00:00We're going to be in the pool, we're going to be in a clubhouse, we're going to be all over that shuffleboard court, and I dare you to keep me out!
00:10Jerry Seinfeld is opening up about his time with the late Jerry Stiller on the set of Seinfeld.
00:15While chatting with What a Joke with Papa and Fortune on Sirius XM's Netflix is a Joke radio channel on Thursday,
00:21Seinfeld spoke fondly of the late comedian who sadly died on Monday at the age of 92.
00:26Speaking on their working relationship, Seinfeld revealed that he never gave Stiller a single note during his tenure on the NBC show because his method of the character of Frank Costanza was perfect.
00:36He had the most amazing comedic stuff that we didn't know if he was planning it, or it just came out that way, or he couldn't remember the line,
00:43or we didn't know what it was, but we did not want to disturb it in any way.
00:47Why'd you put the bananas in there?
00:50George likes the bananas!
00:52So let him have bananas on the side!
00:53Alright, please!
00:54Seinfeld went on to say how when the cameras rolled, everyone made sure to stay out of Stiller's way because whatever he did was gold.
01:00I was such a dedicated believer in if it's funny, don't touch it.
01:04I don't care why it's funny.
01:05I don't care what the line was supposed to be.
01:07He said it that way.
01:08We're doing it that way.
01:09In an interview years ago, Stiller had recalled that co-creator Larry David wanted him to play Frank much more subdued,
01:15the opposite of the yelling, hysterical Mrs. Costanza played by Estelle Harris.
01:19But according to Stiller, his instincts were telling him otherwise, saying in part,
01:23When we shot the dress rehearsal before we go on stage with a live audience, she started screaming at me.
01:28And I, out of instinct, instead of just saying my lines, I screamed back.
01:32Everyone starts laughing, and David said,
01:33Jerry, keep it that way.
01:35And that was the beginning of Frank Costanza.
01:37Said Steinfeld of Stiller's work on the show,
01:39What I loved about him is he so completes the George story.
01:43When you meet the father, you go,
01:44Oh, now I understand why he's like that.
01:46It was,
01:47The perfect finishing of the painting of George Costanza was Frank Costanza.
01:50For more on this story, head to the article on THR.com.
01:53For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
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