Jason Segel always had a special way of making us laugh and feel emotional through a comedy that perfectly blends humor with sensitivity. After getting his start on the short-lived cult classic ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ he became a key part of Judd Apatow’s crew.
The actor/writer stood out for bringing raw heart to his comedy. For years, he remained on top, writing and starring in the 2008 rom-com ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall‘ and anchoring the hit sitcom ‘How I Met Your Mother.’ But behind the scenes, he was hitting a creative block. After a disastrous project in 2014, Segel felt his craft had become a meaningless routine, leading to introspection and a shift in direction that changed his career for good.
Jason Segel Reached His Breaking Point With ‘Sex Tape’
While Jason Segel enjoyed huge popularity and was always eager to experiment with indie projects, there was something that troubled him. He realized it while working on the R-rated comedy ‘Sex Tape,’ which also featured Hollywood diva Cameron Diaz.
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That movie made him realize that everything in the industry was changing, and that the organic excitement of making people laugh was being replaced by a mechanical process run by a giant corporation. Evaluating how it all changed, Segel noted the evolution of humor.
“Comedy changes. It’s always a reflection of what’s going on at the time,” he said. “If Ace Ventura was made today, you might say, ‘Whoa, calm down!’ I think the era of comedy came to an end right before Sex Tape.”
“There was a sense, at least for me, that it wasn’t interesting anymore. I was no longer connected to what I was doing. It became more calculated.” Although ‘Sex Tape’ managed to survive financially in theaters, it received extremely negative reviews for being lazy and uninspired.
Made on a $40 million budget, the movie earned roughly $126 million globally, which is low for a big summer comedy with huge stars such as Segel and Diaz. It received an abysmal score of 17% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“With neither the conviction to embrace its smutty premise nor enough laughs to function as a worthwhile rom-com, the flaccid Sex Tape suffers from cinematic impotence,” the site’s critic consensus wrote.
Segel Re-Discovered His Artistic Purpose
The reaction was so severe that it caused an 11-year hiatus from movies for Diaz until her recent comeback in Netflix’s ‘Back in Action.’ For Jason Segel, however, the creative gap this movie left behind inspired a complete career pivot.
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Exactly one year later, he amazed the audience by ditching his goofy image to play the legendary author David Foster Wallace in the biopic ‘The End of the Tour.’ Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival under A24, this drama highlighted Segel’s acting chops and won him universal acclaim.
Since then, Segel has embraced this new phase of his career and taken on roles in serious films, including ‘Our Friend,’ ‘The Discovery,’ and ‘Come Sunday.’ Moreover, he began experimenting with writing by creating an eccentric AMC show, ‘Dispatches from Elsewhere.’
He also collaborated with Apple TV+ to co-create ‘Shrinking,’ alongside a star-studded ensemble including Harrison Ford. Through this creative transformation, Segel reinvented himself and left behind the rigid boundaries imposed by mass-producing boring comedies.
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