Susie Essman appears as a fictionalized Susan B. Anthony in Larry David’s new HBO series, “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness,” a role she initially tried to prepare for by studying the women’s rights activist.
But then she realized while working with David that “none of that served me any purpose in doing the scene.”
Essman made the revelation while speaking to David for “CBS Sunday Morning.”
“You know, I did a lot of research on Susan B. Anthony before I did the part. Just for my own edification,” Essman said. “I watched Ken Burns’ documentary on her and I read all about her. And she was a really interesting woman. And none of that served me any purpose in doing the scene.”
“Of course not!” David retorted.
“You know how we always say this show Larry and there’s real Larry?” Essman asked. After David answered in the affirmative, she continued, “And show Larry is the Larry that people see. And they assume that that’s you. ‘Cause I get asked more than any other question, is Larry really like his character? And you’re not what you are, as we know.”
As she put it, David isn’t “Larry Larry playing these characters, it’s show Larry playing these. Same thing in my — it was Susie Greene playing Susan B. Anthony. It wasn’t Suzy Essman playing Susan B. Anthony.”
The show sees David playing various historical characters in 30-minute episodes. He’s cast, for instance, as Explorer Lewis Merriwether opposite Jerry Seinfeld’s William Clark and Abraham Lincoln’s aide (Bill Hader in a beard played the president) on the day the president was killed.
Watch David’s extended “CBS Sunday Morning” interview with Essman below.
