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February 25, 2008 – Universal’s WonderCon 2008 presentation for its upcoming comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall was exactly what you think it would be: hilarious. With stars Jason Segal (who also wrote the screenplay), Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Jack McBrayer; director Nicholas Stoller; and producer Shauna Robertson all in attendance, what else could you expect?

In fact, Stoller kicked off the festivities by showing an extended trailer very similar in nature to the international red band trailer (which you can see below — 17 and older only) only toned down for the mixed WonderCon audience.

Then he brought his cast and producer out onto the stage. But before opening the panel up to questions from the audience, he felt it was important to put Segal (who plays Peter Bretter in the film — the lead character who is trying to forget his ex-girlfriend, actress Sarah Marshall) on the spot by asking him how he prepared for his many nude scenes.

“I had a little bit of whiskey and I tried to get the room as warm as possible because there were 300 people there. That was about it. I tried to focus on good things,” said Segal as the audience burst into laughter. “OK. Look. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it. You have this short window of when you can shoot the scene and you don’t want to go out and look like you’ve been in a freezing cold room. But you also don’t want to go out like you’re ready to go. You know what I’m saying? So there’s a fine line of the proper amount of… five minutes, that’s all I need.”

The director’s quest for awkward moments didn’t end there, however. In fact, he then turned his attention to Bell (Sarah Marshall).

“You just keep your eyes up,” said Bell of acting opposite a naked Segal. “Concentrate on keeping your eyes up. But there was a point where we were so clearly shooting coverage and Jason was still naked. And I thought, ‘Let’s just check the frame on this.’ He had been naked for the last hour and a half and it had not been on camera. So I think he put his bottoms on at that point. But there is a point where you can wear like a sock, which draws a lot more attention to it than if you’re free-wheeling.”

“But to find a sock that big is not easy,” joked Segal. To which the audience thoroughly enjoyed.

Apparently, McBrayer — perhaps better known as Kenneth the page on 30 Rock — also had a number of sex scenes that required a “naked look.” His method of preparation was very similar to Segal’s.

“Well, it was all such a new experience. I was just along for the ride the whole way,” quipped McBrayer. “They had me in little fleshed colored panties, so I was just smooth like a Ken doll down there. So it wasn’t very sexy at all. But get a couple of Bud Lights in you and you think you’re a porn star, y’all.”

Trying to focus the presentation on more serious issues, one brave soul from the audience asked each of the castmembers what their biggest challenge was on the film.

“I had to play quite a bit of music in the movie, which I was a little nervous about because I hadn’t really played in any kind of public venue ever in my life,” said Segal. “So that was pretty scary, but it turned out pretty funny because I got to sing in my patented Dracula voice. Sad as it would seem that it was written for the movie that I’m writing this Dracula puppet musical, but the sad reality was that for several years while I was out of work I had been writing a Dracula puppet musical. But it had a sense of irony, I didn’t think it was funny. I thought it was going to be great. But, you know, it turned out pretty well.”

U.K. comedian Brand makes his stateside debut with Forgetting Sarah Marshall and based on his performance in the panel, he’s sure to be a hit.

“I had to ride horses and it’s hard because a horse doesn’t want to be ridden,” he said while addressing the “challenges” question. “You can tell that the horse is aggravated by having you on its back. And they say treat it like you’re driving a car, but I can’t drive a car. And also, a car won’t of its own volition turn into a garage and just get petrol when it wants it. But a horse will just get hungry and go and get food, and they say kick it and hit it to stop it. And I feel bad for the horse, but the only way is to fight against the horse while you’re on it. I feel bad about doing that to the horse. And then it wasn’t even in the film — the horse, you don’t even see it. Plus, they made me go surfing with Jason [Segal] — with this man who is so alive with sexual charisma. I went a bit gay.”

“Well, for me, I wasn’t so much acting as I was just reciting lines and smiling really big because it was like a ‘Make a Wish’ for me,” concluded McBrayer. “But the one obstacle I did find was not messing up the takes by just laughing at the other actors, which unfortunately I wasn’t successful at either.”

Lest audiences not forget that Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a Judd Apatow-produced comedy and as such has a certain pedigree automatically associated with it. And the actors had nothing but positive things to say about working with the acclaimed filmmaker.

“I’ve been working with Judd since Freaks and Geeks, so it’s coming up on 10 years now,” said Segal. “And he’s been the greatest mentor somebody could hope for. He’s always kept me working even when no one else would. When I was 20 years old, he took me to his house and said, ‘Listen Segal. You’re kind of a weird dude. The only way you’re going to make it is if you start writing.’ So he really encouraged me to do that, so I kind of owe my career to Judd.”

“Just being accepted into this group has been kind of dreamy,” added Bell. “I think Judd makes brilliant choices and also surrounds himself with so many brilliant people and put this project into the hands of a couple of his boys and I’m just happy to be involved.”

“I ditto everything Kristen said and I also want to add that Shauna [Robertson] is one of the greatest on-set producers that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” noted Kunis. “So as great as Judd is, and he’s one of the most amazing people today, Shauna was also great.”

Not to be out-done, director Stoller stated: “[Apatow] also tricked Universal into allowing a first-time director who knew nothing about anything to do it.”

Very quickly, Brand lightened the mood with his response.

“I saw Judd Apatow a couple of times on that film. He avoided me,” he noted. “I’ve since met him, though, and he seems like a very lovely gentlemen. Working with people that are obviously his progeny in a sense — his spawn, his underlings, his comedic sperms, his ejaculations — I found very, very pleasurable and more than a little erotic for my taste.”

“Just like all these guys, it’s been great working with Judd,” said McBrayer on a more serious note. “He surrounds himself with fantastic actors, producers, and directors, but also, he gives his actors so much freedom to improvise and go off script and put in their two cents. And that feels great. It’s very flattering. It’s a very cool thing for an actor.”

The panel wrapped up with Segal — who has played the perpetual supporting actor in almost all of his projects (TV and film) — addressing what it felt like to finally land his first lead role.

“Nobody would cast me in a lead role, so I just wrote one for God’s sake. I mean enough is enough. People have been missing out for 10 years. I know you guys have been waiting for it,” joked Segal. “Self-aggrandizing is the new self-deprecation from what I understand. But, yeah, I was thrilled. It was a little bit scary to be honest. But, you know, I must say it was Nick’s first time directing and it was my first time in the lead role, so we kind of got to share in that terror and pretend like we weren’t terrified.”

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