Jason Segel’s ruse to help Brett Goldstein get rid of Ted Lasso’s character was born from first-hand experience.
At the Shrinking Season 2 premiere on October 7 in Los Angeles, the 44-year-old actor told several media outlets, including PEOPLE, why he wanted to cast Goldstein in a surprisingly dark and pivotal role next season.
“Brett can do anything,” Siegel said, noting how closely Goldstein was involved with the project from the beginning as writer and co-creator. “And I secretly knew he wanted to play this role and I knew it would kill him.”
(LR) Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen in How I Met Your Mother; Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso.
Eric McCandless/CBS/Courtesy Everett; Apple TV+
Next, the Freaks and Geeks alumnus explained how his role as Marshall Erickson on How I Met Your Mother made it difficult for audiences to see him as anything other than the friendly Minnesota native.
He continued, “I have a lot of experience playing Marshall Erickson and then working to make people see me as other characters, and I know he would probably handle that as Roy Kent,” referring to the character Ted Lasso played by Goldstein. “I just wanted to be the voice that said, ‘No, do something completely different. Let’s break that down now.’ And he’s amazing on the show.”
Segel played the lovable Marshall in How I Met Your Mother, which followed Ted (Josh Radnor) as he told his children their mother’s long love story while navigating adulthood in New York City with his four best friends.
(LR) Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, and Alyson Hannigan on How I Met Your Mother.
CBS via Getty
The beloved sitcom aired from 2005 to 2014, and even spawned a gender-flipped spinoff series titled How I Met Your Father starring Hilary Duff. Original cast members Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders even made guest appearances on the show.
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Before the series was canceled after two seasons in September 2023, Siegel told Entertainment Tonight that he would be very happy to reprise his role on the series.
“These people changed my life, and I’ll do anything they ask of me,” he said of the show’s creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.
Season 2 of Shrinking premieres October 16 on Apple TV+.
