How I Met Your Mother was filled with a mixture of both happy and sad moments. While the show was famous for perfectly striking a balance between humor and comedic relief, one episode was so heartbreaking and sad that it even brought the viewers to tears.
The scene in question featured the death of Marshall’s father, Marvin Eriksen Sr., and easily became one of the toughest scenes for the audience to watch.
Not only that, but what also makes it even more real is the improvisation that Jason Segel, who played Marshall on the hit sitcom, brought to the sequence.
Jason Segel Improvised a HIMYM Scene That Left the Audience in Tears
How I Met Your Mother has undoubtedly entertained viewers with its comedy and sarcastic jabs. However, it also featured some of the most tear-jerking storylines to be ever seen in a sitcom. In this even the cast did full justice to the plotlines and narratives they had to act out on screen.
A perfect example of this was Jason Segel, who not only performed the most heartbreaking scene in the show but also added a personal touch with his improvisation.
In Season 6, Episode 13, titled Bad News, Segel’s Marshall Erikson receives the devastating news that his father has unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack. The episode was centered around Lily and Marshall, as Marshall was anticipating bad news about his fertility results. While the couple receives positive news that they can indeed have children.
Lily later arrives in a taxi with tears in her eyes to inform him that his father has passed away. Marshall’s response, “My dad’s dead? I’m not ready for this,” as he continues to weep in Lily’s arms, was deeply moving.
Interestingly, both Segel and Alyson Hannigan were kept in the dark on how the final scene would play out. They only knew that the episode would end with Lily being pregnant. On the day of filming, they were informed by the producers about the change.
Segel requested the creators to keep Hannigan’s lines a secret, intending to react naturally when she delivered the heartbreaking news. This added authenticity to the scene, reflecting the profound loss of one of Marshall’s biggest supporters.
Kevin Hart Detailed a Habit He Adopted While Living With Former Roommate Jason Segel
Kevin Hart is always up for a hilarious blast from the past stories, and he did just that when he reminisced about his former rooming days with HIMYM star Jason Segel on his show Hart to Heart. During a conversation with Judd Apatow, Hart shared how Apatow made him and Segel live together during the filming of the 2001 pilot North Hollywood.
Hart mentioned how Segel used the Final Draft software on his large Mac computer and even encouraged him to get the software, adding, “If you’re trying to write, Kev, you gotta get Final Draft.” So, after listening to the HIMYM actor, Kevin Hart went out and bought the software, only to realize later on that he “didn’t even have a f—king computer.”
After spending approximately $300 on the software, Hart had to buy a Dell computer as well and started writing even though he had no idea what he was doing. This motivation for constant creativity helped the actor hone his writing skills.
