Jason Segel Embraces the 'Creepy and Pathetic' Within

Comedic actor discusses the roots of his unique acting style.

ByABC News
April 18, 2008, 10:59 AM

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., April 18, 2008 — -- Describing one of the opening scenes in Jason Segel's new movie would not give away anything more than he reveals himself. He does it entirely naked.

Segel's on-screen girlfriend Sarah, played by Kristen Bell, is the beautiful star of a television crime series who comes to his apartment to break up with him. Fresh out of the shower and shocked to hear the news, Segel's character Peter drops his towel and does the rest of the breakup scene nude.

He did it to make it funny, but "you're going to be judged entirely on one criteria and that terrified me," he said.

Segel, 28, perhaps best known for his role as Marshall in the CBS TV comedy "How I Met Your Mother," wrote and stars in the semi-autobiographical "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," opening in theaters today.

Segel thought it would be funny to surprise his family about the nude scenes when they came to a early screening.

At the critical moment, Segel said, "I turn to my mother and there was just a tear drop coming down her face and her lip was starting to quiver, and I said, 'Mom, it's OK. Are you all right?' And she said, honest to God, she said, 'I just, ah, I need a minute.'"

His mother left the screening room for a few minutes before returning composed. Then she turned to Segel and said, "You should have told me."

Later during that screening, he did have the good sense to lean over and tell his mother, "Just so you know, it's going to happen one more time."

The odd moments of life fuel Segel's humor. He really did have a naked breakup with a girlfriend. He said he realized it was a critical moment in his life, but at the same time, "all I kept thinking was 'this is the funniest thing that's ever happened to anybody. I cannot wait until she leaves so I can start writing this down.'"

A working actor for 10 years, Segel has been one of those guys who plays in the chorus of high school screwups and child-men who waste away their early adult years living together in underemployment while they figure out life, and love.

"I think we found that I have I guess some sort of strange ability to remain likable while getting extremely close to creepy and pathetic," he said.