Jason Segel loves you, man

March 16, 2009 by Lance Carter

You started out as a television actor. Was it always your goal to be a movie actor?

I don’t really differentiate between TV and movie acting, except that the schedule and life of a movie actor is much nicer. The TV schedule is great, but it makes it impossible to do more than one movie a year. You should theoretically have a couple months off after you finish shooting a movie, but I usually finish a movie the day before I start doing “How I Met Your Mother.”

How much of this movie is improvised?

There are some scenes that are entirely improvised. For example, our first man date – there was no scripted dialogue. We went to the restaurant, and John set up something called simultaneous overs, so you don’t have to re-create things later. He set up these shots and said, “All right, for the next few hours your job is to just act like you are enjoying each other’s company and getting to know each other.” And they just kept bringing us out fish tacos and fake beer.

Actors like you and Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen – is there some particular quality you guys share that creates a camaraderie on screen?

What it might be is a pridelessness about working with each other. It’s sort of like a great basketball team: You have to be willing to be the guy that throws the pass. Paul Rudd was excited to come do a part in “Sarah Marshall,” and in the next movie he’s the lead. I played a small part in “Knocked Up,” then was the lead in “Sarah Marshall,” and now I’m a supporting actor in this. If any one of us became too egotistical, they’d be knocked down so quickly – they’d be thrown off the Apatow Wheel of Talent.