Seinfeld has become known as one of the most successful and iconic sitcoms in television history. Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards all helped bring their characters to life. Those characters captivated and entertained audiences for nine seasons.
Alexander's character, George Costanza, had many memorable moments in the series. Alexander worked with lots of guest actors during the show's run. Alexander later admitted he had a difficult time developing chemistry with one of those actors. Another one of those actors would work alongside Alexander in two different roles.
Not only would this actress be part of Seinfeld history, but she would go on to star in many other hit sitcoms.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Called The 'Seinfeld' Curse Conspiracy Theory 'Moronic'
When Seinfeld ended, it appeared as if many of its cast members had trouble finding other successful projects in its wake. Michael Richards premiered a series titled The Michael Richards Show, which only lasted eight episodes. Alexander had two shows, Bob Patterson for ABC and Listen Up! for CBS, both of which only lasted one season. Julia Louis-Dreyfus had a sitcom, Watching Ellie, which lasted two seasons, before being canceled due to poor ratings.
The media noticed this pattern and a conspiracy theory developed. Many began referring to this as the "Seinfeld curse." The theory being that anyone who worked as a cast member on Seinfeld was cursed.
In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Dreyfus made it clear that she didn't believe the theory.
"It was invented by the media," Dreyfus said. "They thought it was clever. You don’t need me to prove it wrong, it was ridiculous! It made no sense. I was amazed that it had legs, because it was so moronic. I don’t know how else to say it!"
Dreyfus eventually did prove the theory wrong with her successful sitcom The New Adventures Of Old Christine, which won Dreyfus an Emmy. She followed that up with HBO's Veep, which earned Dreyfus six additional Emmys.
Jason Alexander Said This 'Seinfeld' Guest Star Was Difficult To Work With
Most Seinfeld fans remember the relationship between George and his fiancée Susan Ross. Ross was played by Heidi Swedberg, an actress who Alexander revealed was not easy to work with. He would spill the details to Howard Stern in 2015.
"I couldn't figure out how to play off of her," Alexander said. "Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring. And she would do something, and I would go, 'OK, I see what she's going to do—I'm going to adjust to her.' And I'd adjust, and then it would change."
Alexander did make it clear that he had no issue with Swedberg personally and the issue was merely professional.
"The preamble to this is the actress is this wonderful girl, Miss Swedberg, and I love her," Alexander said. "She is a terrific girl."
Alexander would later explain himself on Twitter after fans of the show were upset by his revelations.
"The impetus for telling this story was that Howard said, 'Julia Louis-Dreyfus told me you all wanted to kill her.' So I told the story to try and clarify that no one wanted to kill Heidi," Alexander explained. "But in telling this story, it sounds like we are putting a heavy burden on Heidi. I, personally, am not."
He continued, "Heidi would always ask if there was anything in the scenes she could do or if I had any thoughts. She was generous and gracious and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her. If I had had more maturity or more security in my own work, I surely would have taken her query and possibly tried to adjust the scenes with her. She surely offered."
Christa Miller Played Two Different Roles On 'Seinfeld' Alongside Jason Alexander
Another actress Alexander worked with on Seinfeld was Christa Miller. In season 5, Miller played the role of Ellen De Granmont, a woman who George tries to hit on, but ends up costing him his job as a bra salesman. In season 6, Miller returned as Paula, a woman who George was dating and draws an unflattering doodle of him. This causes him to wonder if she is genuine about her feelings.
Miller would go on to have starring roles in The Drew Carey Show, Scrubs, and Cougar Town. She is one of those familiar faces in television, and particularly sitcom, history.
Alexander said that following the show's end, he had a hard time breaking away from the George character.
"I look at it as neither a blessing nor a— well, I do look at it as a blessing, but not the association with George. George has been an amazing thing in my life," he told the You Made It Weird podcast. "I think for some people, they have seen so much of me doing that character that the assumption could be, if they haven't seen other work that I've done that that's who I am, and only to that extent would a type casting thing happen."
He continued, "What happens sometimes is people like what I did as George and they're producing something that has a George-like character and they'll invite me to do that. And my answer turns out to be no, not because I'm offended by the association, but I don't have a ton of George's in me and I don't want to just repeat something I've already done."
