Other segments from the episode on March 23, 2009
Transcript
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Fresh Air
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Jason Segel: The Best Man For The Job
TERRY GROSS, host:
This is FRESH AIR. Iâm Terry Gross. My guest, actor Jason Segel, got his
start with Seth Rogen and James Franco in the Judd Apatow high school
series âFreaks and Geeks.â
Segel was in Apatowâs film âKnocked Up,â then wrote himself a starring
role in âForgetting Sarah Marshall,â a romantic comedy that includes a
Dracula musical performed with puppets. Heâs not done with puppets. He
signed on to write the screenplay for a new Muppets movie.
Segel also co-stars in the CBS series âHow I Met Your Mother.â Now Segel
stars opposite Paul Rudd in the new bromance âI Love You, Man.â Paul
Rudd plays a real estate agent in L.A. who has just proposed to his
girlfriend. As they plan the wedding, he realizes he has no close friend
to serve as his best man. So he starts looking for a man-friend.
He thinks maybe heâs found one at an open house heâs holding at a
mansion heâs trying to sell. The potential friend is played by Jason
Segel.
Segel is helping himself to the fancy sandwiches at the open house,
telling Rudd that the guy whoâs just said heâs serious about buying the
mansion is really just trying to impress his girlfriend. Then Segel goes
a step further in demonstrating how perceptive he is.
(Soundbite of film, âI Love You, Manâ)
Mr. JASON SEGEL (Actor): (As Sydney Fife) Like, that guy needs to fart.
Itâs pretty clear, but he doesnât know her well enough to do it in front
of her, so I assume they havenât slept together.
Mr. PAUL RUDD (Actor): (As Peter Klaven) He does seem to be clenching.
Mr. SEGEL: (As Fife) Yeah, he doesnât want to fart. Watch, when he gets
enough space, heâs going to let one rip. I guarantee it. Oh, thatâs a
good move. Hey, go check out the kitchen, honey. Iâll meet you in there.
Now watch. Heâs making his move slowly, slowly but surely. Watch the
leg. Wait for it, wait for it, fart, boom. Thatâs a fart. Thatâs a fart.
Mr. RUDD: (As Klaven) Oh my God.
Mr. SEGEL: (As Fife) Look at him, crop-dusting across your open house.
Itâs a disgrace.
Mr. RUDD: (As Klaven) He farted in my open house.
Mr. SEGEL: (As Fife) He sure did.
GROSS: Jason Segel, welcome to FRESH AIR. So obviously, youâre very
observant in the film. Weâve just heard you being observant in a more
sophisticated take on the ever popular fart scene.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Yes. Itâs one of my more dignified moments on film, I must
say.
GROSS: Yeah. Do you agree with the filmâs basic premise, that itâs
sometimes easier to find a girlfriend than to find a good, platonic,
male friend?
Mr. SEGEL: No, I do. You know, I was sort of surprised this movie hadnât
been made before. But as you get older, itâs very tricky for men to make
friends with strangers.
You know, normally I guess your friends are sort of grandfathered in.
Theyâre friends of other friends, or you know, your girlfriendâs
friends, one way or another, and to try to make friends with a stranger
is tricky for grown men.
I think women have it a lot easier. You guys can, like, walk into a
womanâs restroom and come out with a new best friend. But for men, itâs
just, itâs not the same thing.
GROSS: Do you still have old friends, like friends from your high school
days, and�
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah. My best friend in the world is a guy called Brian
Lind(ph), who I met when I was 12 years old, and he lived with me for
the past couple of years, and then six months ago, he moved to New York
to go to med school.
And I just gave him kind of a bro goodbye. I said all right, man. Go get
them out there. Iâm proud of you. And he left, and I woke up at two in
the morning, out of a dream, crying hysterically, and I had to call my
mother to calm me down.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: Thatâs funny.
Mr. SEGEL: It was horrible.
GROSS: Describe your character, Sydney Fife, in âI Love You, Man.â
Mr. SEGEL: Sure. Sydney was a late bloomer and so heâs kind of terrified
of monogamy, and you know, heâs a bit of a womanizer and really values
his guy friends.
Heâs a little bit mysterious. I donât want to give too much away, but he
â you know, heâs got this attitude that I donât possess in life, which
is this is who I am, take it or leave it, which is what really drew me
to playing that part.
It sort of reminded me of my friend, Russell Brand, who I did âSarah
Marshallâ with.
GROSS: Oh, heâs terrific in your film, yeah.
Mr. SEGEL: Oh thank you. Well, he has that quality in real life, as
well, of this is who I am, you know, accept it. And Iâve never had that.
Iâm the kind of guy who, like, stays up until midnight thinking I wish I
hadnât said that thing to that guy. I hope I didnât hurt his feelings.
And then Iâll call the next day and apologize, and theyâll have no idea
what Iâm talking about. Thatâs sort of how Iâm bent, and it was nice to
sort of play the opposite.
GROSS: You know, these bromance movies, where itâs about the platonic
relationship between two or more menâ¦
Mr. SEGEL: Sure.
GROSS: â¦why do you think theyâre so popular now?
Mr. SEGEL: Boy, I donât know. You know, I think maybe these kind of
buddy movies are allowing men to open up a little bit about, you know,
itâs okay to let this guard down and let the machismo down and just be
who you are.
GROSS: Yeah, but so many of the bromance movies are so much about the
machismo. Like your character is really macho in his own way, is a real
womanizer, and - you know, living in what used to be called the classic
bachelor pad, like living in this, like, mass of, you know, boy stuff.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah.
