‘Unfrosted’ Team on Working With First-Time Director Jerry Seinfeld: ‘Just a ‘Seinfeld’ Episode With a Much Bigger Budget’
05.05.2024 - 15:47
/ variety.com
Rance Collins For director, co-writer and star Jerry Seinfeld, “Unfrosted” was an opportunity to bring something a little less serious to the entertainment zeitgeist. A humorless life without the ability to make fun of ourselves, he postured, doesn’t make for “good living.” “Don’t give up laughing and humor and comedy in your life. It’s the best way to get through life,” Seinfeld said.
“We all want to not hurt each other’s feelings. But if we go too far, and nobody can make fun of anybody, that’s not good living.” “Unfrosted” is a fictionalized account of the creation of the Kellogg’s staple Pop-Tarts. The plot takes a “space race” approach, with Post Cereal as the other heavyweight in the fight to be the first to craft the toasted (or untoasted, if one prefers) pastry treat.
It costars a kaleidoscope of Hollywood funny people, including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, Peter Dinklage, Dan Levy, James Marsden, Max Greenfield, Jack McBrayer, Christian Slater, Cedric the Entertainer, Earthquake, Jon Hamm, Rachel Harris, John Slattery, and the list goes on and on. And most were chosen by Seinfeld personally to appear in his directorial debut. “Jerry called me and said, ‘I want to put you in the movie’ … I really thought it was a crank, [but] it turned out to be true,” Earthquake said.
“He loved my special on Netflix … and he put me in his movie.” At the April 30 premiere at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, the cast almost uniformly evoked the word “precise” when describing Seinfeld’s directing style. “There’s a detailing to Jerry,” Gaffigan said. “Even if you look at the television show, ‘Comedians in Cars,’ it’s just two people talking.