Recasting The Characters Of Seinfeld (If It Was Made Today)
if Seinfeld were being filmed today, these actors would be the best ones to choose for the cast.
Seinfeld is, of course, one of the most iconic sitcoms to have ever aired on television. Even today, over twenty years after it went off the air, the show about nothing continues to be the source of laughter and memes for new generations of viewers.
Given that it’s been such a long time since the show appeared, it’s a rather interesting mental exercise to imagine what it would look like if it were to be cast with actors working today. Though it would, of course, be a very different show, with a cast like this one, it would almost certainly still be a hilarious hit.
Jerry – Dan Levy
Dan Levy has recently shown that he is a truly great comedic talent. Who could ever forget his indelible portrayal of David on Schitt’s Creek? It would be fascinating to see the ways in which he could bring that fussy energy that he has in such abundance to the character of Jerry, and it would be especially hilarious to see how his character would contend with the various banalities and stresses of life in the forthcoming 2020s.
Elaine – Linda Cardellini
Linda Cardellini has shown, time and again, that she is one of the funniest actresses working in television today. While she doesn’t have quite the explosive dynamism of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, her more nervous, subdued acting style would actually make her a great fit for Elaine, and she could explore other, more vulnerable aspects of the character than her original incarnation. What’s more, she could almost certainly hold her own against the men in the cast.
Kramer – Jason Mantzoukas
Now, it has to be said that it would be very difficult indeed to find just the right actor to fit the part of Kramer. After all, Michael Richards’ depiction of Kramer is one for the ages. However, if there’s one actor working in television today who could capture something of that original personality, it would be Jason Mantzoukas. Time and again, he’s shown that he can play characters who have a certain spastic charm to them, and this makes him an ideal person to take up the mantle of Kramer.
George – Hannibal Buress
Like so many of the other characters, it’s rather difficult to imagine anyone other than Jason Alexander playing the part of the blustering, pugilistic, and incredibly ridiculous George. However, there’s an argument to be made that an actor like Hannibal Buress would bring some exciting new layers to this character.
Certainly, Buress is a bit more subtle in the way that he brings characters to life, and it would be really fun to see how this would translate to his characterization of George.
Newman – Nick Kroll
Nick Kroll has rather cornered the market when it comes to playing characters who are thoroughly unlikeable and sometimes downright irritating. In this particular sitcom universe, there’s one character more than any other who seems to embody being irritating, and that is of course Newman. While Wayne Knight was truly great in the role, there’s no doubt that Kroll would be the ideal person to become the new face of this most infuriating of secondary characters.
Frank Costanza – Louis Gossett Jr.
The late Jerry Stiller was truly iconic in his portrayal of Frank Costanza, George’s explosive father with a hair-trigger temper. Since it would be impossible to find someone who would bring that exact sort of curmudgeonly persona to the role, it might be better to just go in a different direction entirely.
That’s why it would make sense to cast someone like Louis Gossett Jr., whose experience playing dramatic roles would allow him to bring this character to life in some very new and interesting ways.
Estelle Costanza – Pam Grier
Likewise, it would be hard to find anyone who could play Estelle in the way that Estelle Harris does. She somehow manages to be both incredibly shrill yet very endearing. Casting someone like Pam Grier in the role would accomplish a number of things. As with Gossett, she’s more well-known for being a dramatic actress, but this just means that she’d be able to create an Estelle Costanza with some heft and power, which would add some new layers of complexity.
Morty Seinfeld – Eugene Levy
The chemistry between father and son Eugene and Dan in Schitt’s Creek is a significant part of that show’s charm. What better way to let the two of them continue bouncing off of each other than by casting them both in a remake of this classic comedy from the 1990s? The original Morty was a bit blustery, so it would actually be rather fascinating to see the ways in which the more mild-mannered Levy would transform the character to match the changes that Dan would make to the character of Jerry.
Helen Seinfeld – Catherine O’Hara
In some ways, Catherine O’Hara’s Moira is the best thing about Schitt’s Creek. She’s just so delightfully campy that it’s impossible not to love her, even though she can be a bit of a snob sometimes. She also has undeniable chemistry with Dan Levy. It would be a true joy to see her reunited with Dan Levy in a remake of Seinfeld so that viewers could once again see them together. And, let’s be real, O’Hara is just such a gem in anything that she appears in.