GROSS: These are the guys who canât really grow up.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah. My character certainly is stunted, and thatâs what I
learn from Paul Ruddâs character. I think the slight difference in the
way our movie turns it on its head is you never hear in the movie, you
donât see Paul Rudd and I sitting around and, like, talking dirty talk.
Itâs â we have very emotional discussions, and I try to delve into why
he wants to marry his wife, and I think sometimes conversations like
that are what get cut out of the buddy movie because it seems too
sentimental.
In our movie, we actually do the opposite, and we expose that we know
the secret, that itâs really women who do the locker room talk more than
men do.
Iâve never been around guys who sit around and talk about, you know,
their girlfriend this or their girlfriend that, but I have met friends
of my ex-girlfriend who clearly know everything about my anatomy, and
you knowâ¦
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Itâs like you women, I think, are some dirty talkers.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: If youâre just joining us, my guest is Jason Segel, and he stars
with Paul Rudd in the new film, âI Love You, Man.â
Letâs talk a little bit about a film that you wrote and star in, and
thatâs âForgetting Sarah Marshall,â which I missed in the movies, but I
watched it on DVD - itâs out on DVD - and itâs really good, and itâs
really funny.
Mr. SEGEL: Oh, thanks.
GROSS: Letâs hear what I know is your most famous scene in the movie,
and this is from the beginning of the film. And, like, you play a guy
who writes music for a crime scene kind of TV show.
Mr. SEGEL: Exactly. Itâs basically a âCSIâ spoof. I was a guest star on
âCSIâ for a while, and I just always found how serious, how serious it
all is very funny. You know?
GROSS: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mr. SEGEL: So yeah, I play a guy who composes the music and is sort of
just dying inside because he wants to be a proper musician, and his
girlfriend is the star of the show.
And so one day, she comes over to the house, and I think sheâs there to
have sex with me. So Iâm waiting there naked for her, and she proceeds
to dump me while Iâm naked.
GROSS: Yeah, well let me explain it a little bit more. She told you that
sheâs coming over, and you didnât expect her that quickly. So you jump
into the shower, and you come out with a towel wrapped around you,
surprised to find her there. And as she tells you the news, the towel
drops.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah.
GROSS: And we get to see you full top to bottom from front and behind.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Yes.
GROSS: Fully naked.
Mr. SEGEL: Youâre welcome.
GROSS: Yes, right.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: So hereâs the scene.
(Soundbite of film, âForgetting Sarah Marshallâ)
Ms. KRISTEN BELL (Actor): (As Sarah Marshall) Peter, as you know, I love
you very much.
Mr. SEGEL: (As Peter Bretter) Are you breaking up with me?
Ms. BELL: (As Marshall) Pete, are you�
Mr. SEGEL: (As Bretter) I just need a minute.
Ms. BELL: (As Marshall) Okay.
(Soundbite of crying)
Mr. SEGEL: (As Bretter) Please donât go.
Ms. BELL: (As Marshall) Why donât you just put on some clothes, and we
can sit down and discuss this?
Mr. SEGEL: (As Bretter) No, I canât do anything right now.
Ms. BELL: (As Marshall) Iâm so sorry, Pete.
Mr. SEGEL: (As Bretter) Iâm in love with you.
Ms. BELL: (As Marshall) Why donât you just put some clothes on, okay?
Mr. SEGEL: (As Bretter) Iâm not going to go put clothes on. I know what
that means. If I put clothes on, itâs over.
GROSS: Okay, thatâs my guest, Jason Segel, with Kristen Bell, from his
film âForgetting Sarah Marshall.â
Mr. SEGEL: That was taken from the pages of real life. I once got dumped
while I was naked, but she asked me to put clothes on during this real
breakup, my real life breakup, and opposed to in the movie when I say
no, I did go to put clothes on.
So she waited for me while I went back into my room to get dressed. Let
me just tell you, Terry.
GROSS: Yeah.
Mr. SEGEL: Picking out an outfit for the second half of a breakup is
like the hardest outfit youâll ever pick out in your life.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: I came out, I came out in a blue, buttoned up shirt and khaki
pants, like I was going to private school.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: So did it seem funny to you at the time, or is it just in
retrospect itâs - these things take onâ¦
Mr. SEGEL: No, you know what? I think maybe this is the mind of a
writer, I guess, but it was â while this breakup is happening, which was
probably the most significant moment of my life to date, you know, when
that happened, and Iâm naked, and the whole time, Iâm thinking this is
really, really funny. Iâm going to use this in a movie someday, and
slowly her voice became like the teacher from Charlie Brown, you know,
just (unintelligible) while I was slowly constructing the scene in my
mind.
GROSS: Oh, so what did she say? What did the real ex-girlfriend say when
she saw the movie?
Mr. SEGEL: Amazingly, amazingly, we donât speak anymore.
GROSS: Oh shocking. Right, okay.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah.
GROSS: I shouldâve seen that coming.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: So like, youâre 6â4â, I think?
Mr. SEGEL: I am 6â4â.
GROSS: So when youâre naked, thereâs a lot of you to see, and it makes
it even funnier because you have, like, such â thereâs such a big body
there thatâs like dwarfing your girlfriend.
Mr. SEGEL: I know. Well you know, part of what I thought could be great,
and I think it did turn out really well, is you know, I know itâs a
comedy, and so everything has to be funny, but I didnât want that
breakup scene to be funny. I didnât want it to be played for laughs, you
know? Because I think it was a really important part of the movie, this
â that the breakup be as painful as possible.
