It all started with a clip from Jerry Seinfeld’s Netflix special, “23 Hours to Kill”: “When they invented the Pop-Tart, the back of my head exploded!”
And like all good comedy, it was based on truth. In 1964, when the Pop-Tart was introduced, 10-year-old Jerry Seinfeld had a serious fall.
When asked if he had a favorite flavor all along, Seinfeld replied, “Brown sugar and cinnamon, obviously.”
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“I’m surprised it took them this long to add the frosting,” Rocca said. “It’s been two or three years.”
“Why? Do you think it’s obvious, frosting?”
“Well, they look a little dull to me when they’re not frosted.”
“You are a tough crowd!” » laughed Seinfeld. “I immediately thought they were absolutely sensational. But I didn’t know – and my parents didn’t know – that these things weren’t food!”
It’s no surprise that the man who headlined a sitcom about nothing managed to build an entire movie out of this routine. His new film “Unfrosted” is a mostly made-up story about the origin of the processed food favorite.
Seinfeld said: “The real story that we started with (and I think it’s the only real thing in the movie) is that Post had this idea, Kellogg’s heard about it really late and decided to try to catch up.”
To watch a trailer for “Unfrosted,” click on the video player below:
“Sunday Morning” contributor Jim Gaffigan plays Edsel Kellogg. When Seinfeld asked him to sign, he was like, “I would never bet against Jerry Seinfeld,” he said. “You know, sometimes comedians can be funny for a decade, or maybe a decade or two, but Jerry seems to have transcended, you know, four, five decades now.”
In addition to writing and acting, Seinfeld stepped behind the camera for the first time as a director. “I wondered what the smallest job would be?” he said. “The least work for me is just telling the actor how to say it, instead of telling the director and then the director telling the actor.”
The casting, he said, “was so much fun. And Hugh Grant (who plays a certain tiger) was the guy who directed the movie.”
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Seinfeld brought in a bunch of his comedian friends, from Amy Schumer and Melissa McCarthy to Sarah Cooper
When asked what surprised her about Seinfeld as a director, Cooper said, “He was very specific about what he wanted. There was a moment when Tom Lennon had to make this line where he had to do this, ‘Voila!’ And he did a take and then Jerry came and adjusted his hands a little bit and everyone was like, “How does that make it better?” was better!”
“I’m specific,” Seinfeld said. “But for my thing, and what I do, I have to be like that.”
The Seinfeld director took us through the Kellogg’s funeral of a “taste pilot” who exploded with the creation of the Pop-Tart. (And yes, this part East coined.) “You always want to be in very serious places in comedy, because that makes it easier to be funny.”
For what? “The more we’re supposed to act right, when we act wrong, it’s funny,” he says.
He recalled during the funeral scene: “If you look at my face there, that’s what’s difficult both as an actor and a director. I’m directing here, I’m just looking: ‘Is ‘Are they doing this correctly?’ ‘I completely abandoned my character. Luckily, I don’t take my acting job seriously at all!’
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But he made sure the other actors felt taken care of. Cooper said: “Actually, there was a moment on set where I think it was the only moment I saw someone get a little tense, and Jerry was like, ‘Guys , we’re making a movie about a Pop-Tart!’ You know, he put everything into perspective so quickly.”
According to Gaffigan, the director also gave speeches that he called “pretty inspiring.” He simply said, “I really appreciate you guys, your contribution. It’s a really exciting thing for me. » And he spoke from his heart. »
Seinfeld admitted to being a speechmaker: “Of course, yes. I’m a comedian, so I’m used to talking to people in uncomfortable situations. That’s what stand-up is. It’s a very uncomfortable situation. We expect to laugh; you expect to be funny. It’s not that different from a movie set.
Since this is the Money Issue of “Sunday Morning,” we had to wonder if Kellogg’s was in on the action with “Unfrosted.” “Kellogg’s had nothing to do with this movie,” Seinfeld said. “When you see the movie, you’ll understand. No company would want a movie made about their product like this!”
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Story produced by Reid Orvedahl. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
