Jason Segel's secret to success Jason Segel lives so close to the Chateau Marmont that he gets free 24-hour room service delivered to his house in exchange for not complaining about any late-night noise from the clubby Sunset Strip hotel. He'll order the occasional 3 a.m. burger but still saunters over frequently for meals and meetings. When he strolled into the lobby on a recent Sunday, a hostess immediately escorted him to his preferred table, directly in the center of the action outside on the patio. He had just concluded a weekend-long press junket for his new film, "Jeff, Who Lives at Home," and looked tired. Under the hot sun, he removed his blazer and began to chain smoke. "It cuts off the bad years," he said, trying to make light of his cigarette consumption. It doesn't cut off your mid-30s. Segel, 32, is certainly in the midst of some good years. After rising to fame with the Judd Apatow-led bro-pack that includes comedians such as Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, the writer-actor has made a name for himself playing buffoonish yet lovable man-children. While he's been a part of the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" since 2005, Segel is perhaps better known for his big-screen roles. He established his endearing slacker persona in 2008's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which he also penned, playing a struggling composer reeling after a breakup with a longtime girlfriend. He's taken on variations of that character in "I Love You, Man" and "Bad Teacher," and last year he reinvigorated "The Muppets" franchise, starring in and co-writing the movie, which grossed nearly $160 million worldwide. After "Jeff," he'll revisit the archetype in next month's "Five-Year Engagement," about a man who sidelines his career ambitions to appease his fiancée. He'll also have a cameo reprising his character from Apatow's "Knocked Up" in the director's sequel, "This Is 40," out in December. "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" - released Friday - fits the mold as well. The thirtysomething Jeff has yet to enter the adult world and resides in the basement of his mother (Susan Sarandon). There, he smokes weed, repeatedly watching M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" in the hopes that he might find an omen in his life. He believes one has arrived on the day he misses a call from a stranger named Kevin, and sets out on a mission with his far less idealistic brother (Ed Helms) to uncover its significance. The through line between Jeff and the other characters that Segel is drawn to, he believes, is that they're all nice guys - ones we'd like to be friends with. "What I'm good at is just being really regular," Segel said, ordering a second glass of white wine before finishing his first. I always felt like the goal was just to be really calm. I'm not trying too hard. I just don't come in with an intent to knock their socks off with this thing. Growing up in an affluent family in the Pacific Palisades - his father is a lawyer; his mother, a homemaker - Segel didn't aspire to be an actor. At Harvard-Westlake, one of the city's most reputable private schools, he was an athlete. In true L.A. fashion, the moment he tried his hand at acting - performing a monologue from Edward Albee's "Zoo Story" - a casting scout happened to be in the audience and asked the 17-year-old whether he'd like to go on a few auditions. He soon scored gigs in some mediocre teen movies - he was billed as "Watermelon Guy" in 1998's "Can't Hardly Wait," for instance - before landing a role in Apatow's TV show "Freaks and Geeks," which launched his career. Perhaps because he stumbled into acting, Segel has developed a disdain for formal preparation. I don't need to fill something out about what my character is like. What do they have in their wallet? That just feels dumb to me. I'm sorry," he said. Happy words, happy face. Sad words, sad face. There is the trick to acting, kids. Do a face that matches the words that you're saying. But, hey, I have no Academy Awards, so listen, maybe I'm wrong. But Segel's costar Sarandon does have an Oscar, and she says there's more to his acting ability than he's willing to cop to. "It takes somebody really smart to play a comedic loser," the veteran actress said. He's a big guy, but I don't think he's threatening. He's very gentle, and so he does that overgrown-child thing really well. But don't be fooled by it. He's quite smart. Jay Duplass, who directed the film with his brother, Mark, said the pair cast Segel because he had the appropriate blend of being both an everyman and a dreamer. "He has that thing that Chevy Chase had, where you can watch this person do ridiculous, immature things, but you still like him and root for him - an endearing buffoonery," Mark added. Segel says he's become skilled at playing the fine line between "creepy and charming" but one day hopes to "fall on the creepy side," portraying a villain who evokes the memorable menace of Gary Oldman's Dracula or Heath Ledger's Joker. Meanwhile, he's still working on developing his off-screen persona and is attempting to shed his immaturity. That means accepting writing as his job, instead of spending aimless hours post-midnight fooling around with screenplay or song drafts solely for creativity's sake. It's all part of what he has declared to be "Phase 2" of his life - a period in which he he's attempting to embrace his successes. "At some point, you have to drop the self-deprecating 'I'm single because I love puppets' thing and just acknowledge that it's all right to be good at what you do," he said. But that has been a challenge for Segel, partly because he so resents Hollywood ego-stroking. One of his pet peeves is when he's introduced to a fellow celebrity and they don't introduce themselves because they assume he knows who they are. For some reason, you're all supposed to know each other. But I don't know you. I've never ... met you," he said, interjecting a profanity. Yes, I know your name. You're famous. But say your name. That's how people interact so we feel like equals. Segel tries to stay humble, checking in with his friends in the business who are willing to level with him. When he has gained too much weight, Apatow will text him and tell him to take off a few pounds. After "The Muppets" won the song prize at the Oscars, his best friend, Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine, called him and said: "Hey, good job. You won the Academy Award. Don't be a [jerk]. Technically, the original song statuette for "Man or Muppet" went to the tune's writer, Bret McKenzie, though Segel performed the ballad. "Everyone's waiting for the moment where I turn into a [jerk], and it's not gonna happen," he said. In my 20s, all the characters I played were stunted because I became so scared to even allow myself a pat on the back. Acknowledging my success felt arrogant. But it's all right to be a confident, self-assured man. I'm growing into that.