The 2014 movie that made Jason Segel sick of comedy: “It wasn’t interesting anymore”
Jason Segel faced a career reckoning after one of his worst films.
Among the many young stars of Freaks & Geeks, Segal seemed destined for greatness after the cult show was cancelled, and he was welcomed into the repertoire of Judd Apatow. After a series of standout supporting roles, he made a name for himself as a truly unique comedy star whose pathos, sensitivity, and genuine strangeness made him unique when compared to the likes of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera.
Segel delivered a performance that was equally hilarious and tragic in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a film that he co-wrote, and he also co-starred with Paul Rudd in the generational buddy comedy I Love You, Man, and helped revitalise his childhood’s favourite show with The Muppets film in 2011, all while he was starring on How I Met Your Mother, one of the most popular sitcoms of its time.
Segel certainly experimented and would occasionally do independent films like Jeff, Who Lives At Home, but he said that he began to question his career trajectory when he began making Sex Tape, an R-rated comedy that co-starred Cameron Diaz.
“Comedy changes,” he mused, “It’s always a reflection of what’s going on at the time. 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 any more. I was no longer connected to what I was doing. It became more calculated.”
Sex Tape wasn’t necessarily a box office disaster, but it felt like the laziest style of studio comedy, and seemed to reflect quite poorly on both of its stars, especially Diaz, who also appeared in the musical remake of Annie and the comedy The Other Woman, all of which were panned, leading her to an 11-year break from acting before returning last year for the Netflix comedy Back in Action.
Segel’s lack of enthusiasm about the film was evident in how poorly defined it was conceptually, but the failure of Sex Tape helped to inspire a productive career change, wherein he gave a transformative performance the following year, starring as the famed author David Foster Wallace in the biopic The End of the Tour, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival before being picked up by A24. While it was released at a time when A24 didn’t have the brand awareness that it does now, Segel’s performance was worthy of an Academy Award nomination.
He continued to take on dramatic roles in films like Come Sunday, The Discovery, and Our Friend, and eventually decided to return to being a creator. While his AMC series Dispatches From Elsewhere only earned a small but passionate fanbase, his Apple TV show Shrinking became one of the most acclaimed series on the service, and allowed him to work with an impressive ensemble cast that included Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, and Harrison Ford.
Sex Tape curiously came out right at the time when R-rated comedies were collapsing at the box office, as today they are mostly sent straight to streaming services. Segel hasn’t stopped being funny, but he has found a way to be engaged in his work again.
