Jason Alexander Reveals Which Big Name Actors He Beat Out for George Costanza Role on Seinfeld

While appearing on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You Podcast (h/t Uproxx), Seinfeld star Jason Alexander revealed which other famous actors he beat out for the role of George Costanza. According to Alexander, he beat out Danny DeVito and Chris Rock, both of whom were much more famous than him at the time, for the role. Creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David also apparently went after The Late Show band leader Paul Shaffer aggressively, but he turned down the role.

Alexander says that his role in the classic film Pretty Woman put him on Rob Reiner’s radar and led to an audition for the role since Seinfeld and David were having trouble casting someone. Alexander essentially did a Woody Allen impression in his audition and a few weeks later, Larry David called him and asked him to come do another audition, but without the Woody impression.

When he arrived at the audition, he saw Larry Miller, a comedian and close friend of Seinfeld, there and assumed he wasn’t getting the part, leading to him being more “loosey goosey” for his audition. The rest is history.