has been responsible for more movies than you think.
Yes, he co-wrote and lent his voice to 200791裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淏ee Movie.91裸聊视频� But before that, 91裸聊视频淪einfeld91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� where going to the movies, with or without the aid of Moviefone, was nearly as regular a destination as the coffee shop 91裸聊视频� gave birth to dozens of (fake) films. 91裸聊视频淩ochelle, Rochelle.91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淧rognosis Negative.91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淪ack Lunch.91裸聊视频�
But nearly three decades after Seinfeld was, in one episode, cajoled into bootlegging 91裸聊视频淒eath Blow,91裸聊视频� he has finally made his first film. Seinfeld directed, co-wrote and stars in a star-studded comedy about the invention of the Pop-Tart premiering May 3 on Netflix.
The film, which co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant and others, is an outlandish, 91裸聊视频淢ad Men91裸聊视频�-inspired 91裸聊视频�60s-set satire in which Kellogg91裸聊视频檚 and Post Cereal are engaged in a cutthroat race to 91裸聊视频渦pend America91裸聊视频檚 breakfast table.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淲hen you see any scene of it you go, 91裸聊视频榃hat is that?91裸聊视频� And I was very happy about that,91裸聊视频� Seinfeld said in a recent interview. 91裸聊视频淚 like that you look at it and go, 91裸聊视频業 don91裸聊视频檛 know what this is.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
For Seinfeld, who has resolutely stuck to stand-up since 91裸聊视频淪einfeld91裸聊视频� ended in 1998, it91裸聊视频檚 a rare post-sitcom project, joining a short and sporadic list including the short-lived reality series 91裸聊视频淭he Marriage Ref91裸聊视频� and the popular streaming show
91裸聊视频淯苍蹿谤辞蝉迟别诲,91裸聊视频� though, returns Seinfeld to one of his abiding passions. Remember all those cereal boxes in his apartment on 91裸聊视频淪einfeld91裸聊视频�? The Pop-Tart is a particular fascination, though. In his 2020 comedy special 91裸聊视频�23 Hours to Kill,91裸聊视频� it formed an extended bit beginning with the childhood memory: 91裸聊视频淲hen they invented the Pop-Tart, the back of my head blew right off.91裸聊视频�
For Seinfeld, the Pop-Tart has an almost mythical quality. A movie about Oreos or Milk Duds or even Junior Mints wouldn91裸聊视频檛 work, he says. But the Pop-Tart is different.
91裸聊视频淎 lot of it is the word. It91裸聊视频檚 a funny word,91裸聊视频� says Seinfeld. 91裸聊视频淚 heard Mattel is trying to do a Hot Wheels movie. That could work. Certain things really got us when we were kids, you know?91裸聊视频�
In a wide-ranging interview, Seinfeld discussed subjects large and small.
AP: Is it true that your moments on were improvised with Larry David?
SEINFELD: The idea occurred right in that moment. I said, 91裸聊视频淗ey, let91裸聊视频檚 talk about the finale right now.91裸聊视频� We had been talking about it all day because it was their finale. We were just talking about series finales all day. And I was saying that 91裸聊视频淢ad Men91裸聊视频� was my favorite and I thought 91裸聊视频淭he Sopranos91裸聊视频� one was great, and obviously ours was what it was.
AP: What does that mean? You91裸聊视频檙e happy with it or not?
SEINFELD: Well, I think what we said in that scene. We thought, 91裸聊视频淵eah, that would have been better.91裸聊视频� (Laughs) It91裸聊视频檚 very hard to remember. The emotional state I was in after nine years was a little ragged. Maybe we weren91裸聊视频檛 thinking quite clearly. The idea of doing that on his show 91裸聊视频� the math of it is really amazing. To do that, two people have to have two successful long-running sitcoms and they have to be playing themselves, with a 25-year separation. When I was driving home that night on the 10 in LA, my head was exploding because of the math of what just happened 91裸聊视频� to set something up in 91裸聊视频�98 and pay it off in 91裸聊视频�23. For a joke person like me, I felt like I landed on the moon.
AP: 91裸聊视频淯nfrosted91裸聊视频� began with an old stand-up bit of yours. Is it surprising to you that you91裸聊视频檝e made a movie about it?
SEINFELD: It was all (91裸聊视频淪einfeld91裸聊视频� writer) Spike Feresten91裸聊视频檚 idea. I did not want to do it. I did not think it would work. What91裸聊视频檚 a movie about inventing the Pop-Tart? That91裸聊视频檚 not funny. And (91裸聊视频淪einfeld91裸聊视频� writer) Andy Robin came up with the idea that it91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淭he Right Stuff.91裸聊视频� And I went, 91裸聊视频淥h, that91裸聊视频檚 funny.91裸聊视频�
AP: I think you have a line about 91裸聊视频渟plitting the atom of breakfast91裸聊视频� so this is also like a snack-size
SEINFELD: Yes, 91裸聊视频淥辫辫别苍丑别颈尘别谤.91裸聊视频� I think it91裸聊视频檚 a fun game if anyone wants to play 91裸聊视频� how many movies we stole from. Obviously, 91裸聊视频淭he Godfather,91裸聊视频� obviously 91裸聊视频淭he Right Stuff.91裸聊视频� At one point, I was going to say, 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檒l bury you under the ground, Eli,91裸聊视频� from 91裸聊视频淭here Will Be Blood.91裸聊视频� And we weren91裸聊视频檛 even going to explain it. The character91裸聊视频檚 name wasn91裸聊视频檛 Eli.
AP: You suggested you only say you love Pop-Tarts to make the joke work.
