Jason Segel: 'The Muppets teaches kids tolerance'

Jason Segel has credited Jim Henson's Muppets with helping him accept other people's difference as a child.

The actor, who is starring in a big-screen version of The Muppets, said that Kermit the Frog and his friends have always taught children the value of tolerance.

"When you're like a young comedian, the Muppets are your first exposure to comedy, really, so they taught me how to be funny," Segel told Kidsday. "The Muppets have this sort of vibe about them that anything is possible, you should be nice to everybody, and it just seemed like an important message."

When questioned as to which Muppet he's most like, Segel said: "Well, the one I admire the most is Kermit because he's sort of like the everyman.

"He's a little like Tom Hanks - a green Tom Hanks. But I'm probably more like Fozzie [Bear] because I keep telling terrible jokes, and I don't get scared."

Segel recently admitted that he cried when he met Kermit the Frog on the Muppets set.

The Muppets is now playing in US cinemas and opens on February 17, 2012 in the UK.

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Watch a trailer for The Muppets below: