George Costanza might be known for his stinginess but the actor playing him wasn’t stingy with the apologies and praises he heaped on Heidi Swedberg.
But that’s probably because Jason Alexander was working hard to clarify his statement that his Seinfeld fiancée was “f***ing impossible” to work with.
During Alexander’s recent guest stint on The Howard Stern Show, he said Swedberg’s character Susan was killed off because she lacked chemistry with the show’s stars.
Susan Ross was a recurring character who eventually ended up as George’s fiancée. She died during season 7’s finale when she was poisoned from licking the glue on the cheap envelopes that George bought for their wedding invitations.
The 55-year-old Alexander mentioned to Stern that Swedberg was a terrific girl but he had trouble playing off her during their scenes together.
#Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander Apologizes for Controversial Comments About Co-Star Heidi Swedberg http://t.co/TshTyWnVn2 pic.twitter.com/e3t8YeBTeJ
— TVOvermind (@TVOvermind) June 4, 2015
“Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring,” he explained.
He said that fellow actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jerry Seinfeld also felt the same thing. And with the writers having problems with the direction the storyline was heading, the series’ co-creator Larry David decided to kill off the character.
The theater actor said David got the idea when Louis-Dreyfus commented “don’t you just want to kill her?”
Of course, she meant the character, not the actress.
But when the interview came out, what was meant as a funny anecdote became a story on how the Seinfeld crew hated Swedberg so she was killed off.
Alexander quickly took to social media to clarify what he said and to defend his co-star, who he described as “a sweetheart.”
“I feel officially awful,” he wrote before insisting that he and the rest of the Seinfeld cast really liked Swedberg.
Alexander further wrote that “she is a kind, lovely person who undoubtedly worked really hard to create Susan” and blamed himself for their lack of chemistry, citing his insecurities and immaturity.
“She was generous and gracious and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her,” he added.
