With director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Our Friend, opening in select theaters and On Demand tomorrow by Gravitas Ventures and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, I recently got to speak with Jason Segel about being part of such an inspiring movie. If you haven’t seen the trailer, Our Friend is based on the Esquire article “The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word” by Matthew Teague and is about a family (Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck) dealing with terminal cancer and the close friend (Segel) that moves in to help them out. I recently watched the film and thought it was incredibly well done and featured terrific performances from everyone in the cast. In addition, as someone that has lost a number of close friends the past few years, the film was a beautiful reminder about the intricacies of friendship and the importance of making each day count. Our Friend also stars Jake Owen, Gwendoline Christie, Cherry Jones, Isabella Kai, and Violet McGraw.

During the interview, Segel talks about why he’s been selective with his recent acting roles and what it was about this project that pulled him in, how Our Friend weaves in a lot of humor and levity even though it’s dealing with serious subject matter, what was it like having people that knew the family watching them film, and more. In addition, he reveals why he was so nervous making Dispatches from Elsewhere, what the hardest thing is about doing comedy, and answers a fun question from his Five-Year Engagement director Nicholas Stoller.

Check out what he say to say below and further down is exactly what we talked about and the official synopsis.

Jason Segel:

• Nicholas Stoller wanted to know if it was harder to do drama or acting against a turkey puppet voiced by Brian Posehn?
• How the hardest thing about doing comedy is not laughing.
• How he’s been very selective about what roles he takes on so what was it about Our Friend that made him want to do it?
• How making Dispatches from Elsewhere was two years and he was nervous he might not be able to complete the job.
• How Our Friend weaves in a lot of humor and levity even though it’s dealing with serious subject matter.
• How most of the movie is a celebration of life and friendship.
• How they filmed in the real place where the story took place and what was it like having people that knew the family watching them film?
• The way Gabriela Cowperthwaite shot the film and how her previous work making documentaries influenced the movie.
• How a lot of the scenes were completely improvised with a purpose.
• What is he going to work on in 2021?

Here's the official synopsis:

Our Friend tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family—journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his vibrant wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters—and how their lives are upended by Nicole’s heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer. As Matt’s responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.