So I thought the backdrop of me being naked gave me the opportunity to
play the scene totally seriously because every time you cut back to me
naked, youâre going to get a laugh, you know?
And the other thing I thought was I wanted it to be a guy literally at
his most vulnerable. And so, you know, I think naked it about as
vulnerable as it gets.
And the final thing is I hate romantic comedies for the reason that you
always know how itâs going to end. The guyâs going to end up with the
girl, like hey, probably that girl whoâs been really nice to him the
whole movie who works at the cookie shop, you know?
You can tell whatâs about to happen, and so Iâve always been reticent to
go, and I thought as a viewer, if in the very first scene of the movie,
your lead actor is suddenly full frontal, you know, naked, youâre forced
to sort of throw out your expectations and sit back and say I donât know
whatâs going to happen in this movie, you know?
So I think it sort of set the stage to lose any preconceptions about
what the movie might be like.
GROSS: I donât know how to put this in a way discrete enough so that we
could discuss it on the radio, but so here you are, and like, six
minutes into the film, and youâre there, like, stark naked.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah.
GROSS: And we see you in every angle.
Mr. SEGEL: Sure.
GROSS: And so, like, what did you do to make sure that your privates
would look good?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Sure. No, I absolutely understand the question, and I will
try to word it equally as carefully.
GROSS: Thank you.
Mr. SEGEL: Well, I found out in the meetings leading up to the movie
about the scene because, believe me, there was a lot of talk about
whether or not I should even do it.
So all of the sudden, Iâm sitting with Universal executives and Judd
Apatow, and weâre talking about what itâs going to be like when Iâm
naked, and they told me that you can only get an R rating if it is
completely flaccid. Thatâs the only way that you maintain your R rating.
So it was very important that that be the case, that it be completely
like that. It was very important for me personally that it not be
completely flaccid.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: You know, there was a real mental battle going on between
personal pride and maintaining our R rating. So I found that the right
level seemed to be to think about the most beautiful girl in high
school, and that sort of got things going a little bit, and then I would
think about how she would never go out with me. And so that kept it at
just about the right level.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: Thatâs really funny. So what rating did you get?
Mr. SEGEL: We got the R rating, pulled off the R rating.
GROSS: What did your mother say about the scene?
Mr. SEGEL: Oh, man. I still regret this moment. I thought it would be a
funny joke not to tell my mother I had done it and have her find out at
the first showing of the movie. So I walkedâ¦
GROSS: You didnât tell her? Is that what youâre saying, you did not tell
her?
Mr. SEGEL: Yes, I did not tell her that I had done it. And I walk her
into the first screening, and all of the sudden, I walk out, and I drop
my towel, and Iâm naked, and I look over at my father, and my fatherâs
laughing hysterically.
I think my little sister is laughing hysterically. And then I turn and I
looked at my mom, and she was staring at me with a tear streaming down
her face.
(Soundbite of laughter)
And she said: Why didnât you tell me? And I said: I thought it would be
a funny joke not to tell you. And then she said: This is not a funny
joke.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: That was the last we spoke of it.
GROSS: My guest is Jason Segel. Heâs now starring with Paul Rudd in the
movie âI Love You, Man.â Weâll talk more after a break. This is FRESH
AIR.
(Soundbite of music)
GROSS: My guest is Jason Segel. Heâs the co-star of the new film comedy
âI Love You, Man.â He wrote and directed the romantic comedy â I mean to
say he wrote and starred in the romantic comedy âForgetting Sarah
Marshall,â which was released last year.
So another thing from âForgetting Sarah Marshall.â The character that
you play in it, the main character, is working on a rock opera with
puppets about Dracula and eternal love.
Mr. SEGEL: Yes.
GROSS: And Iâve read that you were actually or are actually working on a
similar musical, yes?
Mr. SEGEL: I am, yeah. Well, the way that â that wasnât written for the
movie, that Dracula musical. Sadly, I had a really bad out-of-work
period from like 21 to 25. I couldnât figure out what I was going to do
with my life because I didnât have a college education, and I thought I
was going to have to, like, live with my parents for the rest of my
life.
Looking back, I was such an arrogant kid, I thought the two options for
me were either movie star or live with my parents. Get a real job, like,
never entered my mind.
But so I thought the way that I could jump-start my career was to write
a Dracula musical to be done with puppets. But I was writing it without
a sense of irony. It wasnât a comedy. It was going to be like a slow,
labored drama.
So anyway, I finally finished a few of the songs, and I took it to Judd
Apatow to play for him. He was the first person I played it for. And the
first song starts and about halfway through, he pushes stop on the CD
player, and he looks at me, and he goes, Jayce, just take my advice. You
canât ever play this for anyone ever.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: And thank God I didnât because I wouldâve looked like a crazy
person, and I got to save it for the movie.
GROSS: Well you know, in âForgetting Sarah Marshall,â your character
doesnât realize that the Dracula musical heâs writing is really a
comedy.
Mr. SEGEL: Yep, straight from the pages of real life.
GROSS: Right, okay. How did you realize it, because of Judd Apatow?
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah, yeah basically, you knowâ¦
GROSS: But he didnât say it was funny. He just said never let anybody
hear this.
Mr. SEGEL: No, he said never let anyone hear it. And Iâll tell you how
it ended up happening. Judd has the same feelings about romantic comedy
as I do, specifically how hard it is to come up with an original ending,
you know?
