Michael Richards reveals that his “Seinfeld” co-star Jason Alexander once threatened to quit the show because his character, George Costanza, wasn’t getting enough screen time.
It happened in 1991, during Season 3 of the sitcom, while filming the episode “The Pen.”
In it, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) visit Jerry’s parents in Florida. Neither Richards, who played Kramer or Alexander are in the episode — a situation Richards says he accepted with “equanimity,” as it had also happened in Season 2.
“But Jason threatens to quit after learning that he’s also not in the episode. He’s furious,” writes Richards in his memoir, “Entrances and Exits,” out June 4.
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But Richards says he understands why Alexander was so incensed.
“Jason came onto the show with the most confidence of anyone,” he writes. “He had won a Tony Award on the New York stage, not an insignificant achievement, and until the table read for ‘The Pen,’ he has assumed that ‘Seinfeld’ is a buddy show, starring him and Jerry.
“But this business breeds both massive egos and incredible insecurity, and this episode is one of those ego-jarring wakeup calls.”
According to “Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything,” Alexander snapped at head writer Larry David, “If you write me out again, do it permanently.”
When David attempted to explain how difficult it was to make room for four main characters in every episode, Alexander reportedly shot back at him: “Don’t tell me your problems. If you don’t need me here, I don’t want to be here.”
Alexander has confirmed the story, telling “Access Hollywood” that he did snipe at David but added, “Thank God he didn’t say ‘Take a hike,’ because I would have had no life and no career.”
Emmy winner Richards writes that he experienced a similar bout of insecurity when his character, the kooky next-door neighbor Kramer, was absent from the Season 2 episode “The Chinese Restaurant.”
He notes that the table read was humiliating because no one had warned him that he had no lines. “I sit at the table without uttering a single word, and this is because not a single word has been written for Kramer,” Richards writes.
David must have sensed the actor’s dismay, because Richards writes that David, who would go on to star in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” came up to him after the table read and promised it would never happen again.
Richards also reveals when the show began its first truncated season, which contained only four episodes, he was convinced he’d be canned.
His fears weren’t unfounded — as he heard through the grapevine that NBC initially wanted to nix him, and he wasn’t included in the first official cast photo shoot.
The show eventually ran for nine seasons and is considered one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.
In his book, Richards also delves into his infamous racist tirade and a secret battle with prostate cancer.
