Kevin Hart reveals Jason Segel convinced him to buy $300 software before owning a computer

Kevin Hart shares how former roommate Jason Segel persuaded him to buy a program before he even owned a computer.

Kevin Hart recently recounted a humorous and formative experience from his early career, revealing how his former roommate, Jason Segel, persuaded him to purchase a $300 screenwriting software before he even owned a computer. Hart shared this anecdote on a new episode of his Peacock show "Hart to Heart," with guest Judd Apatow.

During the episode, Hart explained that two decades ago, before his string of successful comedy specials, movies like "Night School," and TV's "Real Husbands of Hollywood," he had little writing experience. At the time, he was living with Segel while they worked on a 2001 pilot called "North Hollywood," which Apatow had directed.

"'If you're trying to write, Kev, you gotta get Final Draft," Hart recalled Segel telling him. Taking his advice seriously, Hart purchased the screenwriting software, only to realize he had no way to use it. "I didn't even have a f—ing computer," Hart said. "I had no place to put it. I spent three-hundred-and-something dollars on Final Draft, and I came home, and I was like, 'Jason, so I got it.' Like, 'what do I do now? Do I set it up on your computer?'"

Segel's response was not what Hart expected. "He's like, 'you gotta get your own computer,'" Hart recounted. This led Hart to buy a Dell computer, where he began writing, despite not knowing what he was doing. "I just used to start writing s---. I didn't know what the f--- I was writing, but I was writing it, because Jason was doing it. And Seth [Rogen] was doing it. And they were doing it because you were doing it."

Hart expressed gratitude to Apatow, a writer and producer, for the early lesson on the importance of creating content. This lesson came from their time on the pilot, which also starred Amy Poehler, January Jones, Colin Hanks, and Judge Reinhold, though it did not succeed.

Within a few years, Hart began to see the fruits of his labor with roles in films like "Scary Movie 3," "Along Came Polly," and "Soul Plane." He later reunited with Segel on Apatow's show "Undeclared."