Jason Segel has had one of the most fascinating career trajectories in all of Hollywood. The American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter started his career with Judd Apatow-produced series Freaks and Geeks and went on to star in several comedies but after that, he proved his acting chops in serious dramas such as Our Friend and The End of the Tour. But he is most famously known for his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS comedy series How I Met Your Mother. Recently, he starred in an Apple TV+ tragicomedy series Shrinking opposite the legen “Wait for It” dary actor Harrison Ford. So, if you also love Segel’s performances here are the 10 best movies and TV shows starring Jason Segel that should be on your watchlist.
10. Our Friend (Prime Video)
Synopsis: Our Friend tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family – journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his vibrant wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters – and how their lives are upended by Nicole’s heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer. As Matt’s responsibilities as a caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life-altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.
9. Knocked Up (Max)
Synopsis: The writer and director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin delivers a hilarious hit comedy that the New York Post calls “Brilliant.” They say that opposites attract. Well, for slacker Ben (Seth Rogen) and career girl Alison (Katherine Heigl), that’s certainly the case—at least for one intoxicated evening. Two months and several pregnancy tests later, Ben and Alison go through a hysterically funny, anxious and heartwarming journey that The New York Times calls “an instant classic.”
8. This Is the End (Netflix)
Synopsis: THIS IS THE END follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.
7. How I Met Your Mother (Hulu)
Synopsis: A half-hour comedy series about Ted and how he fell in love. It all started when Ted’s best friend, Marshall, drops the bombshell that he’s going to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Lily, a kindergarten teacher. At that moment, Ted realizes that he had better get a move on if he hopes to find true love, too.
6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Hulu & Peacock)
Synopsis: From the guys that brought you The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, comes “One of the funniest, damn movies I’ve ever seen!” (Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper). Peter (Jason Segel) is a struggling musician who finds his world turned upside down when his TV celebrity girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), dumps him for a tragically hip rock star. It’s the hysterically funny look at how far one man will go to forget a girl—and all the fun he finds along the way!
5. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (Max)
Synopsis: A fast-break series chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court. The ensemble cast includes: John C. Reilly, Quincy Isaiah, Jason Clarke, Adrien Brody, Gaby Hoffman, Tracy Letts, Jason Segel, Julianne Nicholson, and more.
4. Shrinking (Apple TV+)
Synopsis: “Shrinking” follows a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.
3. Dispatches from Elsewhere (AMC+, Pluto TV & The Roku Channel)
Synopsis: Dispatches from Elsewhere is centered around four ordinary people who feel there’s something missing in their lives, but they can’t quite put their finger on what it is. This diverse foursome is brought together by chance – or perhaps it’s by design – when they stumble onto a puzzle hiding just behind the veil of everyday life. As they begin to accept the mysterious ‘Dispatches from Elsewhere’ challenges, they come to find that the mystery winds deeper than they imagined, and their eyes are opened to a world of possibility and magic.
2. The End of the Tour (Max)
Synopsis: The End of the Tour tells the story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter (and novelist) David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace’s groundbreaking epic novel, Infinite Jest. As the days go on, a tenuous yet intense relationship seems to develop between journalist and subject. The two men bob and weave around each other, sharing laughs and also possibly revealing hidden frailties—but it’s never clear how truthful they are being with each other. Ironically, the interview was never published, and five days of audio tapes were packed away in Lipsky’s closet. The two men did not meet again. The film is based on Lipsky’s critically acclaimed memoir about this unforgettable encounter, written following Wallace’s 2008 suicide. Both Segel and Eisenberg reveal great depths of emotion in their performances and the film is directed with humor and tenderness by Sundance vet James Ponsoldt from Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Margulies’ insightful and heartbreaking screenplay.
1. Freaks and Geeks (Prime Video, Paramount+ & Hulu)
Synopsis: Growing up circa 1980, a misfit high-school student and his pals are probably destined to become new media millionaires, but right now they’re stuck in school, where all the girls are a foot taller and bullies terrorize the gym class. Meanwhile, his older sister is flirting with the dope-smoking bad boys, cutting classes and questioning the point of getting good grades.
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