And so we were sitting around, brainstorming, like what could be an
original ending for a romantic comedy. And I looked at him half-joking,
and I said well, we could always use my Dracula musical.
And he looked at me, and it was, like, you know, Judd Apatow is a comedy
genius, and you just saw, like ding. You saw this look in his eyes like
oh my God, thatâs weird enough that it might work.
So I just rewrote it that night that my characterâs been secretly
working on a Dracula opera, and thatâs how that happened.
GROSS: Well, I want to play a scene that relates to this, and this is a
scene where youâre at a bar with a girl who you hope is becoming your
new girlfriend.
Mr. SEGEL: Yes.
GROSS: And she has asked the band â she knows youâre working on this
Dracula rock opera. So sheâs asked the band to call you onstage and
invite you to perform an excerpt of the Dracula musical. And you go very
reluctantly to the stage and with great discomfort start to play one of
the songs. And at this point, you still think itâs a serious musical,
and itâs not until she laughsâ¦
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah.
GROSS: â¦that you realize, oh, itâs a comedy. So hereâs that scene in
which youâre playing an excerpt of your Dracula rock opera.
(Soundbite of film, âForgetting Sarah Marshallâ)
(Soundbite of music)
Mr. SEGEL: (Singing) Itâs getting kind of hard to believe things are
going to get better. Iâve been drowning too long to believe that the
tideâs going (unintelligible). And Iâve been living too hard to believe
things are going to get easier. Iâm still trying to shake off the pain
in the lessons Iâve learned.
And if I see Van Helsing, I swear to the lord, I will slay him. Ah ah
ah. Take it from me, but I swear I will let it be so. Ah ah ah ah. Blood
will run down his face when he is decapitated.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: (Singing) (Unintelligible) let this world know how much I
love you. Die, die, die. I canât.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: Iâm such a weirdo.
GROSS: Thatâs Jason Segel in an excerpt of his film âForgetting Sarah
Marshall,â which is on DVD. You know, in that die, die, die, I canât,
you just kind of capture very succinctly there the downside of
immortality.
Mr. SEGEL: Absolutely.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: (Unintelligible).
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah. I think I understand why women never want to stay with
me.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Imagine Iâm out of work, and Iâm sitting there writing that song until
all hours of the morning.
GROSS: So what are some of the, like, musicals or rock operas that have
influenced you and made you want to write one of your own?
Mr. SEGEL: Oh man. Well, I used to see âLes Miserablesâ with my family
every year when I was young, and I just loved it. I loved it, loved it
so much to the point where when I was about seven years old or so, I was
finally old enough to go to my brotherâs sleep-away camp.
And I was so excited because, you know, I really looked up to my
brother, and my brother really didnât like me that much at this age.
Like, I would embarrass him a lot. I wore a Superman cape under my
clothes, for example.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: Did you really?
Mr. SEGEL: I did until I was way too old, until I was like 10 years old.
But so anyway, I was going to finally get to go to camp with him, and he
said Jason, let me tell you something. This is my camp. I love it.
Youâre not going to embarrass me, okay?
And I was petulant. I said of course, Iâm not going to embarrass you,
Adam, geeze. So first day at camp, weâre sitting there, and the
counselor gets up, and he says all right, we would like to welcome
everybody back, and weâd also like to welcome the new campers. As a
matter of fact, would anybody like to do an impromptu talent show?
And I see my brother look at me like youâd better not, kid. And little
Jason Segel raises his hand, slowly makes his way up to the stage - in a
Superman cape - and I get to the front, and he says all right, what
would you like to do? And I said, Iâd like to sing. And I started
singing:
Mr. SEGEL: (Singing) There is a castle on a cloud.
Mr. SEGEL: I sang the little girlâs song from âLes Miserablesâ from
beginning to end.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: My brother was mortified.
GROSS: Jason Segel will be back in the second half of the show. Heâs now
starring opposite Paul Rudd in the comedy âI Love You, Man.â Iâm Terry
Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
(Soundbite of music)
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Iâm Terry Gross back with Jason Segel. He
stars with Paul Rudd in the new bromance âI Love You, Man.â He got his
start in âFreaks and Geeks,â the short-lived high school series co-
created by Judd Apatow. When we left off, we were talking about writing
and staring in the romantic comedy âForgetting Sarah Marshall,â which
was released last year. You wrote a character thatâs played by Russell
Brand in your film who is pop star, whoâs deeply in love with himself
and has also stolen your girlfriend.
Mr. SEGEL: Yes. You want to hear an amazing storyâ¦
GROSS: Yes.
Mr. SEGEL: â¦about casting Russell Brand.
GROSS: Yes.
Mr. SEGEL: That was originally written to be a young British author,
like I pictured like a Hugh Grant type. And so weâre holding the
auditions and people are coming in and doing these terrible fake British
accents and wearing suits, you know, three piece tweed suits and
everything. And so, about halfway through the day, weâre just exhausted
and we feel like weâre never going to find somebody, and then in walks
Russell Brand in his full regalia. Heâs wearing leather pants, heâs
wearing a shirt unbuttoned to his navel and just like - it must have
been three pounds of necklacesâ¦
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: ⦠and his hair all teased. Heâs wearing eyeliner - I mean
just totally wrong for the part. And he walks in and he has the nerve to
look at me, the writer, and he says, you have to forgive me mate, Iâve
only had a chance to take a cursory glance of your little script.