SEINFELD: I probably just said that to make that point. But I do love Pop-Tarts. I had one yesterday. We were doing a social media piece with Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor. I took a bite and I went, 91裸聊视频淭his is fantastic.91裸聊视频� What I like about it is the man-made quality of it. I love great objects that fit in your hand in a nice way. A pack of cigarettes is one of the greatest things you can put in your hand. It just feels great. Dice feel great. I like a nice spoon. I like things. (Laughs)
AP: Were you aware of the recent trend of movies based on products?
SEINFELD: Yeah, but we were started long before that. I was a little disappointed that I suddenly became part of a trend but there was nothing we could do about it.
AP: Do you have any guesses as to why we91裸聊视频檝e turned our focus to American consumerism? Your film is a big, silly satire of American consumerism.
SEINFELD: For me, I love men in suits talking about something stupid, like cereal and puffs and sprinkles.
AP: You91裸聊视频檝e often spoken about your dedication to sharpening and sculpting a joke. Are you still driven by that?
SEINFELD: I started a bit the other night about your kitchen sponge on the sink looking up at you going: 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 know how much more you think I have. I was done two months ago.91裸聊视频� Now it91裸聊视频檚 just growing and growing into a monologue of your kitchen sponge telling you, 91裸聊视频淟et me go! Let me die a rectangle, not in pieces.91裸聊视频� When I lock on to something like that, I just want to see how far I can go with it, how long will they let me talk about this.
AP: You91裸聊视频檙e about to turn 70. Is that meaningful to you?
SEINFELD: No.
AP: Some entertainers turn inward when they reach their 70s, like Steven Spielberg did with But maybe this is a very personal movie for you.
SEINFELD: Very much. This is my 91裸聊视频淔abelmans.91裸聊视频� Because I91裸聊视频檓 not interested in my life. I91裸聊视频檓 interested in eating.
AP: Why have you always avoided topically or politics in your comedy?
SEINFELD: I don91裸聊视频檛 have the fluency. Your comedic thing, whatever it is, it only works on certain things. My thing only works on these dumb things.
AP: Still, there is a kind of meaning in dedicating yourself to meaninglessness.
SEINFELD: I91裸聊视频檝e discussed this at length with my friend Joel Hodgson (91裸聊视频淢ystery Science 300091裸聊视频�) and he91裸聊视频檚 incredibly articulate on this subject, which is: The throw-away culture of our childhood was not throw-away to us. We deeply love these things and they were meaningful in their meaninglessness.
AP: You and Marc Maron had as almost diametrically opposed comedians. He believes in baring his soul on stage and you pledge fidelity to the joke. I thought you were both right.
SEINFELD: My attitude, I think, was more talking to comedians. I think comedians, if they want to survive throughout their life doing this, they have to pay close attention to the laughs. No less value in what he91裸聊视频檚 doing, but I would worry about how long would this last for in your life. But, yeah, that91裸聊视频檚 a good point. We were both right, just different.
AP: You91裸聊视频檝e said you want to do stand-up into your 80s and beyond.
SEINFELD: To the end. To the very end.
AP: You still feel that way?
SEINFELD: Yeah. The only hard part of my life is the other things. People do ask me about slowing down and I go, 91裸聊视频淭he work part of my life is not stand-up. It91裸聊视频檚 all the other things.91裸聊视频� Stand-up is an incredible, pure experience. Surfing is the great regret of my life that I never really got good at that. I did it for two weeks one time many years ago. But if you were a surfer, you would never stop doing it. That91裸聊视频檚 what stand-up is for me. Feeling that energy, that natural life-force energy under you and around you, I never get tired of that.
AP: Are you thinking about another stand-up special?
SEINFELD: No, I91裸聊视频檓 not. I91裸聊视频檓 not sure of it as a comedy form for me right now. I would love to think of something else, if I even wanted to do it 91裸聊视频� which I don91裸聊视频檛 right now. Like, 91裸聊视频淐omedians in Cars Getting Coffee,91裸聊视频� the subtext of that is: I91裸聊视频檓 really sick of talk shows on TV. That91裸聊视频檚 why I did that. And let me show you why. We don91裸聊视频檛 want to see them sitting on a couch anymore. The people who are doing it aren91裸聊视频檛 having any fun doing it. That was my anti-talk show. So I would want to do an anti-stand-up special if I did one. I envy, sometimes, these little Italian artisans who don91裸聊视频檛 really care if anybody knows who they are or what they do. And stand-up can be like that. Any writing work is very lonely work. Stand-up, in a way, is kind of a private, lonely world. I91裸聊视频檓 going to Dayton, Ohio, on Friday. No one91裸聊视频檚 going to know what happened there. I91裸聊视频檓 very attracted to that. I91裸聊视频檓 more attracted to that than, 91裸聊视频淗ey everyone, I made a movie.91裸聊视频� My way, if I had my choice, is that I would like to do this work very quietly and privately.
AP: It91裸聊视频檚 interesting you91裸聊视频檇 say that as someone who had one of the biggest TV shows ever. Maybe you had your fill of it.
SEINFELD: That91裸聊视频檚 possible. But it never felt like me. Larry and I, when we first started to do the show thought: This will be a really fun, little boutique thing that will just get our people that like this kind of quirky, off-beat thing, and that would be cool. What it became was never on our radar. Then, suddenly, you91裸聊视频檙e a big wave surfer. I think it was tougher on Larry than for me. Because you feel the pressure. I never minded the pressure.
AP: Have you experienced younger generations finding 91裸聊视频淪einfeld91裸聊视频� on Netflix?
SEINFELD: That age around 10 to 12, they seem to find it. They have no idea what it is at first. (Laughs) I think the credit all really goes to Jason (Alexander), Michael (Richards) and Julia (Louis-Dreyfus) 91裸聊视频� what they did with those characters, the color that they found in all of those characters. Larry and I, we were just doing these silly conversations, but they made it so accessible. They deserve the credit for the success of the show.
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