President Barack Obama was recently a guest<\/a>), Segel said he long felt unsure of his place in the world. He traces the feeling back to growing up with a Jewish father and a Christian mother; attending Christian school during the day and Hebrew school at night.<\/p>\n\u201cAt Christian school you\u2019re the Jewish kid, and at Hebrew school you\u2019re the Christian kid. I think that\u2019s the nature of groups,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so everyone wants to compartmentalize people. And I think I decided at that point, like OK, its me versus the world, kind of.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs your mom Jewish? No? You\u2019re not a real Jew,\u201d offered Maron, who is Jewish.<\/p>\n
Segel recalled explaining his bar mitzvah to his Christian classmates as a pivotal moment that pushed him away from his peers and toward acting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is when you become funny … Little 13-year-old Jason Segel standing there like, \u2018On Saturday I become a man,’\u201d he said, imitating his adolescent voice breaking. \u201cIt\u2019s literally a direct cut to getting punched in the face.”<\/p>\n
Weighing in on mixed-religion parenting, Segel said, \u201cYou know what? Neither of [my parents] are religious. So they made this decision that they were going to let me decide, which is the dumbest thing you can do for a kid. Because you don\u2019t really care [at that age].\u201d<\/p>\n
Segel did credit his parents, though, with enrolling him in acting classes when he was a child. They were less concerned with the acting than with him becoming less shy and making some friends, he said.<\/p>\n
And acting was indeed a refuge for him.<\/p>\n
Segal recalled tapping into his childhood angst for the TV show that launched his career, \u201cFreaks and Geeks,\u201d created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow, both Jews. Segel credited Apatow with changing his life by teaching him how to act and write.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really special. Everybody was kind of like digging deep into what it feels like not to feel comfortable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Segel said he later spearheaded and co-wrote \u201cThe Muppets\u201d movie in 2011 because the puppets\u2019 message appealed to him as a kid and he wanted to share it with a new generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like one of the things The Muppets did that was really unique and special is they never made fun of people, they never got laughs at other people\u2019s expense,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re a frog and a bear and Gonzo\u2019s a whatever, and they all kind of come together. And I felt like you can catch a kid at a certain age and instill this idea that it\u2019s OK. Whatever you are is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
An alcoholic who quit\u00a0drinking a\u00a0couple years ago, Segel said that when he got the script for \u201cThe End of the Tour,\u201d he could relate immediately to Wallace, the pioneering author of the postmodern novel \u201cInfinite Jest.\u201d Wallace committed suicide in 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point in my life, it felt like kismet when we started shooting,” Segel said. \u201cI\u2019m like a year and a half sober at that point and [“How I Met Your Mother”]\u00a0was coming to an end, and I was at a real moment of \u2018what do I do now?'”<\/p>\n
On working with Jewish co-star Jessie Eisenberg, who plays Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky in \u201cThe End of the Tour,\u201d Segel said, \u201cIt was the most intimate experience I\u2019ve ever had acting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film relies heavily on Lipsky’s transcripts from interviewing Wallace over the final five days of his book tour for \u201cInfinite Jest.\u201d He never published the profile he set out to write.<\/p>\n
Segel said he and Eisenberg would drive together to the set and go over their scenes in the morning, act \u201cagainst each other\u201d all day and then drive home together at night and reflect on the day. After a late-night doughnut, they would wake up and do it all again, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe End of the Tour\u201d opened nationwide Friday. Segel has surprised naysayers by earning critical acclaim for his performance. Apparently he still doesn\u2019t fit neatly into any one box.<\/p>\n
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