Jason Alexander's career defining role came as George Costanza in Seinfeld, but he wasn't the first choice - here are all the actors who almost played Jerry Seinfeld's best friend. In the midst of his rise in popularity as a comedian, Seinfeld created one of the most popular sitcoms of all-time in the late 1980s with fellow comedian Larry David. Seinfeld began airing in 1989 on NBC with Jerry starring as a fictionalized version of himself where he is still a stand-up comedian in New York.
Throughout the nine-season run of Seinfeld, the popularity of the show launched Jerry Seinfeld to new levels of stardom. But, it also elevated the careers of the supporting cast who played Seinfeld's friends: Julia Louis-Dryfus as Elaine Benes, Michael Richards as Kramer, and Jason Alexander as George Constanza. In each case, it's almost impossible to imagine anyone else in these roles because of how popular the show and their portrayals became. But, the casting process for Seinfeld didn't mean that these actors were the front runners for their respective roles - just look at how Louis-Dryfus replaced the original Elaine actress after one episode.
In the case of Jason Alexander specifically, he was far from the first choice to play George Costanza. Multiple other actors were in contention to play the role, and even though Alexander ultimately was cast, these are the other actors who almost played George instead.
When casting Seinfeld's bitter best friend, Seinfeld looked at a wide variety of actors, and Chris Rock and Danny DeVito were near the top of the list. At the time of Seinfeld's development, DeVito was ascending to stardom after roles in Romancing the Stone and Twins. This rise is why Alexander believes DeVito passed on the role of George because he could've been leading his own show instead of taking "a sidekick role." Chris Rock was at a very different stage of his career though, as he was still primarily working as a stand-up comedian, which would've made Seinfeld quite a breakout role. Instead, he booked roles on Saturday Night Live and In Living Color in the years to come.
Although DeVito and Rock are two of the most high-profile alternate choices to be George, they were not the only actors who were considered before Alexander. According to the actor, Larry Miller, Brad Hall, David Alan Grier, Nathan Lane, Steve Buscemi, and Paul Shaffer were also in contention to play George. Miller and Hall have connections to Seinfeld, as Miller is one of Jerry's best friends in real life and Hall is married to Julia Louis-Dryfus. The other contenders managed to find various levels of success after missing out on this potentially career-changing role though. Grier went on to star in In Living Color, Lane eventually voiced Timon in The Lion King, Buscemi starred in Reservoir Dogs and Fargo, and Shaffer voiced Hermes in Disney's Hercules. But, there's no telling how different the careers of DeVito, Rock, and the rest would've been if they played George Costanza in Seinfeld instead of Jason Alexander.
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