Jerry Seinfeld would welcome Kellogg's lawsuit over Pop-Tart movie Unfrosted: 'I would love that trial'

Nearly three decades after his generation-defining sitcom went off air, Jerry Seinfeld is finally starring in his first live-action movie — and yes, it's about Pop-Tarts.

In some ways, it makes sense. His love for cereal was well-known on Seinfeld, where boxes lined his cabinets, and he was often seen munching on a bowl. His famous Pop-Tart joke, told on his 2020 comedy special 23 Hours to Kill, had been gestating for at least a decade. He spoke about writing the bit in a 2012 New York Times video, where he said he'd been refining it for two years (usually, he explained, it takes a couple of days).

So the interest was always there, but Seinfeld has written no shortage of jokes in his storied career. Why this joke? Why now? And what made him want to write, star, and direct when he's never really done any of those things before for a feature film?

Entertainment Weekly put those questions and more to the man himself about the release of Netflix's Unfrosted, which hits the streaming service on May 3. Very loosely based on the true story of the invention of the famous toaster pastry, the movie plays out like the breakfast version of The Right Stuff, with Kellogg’s and Post Cereal engaged in a cutthroat race to "upend the American breakfast."

Featuring as many cameos as it does breakfast puns, Unfrosted's cast also includes Amy Schumer as Marjorie Merriweather Post, head of Post cereal; Jim Gaffigan as Edsel Kellogg III, head of Kellogg's; Hugh Grant as Thurl Ravenscroft, the actor cast as Tony the Tiger; Bill Burr as President John F. Kennedy; and Mikey Day, Kyle Mooney, and Drew Tarver as Snap, Crackle, and Pop, respectively. Melissa McCarthy costars as Seinfeld's co-worker at Kellogg's, while Dan Levy, James Marsden, Jack McBrayer, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Moynihan, Fred Armisen, Tony Hale, and many others appear.

Below, Seinfeld reveals the correct way to eat a Pop-Tart, whether he has plans to do more acting, why Unfrosted is the opposite of Barbie, and most importantly, what's the deal with breakfast?

I guess the obvious question is, what made you want to make a movie about Pop-Tarts?

There's a gift with every tragedy. There's a little blessing inside, and this is what I got out of COVID. I would never, ever have done this if I wasn't sitting around for a month doing nothing and having my friend [Seinfeld writer] Spike [Feresten] say, "Let's do a screenplay. We've got nothing else to do." I never would've agreed to it otherwise.

What made you want to direct this yourself?

Just easier. It's just easier when you're in the writers' room, like on a TV series, and then you walk down to the set with the script. Having a director interpret what the writers were trying to do is such a waste of time and it goes wrong. The writer knows what he wants. The reason writers don't direct is because they're usually not able to communicate with other humans. They can just write. But luckily, I've developed those skills over many years of trying, and I can talk to other people and say, "No, the idea of this joke is you say it this way," and that's all directing is.

Is there anything that was harder or easier about the process than you were anticipating?

Yeah. The thing that's harder is when you're making a movie for Netflix and they give you a healthy budget, which they did; there's nothing you can't do. The technology enables you to do absolutely anything you can think of, and that can kind of stall your brain out because if you can do anything, there's no way to make a choice of what do we do. We actually had a car chase scene in here in one of the early drafts with cars driven by kids, and it was going to be an exact duplicate of the car chase from Bullitt on the streets of San Francisco, but it ended up kind of being a little too much to shoot. But you can do that. If you want to do that, you can do that. They'll let you do it and you can do it.

What was it like starring in this and directing yourself? How does that work?

It's a little tricky, but luckily I have so little interest in acting that I never had to worry about my performance. In fact, in some scenes, I'm not even bothering to act. I'm just watching the other actors, which I did on the TV series quite a bit. If you look at my face on the TV series, I'm just watching as a writer going, "Yeah, that was a good joke. I like how that joke landed very nicely."

Considering your feelings about acting, what made you want to star in this?

Again, it's just easier. It's just easier. I know how to do that line. Let me just do it.

So, tell me about breakfast and your fascination with it.

