The Best Time Marshall Ever Broke Character On How I Met Your Mother
The CBS hit sit-com "How I Met Your Mother" was met with mixed reactions from fans after the show's final episode. The mystery of who was the mother of Ted Mosby's (Josh Radner) children was a bit of a disappointment for viewers when it was revealed that his wife died of cancer, and Ted was telling the story to his kids so that they could understand the complicated relationship between him and their "Aunt" Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders).
Nevertheless, "How I Met Your Mother" brought lots of laughs throughout its nine-year-stint as it followed a group of close friends and their crazy shenanigans while living in New York City. Characters Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) rounded out the ensemble, and each one of them had their own charming and unique personalities to delight the show's fans.
After working on a show for nearly a decade, there are plenty of chances to have a little fun behind the scenes— and to make plenty of mistakes. In the "How I Met Your Mother" gag reels and bloopers, fans can see numerous examples of the actors flubbing their lines, coming up with hilarious ad-libs, and just goofing off with one another. But as one outtake shows, the actors can get angry, too — even when a take that is messed up ends up being their own fault.
Marshall's heartfelt speech was interrupted by a cell phone
In Season 6 Episode 13, "Bad News," Marshall receives the devastating news that his father died of a heart attack. It was an emotional time on the otherwise comedy-centric show, and Jason Segel delivered a convincingly heartbreaking performance as the grieving son. In the following episode, "Last Words," the gang attends the funeral, and Marshall agonizes that the last words his dad ever said to him were "Plane food is ass." This is later proved to not be the case when Marshall discovers a voicemail from his dad in which his final words to him were "I love you."
In a Season 6 "How I Met Your Mother" gag reel posted on YouTube, we can see Segel's emotional performance during the scene. He is really in the zone, speaking from the heart when a cell phone rings. Clearly irritated, Segel looks around accusingly. "Wow, in the middle of my acting?" he gripes. "Right while I'm acting? I'm just acting right now." After a moment, the irony becomes clear — a voice off-camera tells him, "It's your phone, Jason."
Segel makes a face as he jumps to check his phone, then looks at the camera with a sheepish expression before breaking out into a smile. Funnily enough, it's not the first time Segel's cell phone has interrupted a take, since the clip comes from a brief montage of cell phones ringing on the set, and often Segel's phone is the source. Still, Segel takes the whole situation with good humor and gives fans a really funny blooper.