Perhaps you should tell me what it is you require? And I literally went
home that night and rewrote the movie for Russell Brand to be a British
rock star. I couldnât imagine anyone to be more jealous of or
intimidated by if they were dating your new girlfriend than Russell
Brand.
GROSS: Now was he doing like as he genuinely hadnât read the script or
was he doing that to show you the obnoxious character he could be?
Mr. SEGEL: I think that it was a mixture of both. He definitely hadnât
read the script. He is in life, perhaps, the nicest guy Iâve ever met.
But he just nailed, this kind of - you know, I must say I stole my
character in âI Love You, Man,â the Sidney Fife character directly from
Russell. Russell has, like I said, that quality of just not caring what
other people think or at least seeming like he doesnât. And I thought
what an amazing quality to have in your girlfriendâs new boyfriend,
someone who like - itâs not that heâs jerk, he just doesnât even feel
weird or bad that heâs dating your girlfriend.
You know, it just like not on his radar that that should be an awkward
situation because it was very important to me for all the characters in
âForgetting Sarah Marshallâ that they not be stereotypes. I didnât want
it to be a diatribe against a cheating ex-girlfriend for example. It
would have been really easy to make her just a real villainous
character.
And of course you want to hate your girlfriendâs new boyfriend. But the
thing that occurred to me is my ex-girlfriend is a pretty cool lady and
so why would I assume that her new boyfriend is going to be a jerk.
Sheâs probably going to date another pretty cool guy, you know? And so I
felt like thatâs what make the movie more complicated and real than just
one of these, kind of, comedies that come and go and are filled with
raunchy punch lines. I wanted to try to really explore what
relationships are like.
The scene in the movie that Iâm the most proud of is, you know, this
whole - the whole time, itâs from my perspective. And youâre really
thinking, you know, what a jerk for cheating on him and she must be
really self-centered and all that. And then, thereâs a scene about three
quarters of the way through the movie where I say to her, itâs our first
time weâve had a talk since we broke up, and I say, I just wish you
tried harder. And she just flips the script and she says, you think I
didnât try? How dare you? I tried everything I could.
I went to relationship counseling. I made you dinners. You wouldnât get
out of your sweat pants. You know, you sat on the couch for a week
straight once. Why? I couldnât drown with you anymore. And I felt like
itâs those kind of moments that hopefully made the movie interesting.
GROSS: If youâre just joining us, my guest is Jason Segel and heâs now
starring with Paul Rudd in the new movie âI Love You, Man.â He is also
on TV in the series âHow I Met Your Mother.â I want to play a scene from
the first series that you were on, and this might have been like your
real acting debut. This is in âFreaks and Geeksâ the now cult TV series
that - did it make it through a whole season or was it cut before theâ¦
Mr. SEGEL: No, we got canceled - 13 episodes and we could tell it was
going to happen. On TV shows, you have the thing called the craft
service table, which is like a set up of food, you know. And we got
there for the first episode and there was like a lavish deli spread and
all sorts of like, beverages. And by about episode 10, it was just like
a box of corn pops and some creamer.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: We could see that the budget was being reduced, so yeah, we
knew it was coming.
GROSS: Well, briefly describe your character and then I want to play a
scene.
Mr. SEGEL: Sure. This is my favorite character Iâve ever played, I
think. His name is Nick Andopolis and he is just a really open-hearted,
really, really loving and caring, not so bright stoner whoâs father is
in the army and is incredibly tough on him. And heâs constantly under
the threat that if he doesnât do well enough in school, heâs going to be
sent off to join the army, which heâs terrified about. And I love Linda
Cardelliniâs character, Lindsay Weir. She is the object of my affection
and I become somewhat obsessed with her in a very sweet but creepy way.
GROSS: Well, sheâs in the scene weâre about to hear. And in this scene
you play drums. And your real aspiration is to be drummer in a rock
band. And your father thinks that the drums are distracting you from
schoolwork. So, heâs ordered you to get the drums out of the basement
and warned you, as you just said, that if your grades donât improve,
youâll have to go into the army. So, this scene is right after youâve
auditioned with a band and it went really badly.
Mr. SEGEL: Horribly, hilariously badly.
GROSS: Exactly, so here you are talking with your friend Lindsay, whoâs
played by Linda Cardellini, and sheâs really smart and does well in
school. So, here you are talking with her about the audition.
(Soundbite of television show, âFreaks and Geeksâ)
Mr. JASON SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) Sometimes I go down in my
basement, put on a live album. I can see myself on the stage. Do you
understand what I mean? I can see it. And Iâll playing ten minute solo
and Iâm on one of those hydraulic rises, you know? They make the drum
kit go way up high. Like Iâm Peter Criss or something. Oh man. Iâm not
going to be that guy. Iâm never going to be that guy. Iâll be lucky if I
get to be that guy who pushes the button and makes the riser go up, but
Iâm not even going to be that guy. Iâm not even going to be that guy
because I canât even keep a C plus average man.
Ms. LINDA CARDELLINI (Actor) (as Lindsay Weir): Oh, Nick I can - I can
help you get your grades up.
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) Heâs going to make me join the
army. Oh man, Iâm going to have to join the army. Iâm going to be
surrounded by a group of psychopaths like my brothers and like my dad.
Ms. CARDELLINI (Actor): (As Lindsay Weir) Nick, come on. Thatâs going to
happen to you. I wonât let it.
Mr. JASON SEGEL (Actor) (as Nick Andopolis): Oh my God. Iâm done, man.
Iâm done.
