In his feature directorial debut, actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld also stars in an upcoming comedy movie titled Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with a team of writers. His team of writers included Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin. The movie stars Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, James Marsden, Hugh Grant, Dan Levy, and more, in addition to Seinfeld leading the cast.
The movie, which is scheduled to make its debut on Netflix in May, is loosely based on the true story of the creation of Pop-Tarts toaster pastries. The actor-comedian reportedly deconstructed his Pop Tart stand-up bit from his last Netflix special, 23 Hours to Kill, and explored it into a giant comedy movie. The debutant director talks about casting Hugh Grant in the movie.
Jerry Seinfeld talks about British actor Hugh Grant’s casting as Tony the Tiger in Unfrosted:The Pop Tart Story
Actor-comedian Jerry Seinfeld who is gearing up for his directorial debut with Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story, talked to Empire about casting British actor Hugh Grant as Tony the Tiger in the movie. He mentioned
“That was the greatest part of the whole thing, honestly. Because I am a crazy fan of his.”
It was reported that for the first time in 30 years, Grant filmed an audition tape, which he sent to Seinfeld, and the comedian-actor recalled the British actor asking him if it mattered that Tony the Tiger had a British accent. To this, Seinfeld told him that it did not.
Hugh Grant, who was recently seen in Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka as Oompa Loompa, will be seen as a Shakespearean actor, Thurl Ravenscroft in Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story. Ravenscroft finds himself in a situation where he has to wear the famous Frosties mascot costume.
Seinfeld recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where he revealed that Hugh Grant did end up enjoying himself as a mascot. He went ahead to reveal a text he received from Grant that read,
“Just watched the film. To my great surprise, I liked it. Laughed out loud. All actors were good. Even you. Love, Hugh.”
According to Writer of Pop, Seinfeld admits that the upcoming movie borrows its inspiration from various movies and TV shows, including The Right Stuff, The Godfather, Mad Men, and even How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Jerry Seinfeld reveals Hugh Grant is ‘horrible to work with’
In his conversation with Jimmy Fallon, comedian-actor Seinfeld revealed that Hugh Grant is ‘very difficult to work with on set.’ He goes on to share,
“We had a lot of fights. He’s a pain in the a** to work with. He’s horrible. He tells you before you work with him, ‘You’re gonna hate this.’ And he’s so right.”
However, the actor instantly revealed that whatever issues the two of them had on set were quashed after they had a meal together. Seinfeld shared with Fallon;
“We shot for 10 weeks, and that night that he and I had dinner—we got drunk having dinner—that was the greatest night. Because he’s so cool and he’s that English thing, you know, that witty. He looks good in a jacket. He’s one of those guys. I love those guys.”
In Writer of Pop, Seinfeld revealed that the movie has a huge cast, and he had no idea how it got so big before explaining that they had no one for a long time until Hugh Grant called. The actor mentioned Grant wanted to be Tony the Tiger, and the next thing they knew, everybody was joining in.
Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story debuts on Netflix on May 3, 2024.
