Jason Segel

Jason Jordan Segel is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He gained widespread recognition for portraying Marshall Eriksen on the CBS television sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2005 to 2014. Before achieving broad success in feature films and television, he began his professional relationship with filmmaker Judd Apatow on the television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Over his career, he has written, produced, and starred in a wide array of comedic, family, and dramatic projects.

Segel was born on January 18, 1980, in Santa Monica, California, to Alvin Segel, an attorney, and Jillian Jordan. Raised in Pacific Palisades alongside an older brother and a younger sister, he was brought up in a household incorporating Jewish traditions and other beliefs. He attended Hebrew school, celebrated a Bar Mitzvah, and went to St. Matthew's Parish School. Segel later graduated from Harvard-Westlake School, where his height made him an asset as a backup center on the champion boys' basketball team, winning a slam dunk contest and earning the nickname "Dr. Dunk."

Segel made his feature film debut in 1998's Can't Hardly Wait, followed by early roles in movies such as SLC Punk! and Dead Man on Campus. His first prominent television work came in 1999 as Nick Andopolis on Freaks and Geeks, for which he personally composed a song for his character. He later secured recurring spots on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Undeclared before landing his long-running main role on How I Met Your Mother, remaining with the sitcom through its ninth and final season in 2014.

His film career expanded through collaborations with Apatow, appearing in Knocked Up in 2007 and writing and starring in the 2008 romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He incorporated personal experiences into the latter project, including an original puppet musical. The success of these custom puppets led Segel to pitch and co-write Disney's 2011 film The Muppets. His additional screen credits from this era include I Love You, Man, Bad Teacher, Despicable Me, The Five-Year Engagement, This Is 40, and Sex Tape.

Beyond broad comedy, Segel earned critical acclaim for playing author David Foster Wallace in the 2015 biographical drama The End of the Tour, securing an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead. He also took on dramatic roles in films such as Jeff, Who Lives at Home, The Discovery, Our Friend, and Windfall. Additionally, Segel co-authored the young adult book series Nightmares! alongside Kirsten Miller, followed by their young adult novel trilogy consisting of Otherworld, OtherEarth, and OtherLife.

In television, Segel created and starred in the AMC drama Dispatches from Elsewhere in 2020. He went on to portray basketball coach Paul Westhead in the HBO drama Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty between 2022 and 2023. In 2023, he co-created the Apple TV series Shrinking with Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, starring as therapist Jimmy Laird. His work on Shrinking earned him nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.