Jason Alexander’s Amazing Story On How He Landed His Role In Seinfeld

Jason Alexander beat the likes of Danny DeVito and Chris Rock to land the role of George Constanza. But there’s more to the story!

During Seinfeld’s inception, the casting couch looked far and wide to find the perfect actor for George.

Although their favorite choice had been Paul Shaffer, he was reported to have turned down the role. Similarly, quite a few actors from LA had declined it as well.

In the Inside of You podcast hosted by Michael Rosenbaum, Alexander revealed he came under the show’s radar after they began looking specifically for actors from New York. Alexander has also just recently finished filming for Pretty Woman around this time.

When Alexander first received the script, he was given vague directions about the role. To him, “it read like a Woody Allen film,” and so, he put on his thick New York accent, a pair of glasses, and did a Woody Allen voice for his audition tape.

Watch him narrate his whole experience here:

Little did Alexander expect to get a callback. He was flown into LA to meet Jerry Seinfeld and read for the network. But this time, there was one solid feedback: Keep everything — the New York accent, the glasses. Just don’t do the Woody Allen impression. (Fair point!)

But even when Alexander arrived for his reading, he knew he wouldn’t be selected for the role. Why? For the simple fact that there was another person reading for George — Larry Miller, who at the time happened to be Seinfeld’s close friend.

Thankfully, all of Alexander’s fears were proved wrong. That night itself, as soon as he landed back in New York, he got a confirmation that he had indeed landed the role of George. The rest, as they say, is history!

George Constanza is up there when it comes to iconic characters, and I can’t imagine anyone but Jason Alexander playing him.

About Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American sitcom television series created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. The show stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself who is the main protagonist and focuses on his personal life with three of his friends – George Costanza (Jason Alexander), former girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and neighbor across the hall Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards).

Source: YouTube