One Seinfeld Star Made The NBC Sitcom A Success, According To Jerry Seinfeld

It's hard to imagine Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld's hit sitcom "Seinfeld" missing any one of its four lead characters. Jerry (Seinfeld) was the shallow and neurotic one. George (Jason Alexander) was the shallow and neurotic one. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) was the shallow and neurotic one. And Kramer (Michael Richards) was the shallow and neurotic one with the get-rich-quick schemes. Each of the four actors was nominated for multiple Emmys for their acting work on "Seinfeld," with Seinfeld receiving five noms, Alexander receiving seven, Louis-Dreyfus also receiving seven (and winning one), and Richards netting five and winning three. It couldn't be made today. 

Weirdly, the character of Elaine wasn't in the pilot for "Seinfeld," called "The Seinfeld Chronicles" (July 5, 1989). The fourth lead role was originally supposed to be a waitress named Claire, played by actress Lee Garlington, but the restaurant where she worked was re-tooled for the show's second episode, becoming a joint called Monk's Café. Claire, likewise, was cast aside in favor of a new character named Eileen, and then Elaine. Elaine was first in the episode "Male Unbonding" (June 14, 1990), which was the second episode filmed, but the fourth aired. Her first "full appearance" was in "The Stake Out" (May 31, 1990), where she was introduced as Jerry's ex-girlfriend. In that episode, the pair decided to remain good friends despite their breakup. Elaine would appear in every episode thereafter. Louis-Dreyfus was only able to join after another sitcom she was working on was canceled. 

Seinfeld appeared on "Entertainment Tonight" back in 2018 while attending a ceremony in Washington D.C., wherein Louis-Dreyfus was receiving a Mark Twain Prize. He recalled the slow roll-out of the Elaine character and felt that Julia Louis-Dreyfus not only knocked it out of the park with her performance, but also became a vital part of the show's success. Without her, Seinfeld said, the show wouldn't have been as big a hit.

There was no ambiguity. Seinfeld, who had final say in the show's casting, knew that Louis-Dreyfus was perfect almost instantly (she did not have to dance). "Entertainment Tonight" asked him on the red carpet to speak a few kind words, and the comedian was able to say plenty immediately. Seinfeld said: 

"I always felt like she was the diamond. She was the sparkle of the show that really made it the right chemistry. The right formula. Without her, I really don't think the show would have been successful. [...] It was just her and me in the room. She came in to read, and Larry was there, and we were just talking. And we had two pages of a scene. And I said, "Let's just read this together," the two of us sitting there. And we read it, and I said, "She's in." Lietally 30 seconds into I said "Yeah, this is exactly correct." 

It's been said that multiple now-known comedians and actresses auditioned to play Elaine, including Amy Yasbeck, Mariska Hargitay, Megan Mullally, and even Rosie O'Donnell. There were some rumors that O'Donnell didn't get the job because she had previously ripped off some of Seinfeld's jokes during her early stand-up days. Seinfeld once said on an interview on "The Howard Stern Show" that he actually really liked O'Donnell, and merely thought that Louis-Dreyfus was better-suited to the role. It had nothing to do with resentment or ripping off any jokes. 

O'Donnell, however, did admit to stealing wholesale from Seinfeld when she was just starting out. She was naive at the time and didn't realize that stealing jokes was gauche. O'Donnell immediately ceased when warned how horrible it is to steal material. All her jokes thereafter were 100% hers.