Jerry Seinfeld’s commitment to the bit – Entertainment News

Photo: The Canadian Press

Jerry Seinfeld poses for a portrait to promote the film “Unfrosted” on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

Jerry Seinfeld has been responsible for more movies than you think.

Yes, he co-wrote and lent his voice to 2007’s “Bee Movie.” But before that, “Seinfeld” — where going to the movies, with or without the aid of Moviefone, was nearly as regular a destination as the coffee shop — gave birth to dozens of (fake) films. “Rochelle, Rochelle.” “Prognosis Negative.” “Sack Lunch.”

But nearly three decades after Seinfeld was, in one episode, cajoled into bootlegging “Death Blow,” he has finally made his first film. Seinfeld directed, co-wrote and stars in “Unfrosted,” 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, “Mad Men”-inspired ‘60s-set satire in which Kellogg’s and Post Cereal are engaged in a cutthroat race to “upend America’s breakfast table.”

“When you see any scene of it you go, ‘What is that?’ And I was very happy about that,” Seinfeld said in a recent interview. “I like that you look at it and go, ‘I don’t know what this is.’”

For Seinfeld, who has resolutely stuck to stand-up since “Seinfeld” ended in 1998, it’s a rare post-sitcom project, joining a short and sporadic list including the short-lived reality series “The Marriage Ref” and the popular streaming show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”

“Unfrosted,” though, returns Seinfeld to one of his abiding passions. Remember all those cereal boxes in his apartment on “Seinfeld”? The Pop-Tart is a particular fascination, though. In his 2020 comedy special “23 Hours to Kill,” it formed an extended bit beginning with the childhood memory: “When they invented the Pop-Tart, the back of my head blew right off.”

For Seinfeld, the Pop-Tart has an almost mythical quality. A movie about Oreos or Milk Duds or even Junior Mints wouldn’t work, he says. But the Pop-Tart is different.

“A lot of it is the word. It’s a funny word,” says Seinfeld. “I heard Mattel is trying to do a Hot Wheels movie. That could work. Certain things really got us when we were kids, you know?”

In a wide-ranging interview, Seinfeld discussed subjects large and small.

AP: Is it true that your moments on the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” finale were improvised with Larry David?

SEINFELD: The idea occurred right in that moment. I said, “Hey, let’s talk about the finale right now.” 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 “Mad Men” was my favorite and I thought “The Sopranos” one was great, and obviously ours was what it was.

AP: What does that mean? You’re happy with it or not?

SEINFELD: Well, I think what we said in that scene. We thought, “Yeah, that would have been better.” (Laughs) It’s very hard to remember. The emotional state I was in after nine years was a little ragged. Maybe we weren’t thinking quite clearly. The idea of doing that on his show — 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 — to set something up in ’98 and pay it off in ’23. For a joke person like me, I felt like I landed on the moon.

AP: “Unfrosted” began with an old stand-up bit of yours. Is it surprising to you that you’ve made a movie about it?

SEINFELD: It was all (“Seinfeld” writer) Spike Feresten’s idea. I did not want to do it. I did not think it would work. What’s a movie about inventing the Pop-Tart? That’s not funny. And (“Seinfeld” writer) Andy Robin came up with the idea that it’s “The Right Stuff.” And I went, “Oh, that’s funny.”

AP: I think you have a line about “splitting the atom of breakfast” so this is also like a snack-size “Oppenheimer.”

SEINFELD: Yes, “Oppenheimer.” I think it’s a fun game if anyone wants to play — how many movies we stole from. Obviously, “The Godfather,” obviously “The Right Stuff.” At one point, I was going to say, “I’ll bury you under the ground, Eli,” from “There Will Be Blood.” And we weren’t even going to explain it. The character’s name wasn’t Eli.

AP: You once in an interview 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,…