Jason Segel on why he left Hollywood to move to a ‘small country town’

Jason Segel opens up about why he left Hollywood after his success How I met your mother.

The actor recently appeared in the Today show in which Hoda Kotb brought up Segel’s decision to leave Los Angeles after the CBS sitcom ended in 2014. “You did something so interesting,” she said. “A lot of people would have just made a big move to Hollywood, but you did something different. You upped the ante and walked away from all that. Why did you do that?”

“I really had a roaring twenties,” he said shrinkage Star and co-creator responded. “I had that How I met your mother and I have also written a number of successful and well-performing films.”

Due to his busy work schedule with How I met your mother and films like 2008 Forgot Sarah MarshallSegel realized he wasn’t “doing a lot of in-person check-ins.”

“I realized that art should be a reflection of what you’re going through, and I haven’t actually been through much in life,” he added. So he decided to change his surroundings to hopefully create a sense of peace in his life.

“I moved out of LA,” Segel said. “I moved to a small country town and started asking myself questions like, ‘What do you actually like?’ What are you actually thinking about right now? Who do you want to be as a performer and artist?’”

The This is the end The actor previously told the Los Angeles Times In June 2023, he announced that he had moved to Ojai, California, a small city in Ventura County.

“The really interesting side effect of staying there was that – after six weeks, mind you – I realized: ‘Oh my God. “I finally feel calm,” he said at the time. “And it occurred to me that if you do this job and live in LA, you never leave campus.”

Segel continued, “It was a whole new experience to have someone outside of Hollywood ask, ‘What are you up to?’ You mean, right now. So the answer is, “Oh. “I’m on the way to the grocery store,” not “I have three projects in development.”