5 Awesome Performances...
5. Jason - Knocked Up (2007)
A relatively small role is this one, but oddly unforgettable at the same time. In what is arguably Judd Apatow's best filmic venture to date, then, Jason Segel plays a character called - brace yourselves - Jason, roommate to Seth Rogen's stoner father-to-be, Ben. Apatow literally has a bunch of Freaks and Geeks cast members (and Jonah Hill) living with Ben, and doesn't even bother to change their names - they're all played by actors using their actual names. Hence, uh, "Jason." Anyway, in Knocked Up, Jason gives a strangely mesmerising performance as an unlikely lothario who attempts to seduce Alison's (Katherine Heigl) sister, Debbie, played by Judd Apatow's real life wife, Leslie Mann. It's not a particularly powerful turn by Segel, nor is it actually much to write home about - the point, however, is that it's a very small part with not much significance, and yet Segel somehow manages to make it incredibly memorable. Certainly his "sexiest" turn.