The not-so-funny prank also led his mom to send a mass email, warning family members about his 2008 comedy, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

Why Jason Segel’s mom walked out of one of his movies: ‘I thought it would be a funny joke’

The not-so-funny prank also led his mom to send a mass email, warning family members about his 2008 comedy, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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January 22, 2026 3:19 p.m. ET

Jason Segel. Credit:

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

Movie theater walkouts are painful enough as is — but what if the person leaving early is your own mother?

Jason Segel experienced this firsthand at the premiere of his iconic 2008 comedy *Forgetting Sarah Marshall*. But in his mom's defense, the actor is to blame for the moment that startled her out of her seat.

"I thought it would be a really, really great — like one of the great practical jokes — not to tell my parents that I did full-frontal nudity in *Forgetting Sarah Marshall*," Segel recently admitted during a chat with *Hot Ones* host Sean Evans. "And then take them to the premiere. This was like a really thrilling idea for me."

The offending moment in question is actually the opening scene of the comedy. Segel joked, "It's like five minutes into the movie when my d--- comes out and I'm like, 'Here it comes.'"

The scene sees composer Peter (Segel) clad in just a towel after a shower at the very moment that his girlfriend decides to dump him. Shocked, Peter drops his towel and gives the audience a surprise of their own. Segel, who was sitting in between his parents, expected his mom to appreciate the wild moment. But he couldn't have been more wrong.

Jason Segel and his father Alvin Segel, sister Alison Segel, and mother Jillian Segel at the WGA Theater on July 13, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Michael Kovac/WireImage

"I turn to my mom expecting her to be laughing hysterically and her face is beet red and there's a tear coming down her face," Segel recounted. Mimicking their whispering, he continued, "And I said, 'Are you okay?' And she said, 'Why didn't you tell me?' And I said, 'I thought it would be a funny joke.' And she said, 'It's not a funny joke.'"

In fact, it was so overwhelming that Segel's mom had to step out of the room.

"She got up and left the theater," he explained. "And then she came back in and she'd, like, put herself together."

The rest of the premiere presumably went off without a hitch, but that opening scene stuck with Segel's mom — so much so that she took care to warn the rest of his family members when she got home that night.

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Segel recalled, "She sent out an email to the entire family that read, 'I would like to inform you that Jason has *chosen* to do full-frontal nudity in his newest film. However I'd like to assure you that it is not gratuitous and [is] essential to the plot."

Jason Segel in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'.

Universal Pictures

Segel has since defended his choice to bare it all for the sake of comedy, arguing that dropping the towel was about more than just shocking the audience (and traumatizing his own mother).

"The thing about the full-frontal nudity, it wasn't just, like, being an exhibitionist," Segel explained during a recent visit to Vulture's *Good One *podcast. "It was that if the opening scene your male lead does full-frontal nudity, because it hadn't really happened at this point yet, you're forced to throw out your expectations."

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It has ultimately become one of the most memorable moments from the film and was referenced just last year, when Segel joined former costar and SAG Awards host Kristen Bell onstage to recreate the hilarious moment. Lucky for Segel's mom, they kept things PG.

When Segel stepped out with a brown towel wrapped around his waist, he told Bell, "I got a surprise for you." Then he opened the towel to reveal… his fully clothed legs.

Bell quipped, "It doesn't really have the same effect with the towel over your pants."

But at least nobody walked out that time.

Watch Segel recount the* Forgetting Sarah Marshall *premiere while taking on the hot wings gauntlet in the *Hot Ones* episode above.

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