts in now-we're just trying to get it made. Making a great Muppets movie would be the ultimate. I could stop after that. I really could.
Maybe then people would stop talking about your dick.
I know! Well, Kermit is always doing full-frontal. I've never seen that guy in a pair of pants.
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Whether it's wailing on a monster drum kit in Freaks And Geeks or performing vampire-puppet rock operas in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segel has never been shy about putting his musical abilities on display. As the 28-year-old actor tells AP, it all started when he taught himself to play piano at age 15. "I did it to pick up chicks," he explains. "There was a piano in the study lab at my school, and I just went over and started tinkering. There was a guy there who was a proper pianist, and he showed me how to teach myself, if that makes any sense. He showed me how the notes work, anyway. The rest was memorization. But I used to play Elton John's 'Your Song' and tell the girls I wrote it."
Segel plays Rush songs on guitar in I Love You, Man, but his latest instrumental fixation is a little less classic rock and a little more school band. "I just bought myself a trumpet," he enthuses. "I'm very excited to learn. Although I heard when you play a lot of trumpet you get, like, a red ring around your mouth, and I don't need that."
When he's not playing music himself, Segel enjoys listening to singer/songwriters like Van Morrison ("Astral Weeks is the perfect album"), Ray LaMontagne and Martin Sexton-preferably on vinyl. "I'm definitely a vinyl guy," he offers. "It started when I was in this phase of researching comedy, because a lot of the old comedy records haven't been transferred to CD. So I'd go buy the old Abbott & Costello records on vinyl. I also like finding damaged copies of records I really like and letting them bake in the sun so they warp. I've got really weird, morphed copies of Astral Weeks and Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue hanging on my wall."
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