If I were to write a list of the people that TBR revere, you can bet that Jason Segel would be right up near the top. Born in Los Angeles, Segel was actually an active member of the basketball team at his high school: Harvard-Westlake. He began acting while in college, performing in local theatre productions at the Palisades Playhouse, and it was during this period that he decided to become a professional actor. His film debut was in the film Can’t Hardly Wait, in a role where he’s credited as “Watermelon Guy”, and he played small parts in Dead Man on Campus and SLC Punk! before landing his breakout role on Freaks and Geeks, which instantly made him a member of the Judd Apatow crew (which also includes his Freaks and Geeks co-stars Seth Rogen and James Franco). In the early 2000’s, Segel continued to perform in smaller roles, appearing on the TV shows Alias and CSI (as a lab technician), but it was in 2006 that he was brought back into the limelight in the huge hit comedy Knocked Up. His role as one of Seth Rogen’s stoner roommates was a most memorable one, and flying high on the success of Knocked Up, Segel landed a lead role on the TV series How I Met Your Mother, and also wrote and starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall – apparently based in part on Segel’s own relationship experiences. Forgetting Sarah Marshall proved that Segel had the talent to be a leading man, and since then he’s basically been a Hollywood A-lister, starring in such films as I Love You, Man, Despicable Me, Gulliver’s Travels, Bad Teacher, and, most recently, The Muppets. Segel’s adoration of the Muppets and his enthusiasm shone through in his performance in that movie, and it’s because of his success at reviving the Muppets, as well as his multiple talents and incredible charm, that we here at TBR think of him as a kind of hero. We can look forward to seeing more of Segel this year in The Five-Year Engagement and This Is 40, as well as hearing his voice in Despicable Me 2. Jason Segel, god among men, turns 32 today.