I've been really lucky to spend some time around actors and artists I really admire. One thing I gathered from asking a lot of questions is that part of this job and this life we've chosen is doing personal exploration in front of an audience. In a lot of ways, that's what art is: personal searching with people watching.
Jason SegelMy mother taught me to be nice to everybody. And she said something before I left home. She said, 'I want you to always remember that the person you are in this world is a reflection of the job I did as a mother.'
Jason SegelI sold my first script when I was 21 - this kids' adventure movie that never got made. I just bought that one back, actually. I'm pretty psyched about it.
Jason SegelThe first time my mom found condoms in my room, she literally started crying hysterically.
Jason SegelIt [voicing animation] is very freeing. Nobody in the cast is doing their voice. No one is talking like they normally talk and it's because, all of a sudden, you're freed from the physical limitations of how you look, which is amazing.
Jason SegelWhen you're a kid, Kermit is Tom Hanks. He's Tom Hanks for kids or Jimmy Stewart for kids. He's truly the every man.
Jason SegelIf it's achievement that you place your value in, you're never going to achieve enough. If it's power, you always need to wield power over others. If it's money, you'll never be rich enough. But if you do something and are a part of what is happening, then you're always in it and it's always enough.
Jason SegelI have always felt like romantic comedies are incredibly predictable. You look at the poster and you know those two are ending up together at the end of the movie.
Jason SegelOne thing that I think never goes out of style is just purity. Niceness and purity. And the Muppets have never lost that. Kermit especially is just wide-eyed wonder, unblinking. And he cant blink. Which I think probably helps.
Jason SegelIf you can find the line between sympathetic and creepy, you have reached a very funny area.
Jason SegelThere is a little bit of hubris to want to change the past. It implies that you know better - that things didn't happen the way that they were supposed to.
Jason SegelHonestly, I have come to believe that everything is in the order it's in for a reason. I am happy with who I am today.
Jason SegelPart of growing up is not waiting in line at a hipster breakfast restaurant. The eggs taste the same across the street. I promise.
Jason SegelKermit was the Everyman, the original Tom Hanks, but I have a special place in my heart for Fozzie Bear. The classic borderline hacky entertainer.
Jason SegelThere were some super-lean years, yeah. I'm six feet four. And I entered into this period all of a sudden when I was too big to play a kid and I was too young to play an adult. Like, I couldn't play the lawyer, but I couldn't play the high school kid anymore.
Jason SegelI've just grown a little disappointed with 'Muppets in the Old West', 'Muppets Under Water' and all these weird concept movies. I just want to go take it back to the early 80's, when it was about the Muppets trying to put on a show. That's what I'm trying to bring back.
Jason SegelI always have awkward relationships with the ladies for whatever reason. I don't know and so here we are. I was able to sort of take all of those terrible, terrible, terrible dates and turn them into a money making venture.
Jason SegelThat's the best advice I can give - when you're trying to write a comedy, first write a drama, and then make it funny.
Jason SegelPeople have a lot less leniency for some reason for women straying from a relationship than they do for men.
Jason SegelThe whole thing that drew me to doing an animated film is that you're freed from the physical limitations of your physical body. All of a sudden, you get to be something that has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a 6'4", lumbering dude, and that is really exciting.
Jason SegelFozzie Bear has so many bear puns in this script - like, 'Trac is grizzly!' 'This is unbearable!' It's the greatest.
Jason SegelA man can certainly be a Muppet. Being a Muppet is a state of mind. It's about finding that little part of you that's unique, and not being embarrassed by it, but cherishing it.
Jason SegelI have a similar issue with people who hire me as I do with women. 'You have to have a particular taste to want to be around me. I have a slightly askew view.
Jason SegelThe narrative of our lives is a total construct. We get to choose what that is. That is something I've realized as I've gotten older. I have a lot of choices about the story that I'm telling myself about my life. So where do I find meaning?
Jason Segel