Jason Segel shares reason behind leaving Hollywood life for 'little country town' after 'HIMYM' success

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jason Segel is opening up about his life in a country town, and the reason behind leaving the Hollywood lifestyle.

On Wednesday, October 16, the 'How I Met Your Mother' star made an appearance on the 'Today' show and reflected on his move in 2014.

"You did something so interesting," host Hoda Kotb pointed out. "A lot of people would’ve just taken a big dive into Hollywood, but you did something else. You pulled up stakes and moved away from all that. Why’d you do that?”

Segel responded with, “I was having a really roaring twenties. I had How I Met Your Mother and I was also writing a bunch of movies that were successful and doing well,” reported People.

Jason Segel reflects on why he quit Hollywood life

The 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' actor explained, “I realized that art is supposed to be a reflection of what you’re going through and I actually wasn’t going through much life-wise.”

“So I moved out of LA, I moved to a little country town and I started to ask 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 an artist?" Segel explained. 

Jason Segel on 'side-effect' of staying in a California country town

Previously, the star talked about his town Ojai, California with the Los Angeles Times. “Being there had the really interesting side-effect of realizing — after six weeks time, mind you — that, ‘Oh, my gosh. I finally feel calm,’” Segel told the outlet.

“And it occurred to me that when you’re doing this job and living in LA, you’re never leaving campus. So it was like this whole new experience to realize that when someone outside of Hollywood asks, ‘What are you up to?’ they mean, like, right now. So the answer is: ‘Oh. I’m on my way to the grocery store,’ not ‘I have three projects in development,’” he reflected in 2023.

Segel's latest 'Shrinking' season 2 dropped on Apple TV+ on October 15 with two episodes. In the comedy series, the actor portrays the character of therapist James "Jimmy" Laird.