Michael Richards is best known for playing Kramer on the television show Seinfeld. He is speaking out this week to reveal which star nearly left the iconic program.
Major Star Threatens To Leave Seinfeld
Page Six reported that in his new memoir “Entrances and Exits,” which is set to come out on June 4, Richards revealed that his Seinfeld co-star Jason Alexander once threatened to quit the show because he believed that his character of George Costanza was not getting enough screen time.
According to Richards, Alexander threatened to quit during season 3 of the show back in 1991 after the episode titled “The Pen.” In the episode, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) visit Jerry’s parents in Florida, and both Richards and Alexander were not featured in it.
While Richards accepted this with “equanimity,” Alexander reportedly was not having it.
“Jason threatens to quit after learning that he’s also not in the episode,” Richards wrote. “He’s furious.”
Richards went on to say that he could understand why Alexander was so upset.
“Jason came onto the show with the most confidence of anyone,” he explained. “He had won a Tony Award on the New York stage, not an insignificant achievement, and until the table read for ‘The Pen,’ he has assumed that Seinfeld is a buddy show, starring him and Jerry.
“But this business breeds both massive egos and incredible insecurity, and this episode is one of those ego-jarring wakeup calls,” he added.
Find out more about this in the video below.
Related: ‘Seinfeld’ Star Michael Richards Reveals He Secretly Overcame Prostate Cancer
Alexander Snapped At Larry David
This story was previously told in the 2017 book “Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything.” It was alleged that Alexander snapped at Seinfeld creator Larry David.
“If you write me out again, do it permanently,” Alexander reportedly told him.
David tried to defend himself by expressing the difficulty of incorporating four main characters in every episode.
“Don’t tell me your problems,” Alexander allegedly replied. “If you don’t need me here, I don’t want to be here.”
Alexander admitted this exchange to “Access Hollywood.”
“Thank God he didn’t say ‘Take a hike,’ because I would have had no life and no career,” he said of David.
Watch Alexander talk about working with David in the video below.
Related: Michael Richards Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance, Reunites With Jerry Seinfeld
Richards Had Similar Experience
Richards admitted to feeling similarly to Alexander when his character of Kramer wasn’t included in the Season 2 episode “The Chinese Restaurant.” He was left humiliated during the table read when he found out that he had no lines.
“I sit at the table without uttering a single word, and this is because not a single word has been written for,” he recalled.
Afterwards, David approached Richards and promised that this would never happen again. Check out one of Richards’ funny Seinfeld moments in the video below.
Seinfeld was one of the most popular shows of all time. It ran for nine seasons from 1989 until 1998, according to Fox News. During that time, Seinfeld was nominated for a whopping 68 Emmy Awards, winning ten of them.
Alexander played a huge role in Seinfeld’s popularity, so it’s difficult to imagine him leaving the show. Thank goodness he did not follow through with his threat!
More About:Entertainment