Jason Segel is reflecting on feeling "unhappy" during a peak time in his career.
The actor was part of The Hollywood Reporter's Comedy Actors Roundtable when the discussion led to the actors talking about being fulfilled by their career choices and whether they take a job just to do it or wait until a satisfying role comes along.
“This discussion is all I really think about,” Segel began. “There was a period in my life and career around, like, the last couple years of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ where things were firing on both movies and TV and everyone was telling me how well it was going — and I was really unhappy.”
“And so I then had to grapple with like, ‘Why? What’s off about this equation?’ Because I should be feeling like I did it,” he continued. “And something was off. And so it goes back to a lot of the discussions we were having about making sure that what you’re doing is some sort of act of self-exploration. Like there’s a reason you’re doing it.”
Segel portrayed Marshall Eriksen in “HIMYM” for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014. During his time on the Emmy-winning series, the actor also starred in hits like “Knocked Up,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “I Love You, Man,” “The Five-Year Engagement” and “This Is 40,” among many other comedies.
While discussing getting to that “f--- it, I do what I want” moment in their career, Segel, who was alongside Steven Yeun, Tyler James Williams, John Mulaney and Mo Amer on THR’s roundtable, said it comes with some hiccups.
“But unfortunately, it’s a system of permission in place where then people are like, ‘We don’t give a s---,’” he said with a laugh, adding, “What I like (to do) is not obvious, unfortunately or fortunately. I had to fight hard to put a Dracula puppet musical at the end of the movie.”
Segel says it’s tricky to go after you want and get told ‘No,’ but said part of the “big equation is getting to the point where you ask yourself, ‘What is worth trading my time for?’”
“What am I gonna give over nine months or two years or three years, four, and is it worth it?” he said. “Because I look back at the ones I didn’t like and I was like, that was not worth age 28.”
Back in January, Segel touched on his own struggles with anxiety and self-doubt.
“I have always struggled a bit with anxiety and some sense that something is wrong and a sense of impending doom,” Segel told Yahoo Entertainment. “At some point, I decided there’s no reason to spend my life not feeling good, so I tried to acquire some tools, therapy being one of them, to feel like everything is OK.”
While the actor never specified when this happened, he did add that he’s “asked for help so many times in my life, in so many different ways.”
These days, the actor is working on his own creation, the Apple TV+ series "Shrinking," which he co-created, stars, co-writes and executive produces. The show, which co-stars Harrison Ford, is about therapist Jimmy Laird, portrayed by Segel, who is grieving his wife's death and frustrated with his patients. It was renewed for a second season.