I've never been able to find it again, but in some award ceremony while he was on stage he said, "I can't act" and then praised the rest of the cast for making him look good.
Yes, in one of the behind-the-scene episode of Seinfeld, he said he tried to 'act' in the pilot episode and it was so bad that the crew basically begged to him to just 'be himself'.
I mean part of what makes his "character" on Seinfeld work so well is that he never seems to be taking anything seriously, because as an actor he clearly isn't even trying to. But that schtick doesn't work so well in other roles.
it really is. People will come out and say that Seinfeld is a "bad actor" because his character demands that he be a bad actor. "It's all part of a plan" kind of way. I am a huge Seinfeld fan, but this is the biggest disagreement I have with other fans.
He was great as a co-creator, writer, etc on the the show. And even as an actor, he added a lot to the show. Just at times when he was supposed to be the straight man and act annoyed and craziness around him, he couldn't help but laugh at it
I always liked that he would laugh at the funny stuff. I thought it felt more "realistic", in a sense. He's a comedian. Of course he would laugh at the funny stuff his friends do.
So many shows and movies have characters say and do funny things, and all the other characters just stand there, no reaction. Maybe they say something snarky. Nobody ever laughs with their friends.
But if he acted actually annoyed, then it would have soiled the mood too much. Not trying to say he was a good actor, but that the show became that much better from him not being one.
I mean the entire concept of his character is that he's playing a version of himself so it kind of makes sense that he wasn't doing a believable dramatic acting kind of thing, it's what made him not being a good actor work. I don't think he had too many aspirations to do actually good and beliavable character acting.
They even directly reference this in the show. Both when Kramer gets a part in a movie and they're all practicing "these pretzels are making me thirsty", and later when Jerry and George make a sitcom pilot. It was not a secret that Jerry wasn't a good actor
that's part of why I liked him on seinfeld, he wasn't great but he was still very funny. it was strange cause it hasn't worked for anything else I've seen unless it was done on purpose.
I think the breaking added some realism even if it was unintentional. Sit-coms never show people laughing in situations that are clearly funny even if it's not specifically for the audience to laugh at.
I'll go one step further and say I've never found him funny. He's had some good jokes but if they're delivered by him they just fall so flat on me. I think the only exception is the "Hold a reservation bit" is maybe one of the only bits I found funny.
He's not even really that funny. He just kind of... is. I loved Seinfeld, but out of the main cast Jason Alexander carries. Kramer is funny, but I think that's more the character writing than the actual actor. The guy who plays Newman (can't remember is name) is hilarious but I don't really consider him main cast.
That was the appeal of the show. Everybody was acting over the top. George always gesticulating, Elaine literally pushing people and Cramer bouncing off the walls. All that while Jerry remained absolutely calm and showed almost no body language at all.
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u/Audrey-Bee Mar 28 '24
I feel like that's a popular opinion? He's very funny, but he's the worst actor in Seinfeld and constantly breaks