GROSS: And at the end of that scene, you and she share your first kiss.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah, I actually just got a little emotional listening to
that. That was one of the best times in my life. Itâs when I met Judd
Apatow and itâs when I met Seth Rogen and James Franco and Linda, and
Martin Starr, all these guys, Busy Philipps. We were all so young and we
were so naïve that we kind of thought every experience would be like
that. If that makes any sense. And it isnât. Every experience isnât like
that. It was - it was a really beautiful, beautiful time.
GROSS: My guest is Jason Segel. Heâs now staring with Paul Rudd in the
movie âI Love You, Man.â Weâll talk more after a break. This is FRESH
AIR.
(Soundbite of music)
My guest is Jason Segel, co-star of the new film comedy âI Love You,
Man.â He wrote and directed the romantic comedy âForgetting Sarah
Marshall,â which was released last year. When we left off, we were
talking about getting started on the TV series âFreaks and Geeks.â How
did you get the part?
Mr. SEGEL: Well, I went in and I just auditioned. And the show was
called âFreaks and Geeksâ and I seemed to fit in to both of those
categories.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. SEGEL: So, I guess I was a bit of a natural fit. Iâve been 6â4â
since I was 12 and kids used to stand around me in a circle and one by
one they would jump on my back while the rest chanted, ride the oaf,
ride the oaf.
GROSS: Wow, thatâs sounds not only horrible but that it would hurt a
lot.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah, physically.
GROSS: Yeah.
Mr. SEGEL: Yeah, it was unpleasant. And I think that - I think that to
some extent, that whole cast was made up of people who always felt like
the underdog in their life. And Judd recognized those qualities in all
of us and we were all - you know, look, experiences like that - ride the
oaf, I mean â theyâre either going to turn you into a jerk or theyâre
going to make you funny. And so, I went with funny and I think a lot of
the people in the cast would, you know, would tell you they have their
own versions of that same story.
And we all, sort of, became comedy dorks. And we united - we united on
that. It was - let me tell you, I remember me, James Franco and Seth
Rogen would go to my house every night and rehearse the scenes for the
next day. I have never done that since. But we all just wanted it to be
so good and Judd was so trusting in all of us. Thereâs a scene in that
show where Iâm in the basement with Lindsay, Linda Cardelliniâs
character, and I sing to her a âLady,â the song âLadyâ.
And itâs really weird and itâs really creepy. And before the scene, Judd
just came up to me and he said, listen Jayce, this scene needs to be
really weird and really creepy and really funny and really sweet. Letâs
see what you got. Thatâs amazing, you know, for someone to have that
kind of faith in you and it was a little bit like when some parents are
teaching their kids to swim, they say sometimes you just throw your kid
in the pool and see if they can swim. Thatâs a little bit what I felt
like - all of the sudden we were required to do big comedy and we had
very little experience.
GROSS: So, what did you do, I mean, what did you think about as you were
doing that scene singing?
Mr. SEGEL: I - I was just myself to be honest with you. I think Judd
once said to me after these shows got cancelled and I asked him, I went
to him and I said, I donât know what to do and he said, Iâll tell you. I
can tell you what you do well is you are able to get really, really
close to the creepy line while still being likable. And thatâs what you
should focus on. I think for some reason, it just comes natural to me.
GROSS: Why donât we hear that scene in which you sing to Linda
Cardelliniâs character Lindsay?
(Soundbite of serial, âFreaks and Geeksâ)
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) Lindsay, this song says all the
things that I havenât been able to say you. Itâs a little corny, but I
mean it.
(Soundbite of song, âLadyâ)
Mr. DENNIS DEYOUNG (Lead Singer, Styx): (Singing) Ladyâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) Ladyâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦when youâre with meâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦when youâre with meâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦Iâm smilingâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦Iâm smilingâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦give meâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦give meâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦all, all, all of your loveâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦all, all, all of your loveâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦your handsâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦your handsâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦build me up when Iâm sinkingâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦build me up when Iâm sinkingâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦touch me and myâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦touch me and myâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦troubles all fadeâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦troubles all fadeâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) Ladyâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) See Lindsayâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦from the moment I saw youâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) nothing between you and me should
ever be rushed.
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦standingâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) I made that mistake beforeâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦all, all, all, all, aloneâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) â¦but Iâm not going to make it
with you.
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦you gaveâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) Weâve got timeâ¦
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) â¦all the love that I neededâ¦
Mr. SEGEL (Actor): (As Nick Andopolis) Weâve got all the time in the
world. And you know why?
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) So shy, like a child who has grown. Youâre myâ¦
Mr. SEGEL: Because youâre my lady of the morning. Love shines in your
eyes.
Mr. DEYOUNG: (Singing) Youâre my lady of the morning. Love shines in
your eyes.
GROSS: Thatâs Jason Segel in an episode of the late great âFreaks and
Geeksâ which is on DVD, if you havenât seen it. So, where did you grow
up?
SEGEL: I grew up in Los Angeles. I grew up in the Pacific Palisades of
Los Angeles which is like a very nice, like pretty affluent area. I was
very lucky. I had a really great childhood.
GROSS: Now, I read that you went to Catholic school, although youâre
Jewish, is that true?
