Jason Segel’s mom went into crisis PR mode after her son bared it all for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” emailing their entire family about what they would see in the movie.
Segel, 44, spoke about the reaction his mom, Jillian Jordan, had to his full frontal nude scene in the 2008 comedy during an interview with the “Today” show’s Willie Geist, 49, on Oct. 20 for a segment on the series called “Sunday Sitdown.”
While looking back on the actor’s career amid the Season 2 rollout of his Apple TV+ show “Shrinking,” Geist brought up “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and the comedy’s opening scene, in which Segel is fully nude — a scene based on Siegel’s real-life experience of getting dumped while naked.
“It’s a great movie.That had to be so gratifying because that, in some ways, that was your launch,” Geist told Segel.
“It was pretty great. But I’ll tell you what the best part of it was,” Segel responded. “I did not tell my mom that I did full frontal nudity. And then I brought her to the premiere.”
Smiling, the star added that his family is “going to be so mad I’m telling this story right now because they love your show.”
“My entire family is watching right now.”
Segel went on to explain that, at the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall premiere, “my parents are sitting next to me and all of a sudden the breakup scene happens and there I am, fully naked, and the audience is gasping.”
“And I look to my mom, expecting her to be laughing, and she is, like, beet red.”
“She said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’” he recalled. “I said, ‘I thought it would be a funny joke.’ She said, ‘This is not a funny joke.’”
Seemingly wishing to warn the rest of her family and to prevent them from having the same experience watching the movie as she did, Segel’s mom fired off an email to their relatives shortly after the premiere.
“I would like to inform you that Jason has chosen to do full frontal nudity in his upcoming film,” Segel remembered the email saying. “However, I assure you it’s not gratuitous and essential to the plot.”
Sharing a laugh with Geist, Segel added, “Hi, Mom. I love you so much.”
Segel spoke about his mother’s horrified reaction to his full frontal nudity before, telling “Vanity Fair” in 2014 that “she cried” after watching the scene.
Season 2 of “Shrinking” is now streaming on Apple TV+.
