Inside Adam Levine And Jason Segel's Longtime Friendship
Adam Levine started accumulating famous friends long before he and country singer Blake Shelton began bickering back and forth on "The Voice." Levine and "Superbad" actor Jonah Hill were BFFs growing up, with Hill explaining to Playboy that their parents were friends first. "We'd watch movies, play basketball, skateboard around and stuff like that," he said of their idyllic childhood. "Listen, Adam was like family, and he still is."
The musician and the actor both attended the prestigious Brentwood School in Los Angeles, which is where Levine met the members of his first band, Kara's Flowers, per Reuters. A few of those guys would still be rocking with him when Maroon 5 hit the big time. Levine also befriended actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who revealed that they first hit it off when they were in elementary school. During an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," Gyllenhaal also confirmed that being in a band in high school made Levine a pretty popular guy.
Save for his bandmates, it seems Levine might have been the only member of his high school friend group that didn't become an actor — he and "How I Met Your Mother" star Jason Segel also forged a close bond that lasted long after they graduated.
Jason Segel played an important role at Adam Levine's wedding
It was Jonah Hill who introduced Jason Segel to Adam Levine while they were all attending high school together. In a 2012 interview with Details, Segel revealed that fame hadn't affected his friendship with the rocker — they still found time to hang out and reminisce about the good ol' days. "Usually when we get together, we have dinner and then sit around listening to music. And then we just talk," Segel said. "We remind each other that we were just kids who happened to be good at what we do."
They remained so close that Segel was asked to be a groomsman when Levine married Victoria's Secret model Behati Prinsloo in 2014, per People, and Hill also played an important role in the couple's nuptials by officiating the wedding ceremony.
In case you're curious about what Segel was doing in high school while Levine was already living the rock star life, he was making a name for himself on the basketball court, winning a state championship and earning the nickname Dr. Dunk, per the Los Angeles Times. He told NPR that his goal was to play college basketball, but his drama teacher tricked him into auditioning for a Paramount exec by making him think that he was participating in a practice audition for school. And after Segel's acting career took off, Levine gave him a taste of the rock star life.
Jason Segel has performed at Maroon 5 concerts
Adam Levine and Jason Segel swerved into each other's lanes when they found fame: Levine appeared on "American Horror Story," and Segel showed off his musical chops in the 2008 comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which concludes with the actor performing a rock opera with a Dracula puppet. Segel told NPR that he actually set out to create a similar musical early in his career. He even asked Judd Apatow for feedback on a song he wrote, recalling the director saying to him, "You can't ever play this for anyone — ever."
But in 2010, Segel performed "Dracula's Lament" during a Maroon 5 concert at the Greek Theatre, per The Orange County Register. He also played the role of his friend's hype man by introducing Maroon 5 as "the greatest band in the history of rock 'n' roll." Segel had previously opened for the group during a concert at St. John's University in Queens and a New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas. "There was a hall monitor that told him not to curse earlier. But I knew the crowd would love him," Levine told Rolling Stone of the former.
Levine further proved just how faithful of a friend he is in 2015 when Segel was promoting his movie, "The End of the Tour." Levine invited Segel's colleagues into his home for a party during award season, telling the Los Angeles Times, "If I didn't love him, I wouldn't be doing this."