Jason Segel: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

3. Marshall Eriksen - How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

Assumedly, this is the role that most people know Jason Segel for - as Marshall Eriksen on TV's How I Met Your Mother. As Ted Mosley's best friend, Marshall is - according to Wikipedia - a "tall, easy-going, naive optimist from St. Cloud, Minnesota," which is probably the best description of said character going. Many have complained that such a character is really just Jason Segel playing himself, but there's a lot more to it than that - he's an integral element of the show. So much so, in fact, that a lot of what makes How I Met Your Mother great stems from the fact that Segel manages to make Marshall into such a likeable character - an audience surrogate, if you will. Sure, he doesn't have the memorability factor of somebody like Barney (who does, to be fair?), but he's definitely somebody you would want as your own best friend. Segel easily kept up the enthusiasm for this character for the length of the show, and that's to be wholly admired.