Actor who gained international fame for his role as 'Marshall' in HIMYM: Who is Jason Segel?

His full name is Jason Jordan Segel, he was born on January 18, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. He was born to his mother, Jillian Jordan, of English, Scottish, Irish, and French descent, and to Alvin Segel, whose Jewish father is a lawyer. Growing up in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, Segel has an older brother named Adam and a younger sister named Alison.

Raised as a Jew, Segel completed elementary and middle school and then high school at Harvard-Westlake School, where he was an active member of the 1996 and 1997 CIF state champion men's basketball team, where he stood 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in). He earned the nickname "Dr.Dunk" when he won a dunk contest in high school. The team's star center, Segel, was the backup for Jason Collins, who continues to play in the NBA.

He began acting in 1998 with a casting in the teen romantic comedy film "Can't Hardly Wait" directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. Besides receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed a total of $25 million at the box office against a production budget of $10 million. In the same year, the black comedy "Dead Man on Campus" and the comedy-drama film "SLC Punk!", written and directed by James Merendino. was also included.

Segel's first major role was as a co-star in the critically acclaimed but short-lived 1999 NBC comedy-drama series "Freaks and Geeks" as the rocky "freak" Nick Andopolis. In the series, which revolved around a group of high school students in the suburbs of Detroit circa 1980, Segel personally composed a song for his character to sing for the lead female character, Lindsay (Linda Cardellini). The series, which aired for a single season, achieved great success with an average of 6.77 million viewers. It has also garnered general praise from critics and received many widows and nominations in various categories. In addition, it has appeared many times in magazines and newspapers' lists of the best TV series ever made.

Later, Segel also appeared as Neil Jansen in the forensic crime drama television series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". The series garnered a large audience during its run, and the comments were mostly positive. He also appeared in a recurring role as Eric in the sitcom "Undeclared", the sequel to 'Freaks and Geeks'. The series, which received great acclaim from the critics, reached an average of 7.3 million viewers with its single-season run.

He later appeared in the comedy film "Slackers"(2002) directed by Dewey Nicks and the neo-noir black comedy thriller "11:14"(2003) written and directed by Greg Marcks. The first did not do well at both the box office and the critical. The latter has managed to garner generally positive reviews from critics. In 2004, he appeared as Jason in the mockumentary film "LolliLove," written and directed by Jenna Fischer, which garnered mostly positive reviews.

In 2005, he portrayed the character of Marshall Eriksen in the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother", which was generally directed by Pamela Fryman, along with Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, and Cristin Milioti. The series, which ran from 2005 to 2013, gained great popularity from the day it started airing. In addition, the series received a total of 91 nominations and 21 awards in various categories.

During this time, Seegel starred in the 2007 romantic comedy film "Knocked Up" directed by Judd Apatow. After its release, the movie was a huge box office success, grossing $219 million against a production budget of $25 million. It was also generally acclaimed from critics. The following year, Segel also starred in the 2008 comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which he wrote and Apatow produced with Shauna Robertson. The critically acclaimed film resulted in a successful commercial win against its production budget.

Segel also co-starred with Paul Rudd in the bromantic comedy film "I Love You, Man" written and directed by John Hamburg, released by DreamWorks on March 20, 2009. The film was successful both at the box office and critically. The following year, for the comedy "Get Him to the Greek" directed by Nicholas Stoller as a spin-off of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Segel co-wrote most of the soundtrack, performed by the fictional famous singer Aldous Snow.

In 2010, he voiced Gru's arch-rival Vector in Universal's CGI animated comedy "Despicable Me." The film received great praise from critics and became the ninth highest-grossing film of 2010 with its gross. Later in the year, he appeared in the fantasy comedy film "Gulliver's Travels" directed by Rob Letterman as Horatio, the friend of the lead character. Despite receiving negative reviews, the film grossed more than double its production budget at the box office.

The following year, Segel played the physical education teacher Russell Gettis in the comedy "Bad Teacher", which was released in June 2011 and co-starred with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. The film met with mixed reviews, but was still a financial gain at the box office. That same year, he co-starred with Amy Adams in the musical comedy film "The Muppets," directed by James Bobin and co-written by Segel. Released on November 23, 2011, the film was both a critical and commercial success.

Later in the year, he starred in the comedy-drama movie "Jeff, Who Lives at Home," with Ed Helms, Judy Greer, and Susan Sarandon, written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass. The film, which received many accolades, failed to even meet the production budget and failed. In 2012, he co-starred with Emily Blunt in the romantic comedy film "The Five-Year Engagement" written and directed by Nicholas Stoller. The film, which was generally received positively, was also a healthy success at the box office. That same year, he reprized the role of his trainer, Jason, in the sequel "This Is 40," written and directed by Judd Apatow, which resulted in box office success and critical confusion.

In 2013, Segel announced that he was working on several young adult novels based on a story he conceived when he was 21. In the fall of 2014, "Nightmares!", co-written with Kirsten Miller. The first novel in the young adult children's literature series was published, and the sequel came out a year later. Later that year, he co-starred with Cameron Diaz in the sex comedy movie "Sex Tape," directed by Jake Kasdan. Despite receiving generally negative reviews, the film was successful at the box office.

The following year, Segel played the late writer David Foster Wallace in the independent biographical drama film "The End of the Tour" (2015). For his performance, he received praise and earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor. In 2017, he took the lead role in the romantic science fiction movie "The Discovery" directed by Charlie McDowell. Released with Netflix on March 31, 2017, the film received mixed reviews. In 2017, Segel and Kirsten Miller published their first young adult novel, "Otherworld." They released the second book in the series "OtherEarth 2018" and the third novel "OtherLife 2019".

During this time, he appeared in the drama film "Come Sunday" directed by Joshua Marston, along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Condola Rashad and Lakeith Stanfield. He then starred in the biographical drama film "Our Friend" based on an article, with Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck. Although the film was well received, it was a huge hit at the box office and failed.

Segel created and starred in the American drama television series "Dispatches from Elsewhere," which premiered on AMC on March 1, 2020. The series managed to garner generally positive reviews from critics. In 2022, he starred in "The Sky Is Everywhere," a coming-of-age romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name and directed by Josephine Decker. Released on February 11, 2022, the movie was mostly liked.

That same year, he took the lead role with Lily Collins and Jesse Plemons in the crime thriller "Windfall" directed by Charlie McDowell. Released by Netflix on March 18, 2022, the film received mixed or average reviews. He later appeared in the sports drama television series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" aired on HBO. Most recently, he co-wrote and co-starred with Harrison Ford in the comedy-drama television series "Shrinking" in 2023. The series, which was screened on Apple TV +, was renewed for the second season and received mostly positive feedback.

Personal life

Segel was for a time dating his co-star, actress Linda Cardellini. Later, he had an affair with actress Michelle Williams from 2012 to 2013. From 2013 to 2021, Segel was in a relationship with photographer Alexis Mixter.

Segel, an ordained minister at the Church of Universal Life, said on a talk show he attended that he often visits his hometown.