In the '60s, and I guess to a certain extent today, it's the only thing that as a kid, you totally control. The other food throughout the day, you're manhandled by adults. But breakfast is yours. You can do whatever you want, and everything at breakfast is so fantastic. French toast and cereal and cinnamon rolls, it's all the greatest things in the world, and you're really hungry. The hungriest you ever are throughout the day is breakfast.

You have an incredible cast in this. What was it like on set? Was there a lot of improvising?

Quite a bit of improvising. Kyle Dunnigan completely improvised Walter Cronkite. Bill Burr completely improvised JFK. Those were the most improvised two scenes in the movie. The rest of it is mostly the script.

Was there anybody you really wanted to get that didn't work out for whatever reason?

There were a lot of people who didn't work out, mostly due to scheduling. But nobody just flat turned us down. Well, there were a couple. It was the usual casting process. Some people were intimidated by the JFK part. They thought it was going to be like Lincoln, that it would take me months to prepare. And I'm trying to explain, "No, this is not Lincoln." Bill got it. And Bill, of course, is a comedian. Got that right away. No acting. Just be fun, Bill.

Did you use any of your favorite comedy movies as a reference?

I watched Blazing Saddles the other day just for something to watch, and I was really kind of shocked when it started that it felt like Unfrosted, which was not intentional, but there's an idiotic reality in that movie that does not disturb what you think is a real story. When the Count Basie band is just playing in the middle of the desert, that's the ravioli coming to life. It's like, well, that didn't happen, but nobody cares. And I was very excited that I thought, oh, I'm in the world of Blazing Saddles a little bit here, which, of course, is one of my favorite comedies of all time.

And I also love The In-Laws, and I love Peter Sellers. He was really my biggest comedy hero, period. There's one moment in the funeral scene where the widow is watching this ridiculous full cereal honors going on, and she says to me, "Did you plan this?" And I say to her, "I don't know," which is one of my favorite lines in the movie, and we had a lot of fights about it. It makes absolutely no sense, but it's the only moment where I felt a tiny bit like Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.

What was Big Cereal's involvement in this? Did you get any of this cleared up with the Pop-Tarts people?

This movie is the opposite of Barbie. Barbie is made by Mattel. Kellogg's had no idea and would never allow us to do anything like this. And if we don't get sued, it'll be a miracle. We thought that'd be phenomenal publicity, if we do get sued. I mean, walking in court with lawyers to defend myself that I made fun of the Pop-Tart in a way that's inappropriate — I would love that trial. That's the only possible sequel is to be on trial for Pop-Tart judges.

What's your relationship with the Pop-Tart today?

Pure love. Okay? Unmitigated adoration.

You'll still eat a Pop-Tart today? A box of Pop-Tarts is something you can find in your house?

Yeah. I love them.

They kind of taste like nothing, but there's something about them.

They taste like nothing. See, that's another thing people say, "Why is it funny?" The badness is the goodness. right?

What's the proper way to eat a Pop-Tart? Frosted or unfrosted? Toasted or untoasted?

Toasted. Has to be toasted. I don't agree with the raw Pop-Tart at all. The trouble that they went through to make it toastable — by the way, they did really catch on fire. [That] really was one of the problems they were having. And the crimping of the edge to keep the jelly in was a big problem. The jelly was coming out in the toaster, so they went to a lot of effort so that you could toast it. So toast it.

How much research did this involve?

There was no desire to get anything right. We just wanted to make it. So, when you look up "Who was the voice of Tony the Tiger?" and you find out the guy's actual name is Thurl Ravenscroft, then you look up at the comedy gods and say, "Thank you for that one."

Are there any other bits from your standup that you think could be blown out like this into a movie?

Oh my God, you don't think one's enough?

People are going to want more!

It's outrageous. It's outrageous to think you could do such a thing. Very egomaniacal.

Do you have any other acting projects on the horizon?

I've never planned anything. I didn't plan the TV series. I didn't plan Comedians in Cars. I didn't plan this. I have no plans. I never make plans. I'm just a comedian, and if something happens that looks good, I might try and do it. But otherwise, there are no plans ever.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Listen to Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor sing Jerry Seinfeld's ode to Pop-Tarts, 'Sweet Morning Heat'
• Jerry Seinfeld jokes Hugh Grant was a 'pain in the ass' while filming Unfrosted: 'He's horrible'
• Hugh Grant says working with Jerry Seinfeld on Unfrosted was 'grrreat'