SEGEL: Yeah, I was the only Jewish kid at this all Christian school and
that was a little weird. I remember this one moment where I sent out my
bar mitzvah invitations to everybody and the principal came up and said,
listen Jason everyoneâs really excited but I donât think that the kids
know what a bar mitzvah is. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to
explain at communion what a bar mitzvah is.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: Now keep in mind these kids are already jumping on my back and
saying ride the oaf.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: So, 12 year old Jason Segel walks to the front of communion and
has to stand in front of these kids and go: On Saturday I become a man.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: Nothing gets you beat up faster than the line: on Saturday I
became a man.
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: Oh, thatâs so great. What were some of the other adventurous
aspects of being the only Jewish kid at a Catholic school - Catholic or
Christian? Like whatâ¦
SEGEL: It was a, I think it was a Episcopalian.
GROSS: Mm-hmm.
SEGEL: Iâm not a hundred percent sure what the differences are â well,
Iâll tell you what was really weird, like I said I didnât really - I
felt sort of out of place at this school.
GROSS: Maybe because you were.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: Yes, exactly. See Iâm - my father is Jewish and my mother is
Christian. Soâ¦
GROSS: Oh, I see.
SEGEL: â¦yeah, but I was raised Jewish. So, Iâm at the school. They donât
really like me very much there and then after Christian school I would
walk in the afternoons to Hebrew school. And then at Hebrew schoolâ¦
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: â¦they would tell me that I wasnât really Jewish because my mother
is Christian.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: So, all of the sudden Iâm like this young kid who - I wouldâve
been happy to believe whoever would have been nice to me, you know. But
it was this feeling of like not really belonging or not really fitting
in andâ¦
GROSS: The worldâs mainstream religions donât want you.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SEGEL: Yeah and, you know, what occurred to me - itâs funny you say that
- but what occurred to me is this certainly isnât God. God doesnât want
an eleven or twelve year old kid to feel this way, you know. That my
belief in God is that God wants you, you know, God wants you to believe
in him or it, whatever you would call it. And so, it actually helped me
forge this feeling of â all right, you know, what kid, itâs you, itâs
you in God and itâs you and the world, itâs - it gave me a bit of a
feeling of solitude that I think came in handy during, like, my out of
work periods, where when I decided the only way I was going to make it
was if I started writing.
It was actually, Iâm very grateful that I got that feeling at such a
young age because I felt like, you know what, itâs - you better do it,
itâs going to be you.
GROSS: It was great, I mean, not everybody is able to find out whatâs
useful from a difficult situation. So, itâs lucky, uhâ¦
SEGEL: Yeah, I could have been very, you know, I came from a well off
family and my life had been pretty easy. So, I actually think maybe it
helped me not have a sense of entitlement that I have seen in a lot of
likeâ¦
GROSS: Mm hmm.
SEGEL: â¦my peers who grew up in that same, you know, community. There is
some sense of, you know, like oh, well Iâm supposed to do well because
of this or that. And you got to earn it, you know? I think thatâs sort
of that - that period really helped me lose any sense of entitlement I
might have had.
GROSS: Can I ask what kind of work your parents did?
SEGEL: Yeah, my father is a lawyer and my mom, my mom raised us.
GROSS: Mm hmm. So, when, how old were you when you knew you wanted to be
an actor and how did you know? Well, it sounds like you knew all along
actually, with the superman outfit and singing at your brotherâs summer
camp.
SEGEL: Well, I think the seeds were there. My parents had put me into an
acting class, when I was about nine or ten or so, because I was having
such a hard time at that school making friends, that they wanted to send
me some place that was not religiously affiliated at all, you know. So
they sent me to this acting class, but it was more about not being shy
than it was about acting. I got started in a really weird way.
I had just won a state championship playing basketball in California and
my brother was a great basketball player and I, sort of, wanted to play
college ball, thatâs what I figured what I would do. But I had this art
history class that I found very boring and so, it was right next to the
drama department and everyday on the way to art history class I would
reach in real quick to the drama department grab a play. And I would
read it during class. And I read one called the âThe Zoo Storyâ by
Edward Albee. And there was a 40 minutes monologue in it and I thought,
I would like to try this, just to see if I could do it, you know. Itâs a
two-man play.
So, I found a guy to do the play with me. And I asked the head of the
drama department if he minded if I put on this play. And he said no â no
problem. So, I did it and he came up to me after and he said look, I
think youâre really good at this and you might want to consider becoming
an actor. And I said no Iâm going to play college basketball - I was
kind of a jock at this point. And he said, well do me a favor. Iâm
teaching a mock audition class on Saturday, will you come and just see
if you like it. So I said sure.
So, I show up at this mock audition class. And I go in and itâs him and
this lady and they have me do like half an hour of reading, like, sides
blind. And I did them and I left and they said thank you very much. A
week later my parents sat me down, and said weâve been talking to
Paramount Pictures all week. He didnât want to tell you but that was the
president of casting at Paramount and he had set up a fake audition for
me.
GROSS: Oh. Youâre kidding?
SEGEL: And he didnât want me to be nervous, so he just told me it was a
mock audition class. And Paramount was in touch with my parents all
week. And the next thing I knew I had an agent and manager and they - I
was, I started working my senior of high school. So, it was crazy. It
sort of found me, you know?
GROSS: Jason Segel, itâs has been so much fun talking with you. Thank
you so much.
SEGEL: Oh, thanks.
GROSS: Jason Segel stars opposite Paul Rudd in the new movie âI Love
You, Man.â He also co-stars on the CBS series âHow I Met Your Mother.â
His movie âForgetting Sarah Marshallâ is on DVD.
Coming up rock historian Ed Ward reconsiders Buddy Hollyâs music with
the help of a CD retrospective and a collection of rarities.
