YES, JOSH SEGARRA IS an actor starring in two very excellent comedy series: HBO Max’s The Other Two and Apple TV+’s upcoming The Big Door Prize. And, yes, you probably also recognize Segarra from his role as Pug, the pragmatic and endlessly positive ally of Jennifer Walters in Marvel's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law earlier this year. But when he's not in his (increasingly prolific) Hollywood mode, Segarra is focused on a more important role: being a dad.
That means being playground-ready for his two young boys: sweats and a ball cap—Yankees or Mets both work. (Even though he grew up in Longwood, Florida, the bilingual actor considers N.Y.C. home.) But that doesn’t mean Segarra phones in his style. He says his Puerto Rican parents would regularly tell him, “Comb your hair, papa. Put some gel in your hair, baby,” before going out the door. So he combs and he gels, but he’ll also throw on a throwback WWE T-shirt—like his vintage Ultimate Warrior or “Suplex City” Brock Lesnar tee.
Segarra says these shirts signal a sort of “secret code” to other playground dads or people passing by, and the nod of acknowledgement leaves him grinning every time. It's in stark comparison to his role on The Other Two as Lance, an aspiring fashion designer known for see-through raincoats and dry-erase sneakers. But that’s his day job. When it’s time to be a dad, Segarra says, “I just have fun dressing like me.”
Men's Health caught up with Segarra about his style influences, a growing appreciation for hockey, and the ins and outs of fatherhood.
Men’s Health: You’re officially part of the MCU, although your stint on Arrow means She-Hulk isn't your first superhero rodeo. How does it feel to be one of the good guys for once?
Josh Segarra: It's fun, but I don't know if it's more fun than being one of the bad guys. It's been cool to be able to show a different color, and maybe surprise a couple people. And if they knew Adrian Chase, when they met Pug, I just hope I made them giggle a little bit. If I made them go, “Oh man, look at this,” then my job is complete.
If you had to pick one superpowered character who needs Pug’s legal help the most, who would you pick?
I think Wolverine needs a little bit of help sometimes. Come on—they [his claws] come out of his hands. At first he can't control it. There's a lot of gray in there. And I know him personally, and I feel like he's misunderstood sometimes.
I mean, they did just announce he's coming back, so…
I saw that. Hey, listen, if Deadpool and Wolverine need a little legal help, Pug’s all about showing up there.
With roles as a hooded archer, a cop, a lawyer, and perhaps a masked killer (we won’t know until Scream 6 releases in March), you’ve managed to avoid being pigeonholed in terms of casting. What's your trick to trading off between all of these and executing it with grace and style?
I appreciate you saying that, because that's an honor to me, and it's one I wish I could tell you I was doing on purpose along the way. But there were parts at the beginning of my career that I was crying to my now-wife about that I didn't get.
I heard Michael Keaton say in an interview, "If a script makes you laugh twice, do it." And I can attest that I think that's kind of what I've been trying to do. Anything that makes me laugh out loud when I'm reading it by myself, and I can kind of picture myself doing it, I go, "Oh, man, let me get my hands on that." And then once we sign on that dotted line and they give me a chance to get a crack at the role, I'm always trying to find this person's heart.
One of your next roles in Apple TV+'s The Big Door Prize has you immersed in the world of hockey as a former player. How much terminology and expertise did you already have in the sport? Was there a lot of prep involved?
I just love all sports. But for me, my love for hockey began through the Rangers.
A friend of mine took me to a special playoff game many years ago, and Madison Square Garden is really good to me, so now I get to go to these games. Fast forward, they call me about Big Door Prize, and tell me about [my character] Georgio Owens, the youngest Italian American goalie in New York Rangers history. And come on, man—he opens a sports center/Italian restaurant with an arcade. Playing air hockey all while you're eating chicken parm. It's just so good.
I definitely went to the ice rink a couple times to make sure I had my skates under me. I've gone to games and had my keen eye on different goalies. I just want to do it justice. And now I'm raising my boys in the city, and we have this little rink in our neighborhood, and I have this feeling that Gus and Hank are just going to be like, “Dad, da-da, we got to play hockey, man.”
With each of these roles you've done, it’s been new outfit after new outfit. What have you taken from the characters’ fashion sense and applied to your own?
At the beginning of every project, I'm most giddy about the conversations I have with hair and makeup, and the conversations I have with wardrobe. Because I know they've been thinking about it for months, years. With every character, it's so fun to see how the designer sees them, because you’re able to see what makes them tick, how they feel, all those things inside. It's in the clothes, and it's in me, too.
It’s impossible not to mention Lance, fashion designer, icon, and scene stealer on The Other Two.
The joke is in the clothes, especially with Lance. I love how he dresses. That big teddy bear coat and that big brown one—oh, man, I tried to steal that so bad.
I think my personal favorite are the shoes that you can have coins in the bottom, that little drawer. But it’s hard to pick just one.
Because everybody wants to look like a million bucks, but now you can also sound like a dollar.
Right now you're just hanging out, relaxing with your Yankees hat on. How would you describe your style when you're just being Josh?
I'm always trying to be in something comfortable; it's sweats, it's a hoodie, it's a ball cap—either a Yankees cap or a Mets cap. I rep the city, both teams. I love wearing a T-shirt that either has some sort of wrestler or wrestling event, or a jersey of some sort. And I feel like it's kind of a secret code with folks. You'll be walking down the street and somebody's like, “Yo man, sick shirt, bro.” I get a giggle out of it and I'm like, “Hey, there's a fellow wrestling fan right there.”
Do you feel like your kids are already getting some influence from their dad in the style department?
I want them to be themselves, but it always gets my little stomach going when they put on a ball cap and say, "Hey, look, I'm da-da." I'll see them both in Hulk pajamas, or I'll see them both in matching Orlando Magic hoodies. That gets my heart all swelled up, and I geek.
You're not on social media, and I feel like these days people are heavily influenced by what they see there. Without those accounts, does something else inspire you when it comes to what you wear?
I just have fun dressing like me. I saw these Nike pants the other day that are kind of half cut at the shin, and I don't even know what they're called, but I just love them. I understand the cuff and I understand how it sits. I got a couple kicks that I like: a couple Jordans in there, some Penny Hardaways, I've got Allen Iverson, some Reebok classics. And I don't know, now they're me.
That's where the wrestling shirts come into play. My wrestling shirts, they're my little collection and it's a connection to other people. Somebody could say to me, “Hey man, you're 36, why do you still wear basketball jerseys?” And I would say right back like, “Yo, I'm 36, I could wear a basketball jersey. That's why I'll wear it—because I'm allowed. I'm allowed.”
We're quickly approaching 2023, and you've got The Big Door Prize and the next Scream entry on your plate. What else have you mapped out for your year?
Well, we have a third baby boy coming in December. It'll be three boys in this house, and we couldn't be more excited. That's honestly where my head is at. But we just started shooting The Other Two, and I'm just really excited for everybody to see where all of us end up and where we go. And I'm really excited for The Big Door Prize—I'm really proud of it.
And Scream, that was a wild experience in the best way, joining such a historic franchise. I'm such a big fan of David Arquette, I've always known who he was and I've always followed him. And to follow in the footsteps of Courtney and Neve, and to join this cast with Melissa and Jenna—just wait 'til you see it.
(Location: Big SNOW American Dream in East Rutherford, NJ)
