Serenading is a classic component of courtship, but never before has a suitor channeled the inner turmoil — and singing voice, for that matter — of Dracula for the sake of song. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which opens tomorrow, defies all preconceptions of movie romance with an alluring but fresh love story within a hilarious and raunchy context. This sort of R-rated romance is producer Judd Apatow’s (Knocked Up, Superbad) specialty and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a worthy successor to Apatow’s recent endeavors.
The movie’s star and co-writer, Jason Segel — in his first lead role after spending the last decade in supporting roles (Freaks and Geeks and Knocked Up) — plays Peter Bretter, a just-dumped musician dreaming of staging a Dracula musical starring puppets. As luck would have it, Peter ends up at the same resort as his ex, sexy TV actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), and her new beau, a daft British singer (Russell Brand). Jason Segel sat down with The Muse to talk about break-ups, his body and puppets on a recent stop in Boston.
The Muse: Did any real life experience inspire your writing?
Jason Segal: Being lonely and desperate is a very universal feeling, everyone can relate to it. It’s a safe
area comically because people are on your side intrinsically as the person who is being dumped, so you have a lot of leeway to be really desperate or creepy. I’ve had ten years of relationships ending with me being dumped by some woman driving off in a car
wildly excited to be free. I got dumped while I was naked once and I thought that was hilarious while it was
happening. I had to act like I was really upset and kept thinking, you’re giving me comedy gold here. I was born without a sense of shame or embarrassment for the most part.
The Muse: What has been your experience finding work prior to Forgetting Sarah Marshall?
JS: You guys will experience this, it’s really terrible, but you get slapped in the face at some point with the fact that it doesn’t actually come as easy as you expected it to. I got lucky very young and got discovered in a high school play. I met Judd Apatow when I was 18 and had my first TV show that I loved. I walked out of that thinking, ‘Oh, man, I’m about to be a huge star’…I’ve been trying to be the star of a movie for ten years since I started and I’m finally where I want to be.
The Muse: What role are you going to have in the next Muppet movie?
JS: Right now it’s just a writing deal, I hope to star in it and [Segel’s writing partner and director of FSM] Nick [Stoller], hopes to direct. I remember The Muppet Show being one of my first comic influences. I remember thinking Kermit was the original Tom Hanks, he’s like the everyman. I remember seeing guys like Peter Sellers and Dudley Moore on The Muppet Show and the old Muppet movies — when you’re a kid they make you feel like you can do anything and that really inspired me. I am also a big fan of puppets because you don’t need actual friends, you’ve always got someone to talk to.
The Muse: Are you prepared for America to see you naked in your first leading role?
JS: Yeah I don’t mind, I’ve been making it my personal goal to make every American woman see me naked, regardless. They’re our bodies, I think they’re funny. The body is like a training wheel to me, you have this cumbersome body that you have to live in. I don’t feel a real connection to it — we’re getting kind of spiritual now.