This is FRESH AIR.
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The Lost Promise Of Buddy Holly
TERRY GROSS, host:
On February 3rd 1959, a plane crashed in an Iowa field, ending the lives
of three performers onboard: Disc jockey J. P. Richardson whoâd had a
novelty hit under the name the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens, a 17-year-
old Mexican-American rocker from Los Angeles were just starting their
careers. But the third rocker, Buddy Holly, had begun to emerge as the
biggest star since Elvis. After a long wait, Decca Records has just
issued a memorial collection, a three disc career-spanning survey of
Hollyâs work and two more discs of rarities, which gives some hints of
what might have happened had he lived. Listening to these CDs has gotten
our rock critic - rock historian Ed Ward thinking about Holly and his
music.
(Soundbite of song, âOh Boyâ)
Mr. BUDDY HOLLY (Musician): (Singing) All of my love - all of my
kissinâ, you donât know what youâve been a-missinâ, oh boy - when youâre
with me - oh boy, the world will see that youâre meant for me.
Mr. ED WARD (Rock Critic): Buddy Holly probably needs no introduction to
most rock fans, no matter what their age is because his legend has been
kept alive by a film and a song by Don McLean, "American Pie," which was
a hit not only for him but also for Madonna. Itâs important to note,
though, that it is, indeed, a legend, bearing very little relation to
the actual story of Charles Hardin Holley - the skinny, glasses-wearing
kid from Lubbock, Texas. The film âThe Buddy Holly Storyâ not only casts
his parents as ignorant redneck fundamentalists who opposed his music,
which they certainly were not, but totally ignores Norman Petty, who ran
the only recording studio for miles around and who helped Holly and his
band, the Crickets, refine their sound until it was good enough to take
to the big leagues.
As for "American Pie" well, any fool whoâs got ears knows that music
didnât die in 1959. But Buddy Holly did, and itâs fair to wonder what
would have happened if he hadnât. His recording career, after all, had
lasted just under two years - from an early, unsuccessful trip to
Nashville in 1956, to New York City, where he was living on lower 5th
Avenue with his new bride when he went on that last tour.
For years, Iâve always assumed the worst because of the products of his
last recording session.
(Soundbite of song, âIt Doesnât Matter Any Moreâ)
Mr. HOLLY: (Singing) There you go and baby here am I, well you left me
here so I could sit and cry, well golly gee what have you done to me,
well I guess it doesn't matter anymore.
Mr. WARD: "It Doesnât Matter Any More" bore all the hallmarks of
disaster, written by teen idol Paul Anka, with a syrupy string
arrangement by Dick Jacobs, who also produced the session. It fit well
into the pop landscape of the time where proponents of so-called good
music, of which Jacobs was the pillar, were getting the upper hand on
the unruly rockers with carefully selected young crooners with teen
appeal. Buddy Holly could have been the next Paul Anka or Bobby Darin or
maybe not. The Dick Jacobs session was at the end of October 1958. But a
month later, Buddy got a new toy: a tape recorder and a microphone.
From early December to January 20th, he fooled around with it, and also
recorded new songs heâd written. After his death, the so-called
apartment tapes were overdubbed by Norman Petty, using both the Crickets
and a local band called the Fireballs as backing. And these new singles
came out through 1960. Now that the complete, undubbed tapes are
available, though, a more complex Buddy emerges. For one thing, his
lyrics, which had never been so good, continued to improve.
(Soundbite of song, âLearning the Gameâ)
Mr. HOLLY: (Singing) Hearts that are broken & love thatâs untrue, these
go with learning the game, when you love her & she doesnât love youâ,
you're only learning the game, when she says that you're the only one
sheâll ever love, then you find that you are not the one she's thinking
of, feeling so sad and you're all alone & blue, that's when you're
learning the game.
Mr. WARD: For another thing, he was thinking about rock and roll as if
he was trying to figure something out. Recording acoustic versions of
current hits like Mickey and Sylviaâs "Love is Strange" and the
Coastersâ "Smokey Joeâs Café," the latter of which strips away some of
the songâs comedy, but somehow leaves it still funny. Most telling,
though, are three versions of a song by Little Richard â one fast, two
slow, recorded both on electric and acoustic guitar â as if he were
looking for something the tempo would reveal.
(Soundbite of song, âSlippin' and Slidinâ)
Mr. HOLLY: (Singing) Slippin' & a-slidin', peepin' and a-hidinâ, been
told a long time ago, slippin' & a-slidin', peepin' and a-hidin', been
told a long time ago, I've been told baby you've been bold, I won't be
you're fool no more, Oh my Linda, she's a solid sender, know you better
surrender, oh my Linda, she's a solid sender, you know you better
surrender, slippin' & a-slidin', peepin' & a-hidin', I won't be you're
fool no more.
Mr. WARD: Weâll never know what Buddy was looking for while Maria Elena
did the dishes, but Iâm confident now that heâd probably have found it.
If it gave him the strength to stand up to the suits who wanted to make
him a teenagerâs Sinatra, and make recordings which built on his already
impressive past, American rock and roll might have been very different.
I wrote a friend of mine after I got the memorial collectionâ and
rarities with some of these speculations. And he wrote back, imagine
what weâd think of John Lennon if the Beatles had all died in a plane
crash after their first album. Lennon and Holly would have been the same
age after all.
GROSS: Ed Ward lives in Southern France. You can download podcasts of
our show on our Web site freshair.npr.org.
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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.