Jason Segel Reveals How Both He and James Franco Landed Roles in "Freaks and Geeks" Despite Initially Competing Against Each Other

12/20/2024 02:12 PM

The two actors starred alongside Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini, Busy Philipps, Martin Starr, John Francis Daley and Samm Levine

Jason Segel is looking back on his time on Freaks and Geeks.

In an interview with GQ, the actor — who played Nick Andopolis, one of the "Freaks," in the popular high school dramedy — shared insight into a major decision made during the auditioning process: he and James Franco, who played bad boy Daniel Desario, were originally up for the same role.

"I was brought in for a callback with James Franco, and we were, as far as we knew, competing for the same part, because at the time, there was only one of those characters," Segel said.

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"Daniel and Nick were just one character at the time. So we went in and we auditioned against each other," he continued. "They liked us both, and they split the part, and he became the cool one, and I became the goofy one."

Both of their characters were friends with overachieving mathlete Lindsay Weir, the show's protagonist played by Linda Cardellini. The show follows the "Freaks," a group of which Lindsay, Nick and Daniel all were part alongside Ken Miller (Seth Rogen) and Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps).

Meanwhile, Lindsay's younger brother Sam — played by John Francis Daley — rounded out the "Geeks" alongside his friends Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr) and Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine).

Segel saw his own personality and experience in his edgy drummer character, he said.

"I always felt like Nick was a lot like me," he said. "He was a sweet guy who just couldn't quite get it right."

The show, created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow, was canceled midway through its first season — only releasing 12 of its 18 planned episodes. Since then, however, the show gained extreme popularity.

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Though many hit shows and movies are getting the reboot treatment, Apatow said in 2017 at a Television Critics Association event, per Deadline, that Freaks and Geeks wouldn't be revived. The show was created in the "pre-computer and cellphone age," he said, which would be difficult to translate into the current internet and connectivity-reliant culture.

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And, Apatow said, revisiting the show wouldn't benefit the characters or story.

"I don't want to do more Freaks and Geeks because we liked how it ended, so I feel it's unwrapping something and seeing if you can not screw it up; I don't think we would do that," he said, adding, "I don't close the door on anything but my inclination is that we said all we had to say."

Freaks and Geeks is streaming in full on Pluto TV, Hulu and Paramount+.