Jerry Seinfeld teased that starring alongside Hugh Grant — who plays Tony the Tiger in their upcoming Netflix movie, Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story — wasn’t grrrrr-eat!
“We had lots of fights. He’s a pain in the ass to work with. He’s horrible,” Seinfeld, 69, recalled during the Wednesday, March 27, episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “He tells you before you work with him, ‘You’re gonna hate this.’ And he’s so right.”
However, the actor shared that any feud that may have developed between him and Grant, 63, on set was instantly squashed after they went out to eat together and bonded.
“We shot for 10 weeks, and that night that he and I had dinner — and we got drunk having dinner — that was the greatest night,” Seinfeld recalled. “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.”
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Seinfeld, who also wrote and directed Unfrosted, revealed that Grant wasn’t originally even going to be in the movie.
“The character is Thurl Ravenscroft, which is the real name of the guy who did the voice of Tony the Tiger. And so I imagined a frustrated Shakespearean actor who has to play this embarrassing character to make his car payments, and Hugh Grant is perfect for that,” he quipped to Fallon. “I did not think of really Hugh Grant for the part…and I love Hugh Grant so much.”
Seinfeld then explained that it was Grant who ended up reaching out to him about the role.
“Then he called us,” the comedian stated. “He said, ‘I want to be in the Pop-Tart movie. So I got the script and he did an audition on his phone — with a glass of wine in the other hand, by the way.”
Even though it was an impromptu audition, Seinfeld gave Grant the part on the spot.
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“Like I care what the audition was,” he joked. “I go, ‘Yeah, sure, you’re Tony the Tiger, sure.’”
His casting decision paid off. Seinfeld noted that Grant’s portrayal of the character was perfect. “I love him. I love him. He’s so funny,” he raved.
Seinfeld told Fallon, 49, that Grant eventually watched the flick too and had nothing but good things to say.
“This is a real text I got today from Hugh Grant,” Seinfeld disclosed. “It says, ‘Just watched the film. To my great surprise I liked it. Laughed out loud. All actors were good. Even you. Love, Hugh.”
Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story also stars Melissa McCarthy and James Marsden. The film takes place in 1963 and tells the story of the rivalry between Kellogg’s and Post as they competed to create a cake (which is what is now known as a Pop-Tart) that would change breakfast foods forever.
Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story on Netflix Friday, May 3.