Jerry Seinfeld says he trusted the comedic stylings of the late Jerry Stiller so much that he and the other “Seinfeld” producers never once gave Stiller a single note on his performance as George’s father, Frank Costanza.
“Those packages of just Jerry Stiller bits on my show are so unbelievably funny,” Seinfeld, who co-created “Seinfeld” with Larry David, said on Thursday’s “Netflix Is a Joke Radio” show on SiriusXM. “What I loved about him is, he so completes the George [played by Jason Alexander] story. When you meet the father you go, ‘Oh, now I understand why he’s like that.’ It was the perfect finishing of the painting of George Costanza was Frank Costanza. He had the most amazing comedic stuff that he– we didn’t know if he was planning it or it just came out that way, or he couldn’t remember the line, or we didn’t know what it was, but we did not want to disturb it in any way.”
Seinfeld added: “We never gave Jerry Stiller a note. I never adjusted his performance once. Whatever he did, that’s it. We’re putting that out there. I don’t know why he did it like that. I don’t know why he screamed on that line. It doesn’t matter, it’s funny. I am such a dedicated believer in, if it’s funny, don’t touch it. I don’t care why it’s funny, I don’t care what the line was supposed to be, he said it that way, we’re doing it that way.”
You can listen to Seinfeld’s story about Stiller’s performance here.
Jerry Stiller, father to actor Ben Stiller and known for his roles on “Seinfeld” and “King of Queens,” died earlier this week at the age of 92.
In case you need a refresher on just how amazing Stiller’s Frank Costanza is, TBS will be paying tribute to the actor this Saturday with a marathon of “Seinfeld” episodes focused on George’s father. You can read more about that here.