In the new animated comedy, Despicable Me, Jason Segel plays a villain – a role that most of us luckily won’t recognize him in.  That’s because not only has he played a nice guy in such feel-good comedies as I Love You, Man and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which he also wrote), but he’s actually known as one of Hollywood’s most likeable celebrities.

Now, having just voiced the nemesis character in Despicable Me (which could be this summer’s biggest sleeper hit) and just finished penning the script for the The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made (he actually is into puppetry after all!), I got the chance to briefly talk to the charming actor over a crackling phone line just moments after his recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Jason Segel: Hey Steve, it’s Jason Segel!

Steve Gow: Hey Jason, what’s going on?

JS: I just finished the Tonight Show.

SG:  Oh yeah, how was it?

JS: Great.  Dude, I married this couple on the show tonight.

SG: You’re kidding.

JS: No, I got ordained on Friday and I married this couple who had put an ad on Craigslist that was asking if I would officiate their wedding. It was pretty fun I must say.

SG: Wow, you can legally do that?

JS: I can.  I can also, according to the website, absolve you of your sins as well.

SG: That might come in handy – I might have to call you up on that by the end of this interview.

JS: It’s certainly a good pick up line if nothing else.

SG: Absolutely.  Listen, I don’t want to take up too much of your time because I know it has been a long day, but congrats on Despicable Me – this is a very funny movie.

JS: Yeah, I must tell you, this is the least involved I’ve been from the ground up on a movie in a long time and you know, you go in (recording voice tracks) on this process for three hours - maybe four times over the course of two years - and then next thing you to see the movie; it was such a surprise.

SG:  I read in an interview that you said that you are more proud of this than anything else that you’ve done – is that serious?

JS: Well, it certainly is the most positive thing I’ve ever done. Most of what I’ve done has been R-rated comedies and, to some extent, raunchy or subversive - and I love that stuff too - but the idea of doing a movie that a whole family can see and enjoy together is really a special thing. It’s actually why I wanted to do Muppets as well.

SG: Yeah, you seem to be finding some stride in the family-themed arena. Lets talk about the Muppet movie for a second – are you taking that in a different direction or keeping the same spirit with that?

JS: I’m trying to bring it back to the late-70’s/early-80’s Muppet movies. The holy trinity to me was the Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and Muppets Take Manhattan and I’m trying to bring it back to that tone and that spirit.

SG: That must be surreal, knowing that puppetry has been a hobby of yours, to actually see it come to this?

JS: The nicest thing about it is, when you’re just a dude playing with puppets, you’re a weirdo. Now that it’s my profession, its like super cool (laughs). But literally, five years ago I was like a weirdo with puppets.

SG: Is there anything that you learned from Despicable Me that you may have taken to the Muppets?

JS: It was something I knew going in and been very aware of writing the Muppets but there’s no reason that a family movie has to be condescending to children or can’t be something that legitimately the whole family is enjoying. You don’t have to pander to the children and have the parents rolling their eyes like its Barney the dinosaur or something like that. You can do something that everyone is enjoying on every level. It’s something The Simpsons did really well and certainly The Muppets did beautifully and I think the script that we did does – where you come out and everyone in the family has had a great time and everyone has this bonding experience. You know, it’s tough to get in this day and age.

SG: Well, having done the voice work, you’ve had a taste of how – I don’t want to say easy - but maybe how unencumbered that is.  Can you understand why a lot of celebrities get into it?

JS: Oh man, absolutely! Not to burst anyone’s bubble but it’s like the cushiest job of all time. You literally go in once in a while and get to be as funny or off-the-wall or as broad as you want to be which you’d never get to do if it was live-action.  And then, you know, these brilliant animators and directors and editors take the best of your stuff so it’s sort of an excuse to go nuts in a recording studio for a few hours which, I don’t know, is what I do in my house when I’m alone and now it’s a profession.

SG: Listen, last question for you here. Of all the things you’ve got your hands in – the acting, the writing, puppetry – of all these, is there anything you can single out as your biggest passion?

JS: Well, it sort of involves them all but what I think is my favorite thing is coming up with an idea alone in my house and then two years later - sometimes five years later – sitting at the premiere and knowing that this thing that you’re seeing came from you alone in your house at eleven at night. It’s a pretty empowering thing. You kind of feel like you can accomplish anything.