The Larry David we know and love today was the same Larry David thirty years ago. This isn’t a story of someone getting more neurotic with age or turning into a different person after making a lot of money. According to Marilyn Black, David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm costar and the first person to ever (try to) manage him, the creator of Seinfeld has always been this way.
After Black and David met through their mutual friend Richard Lewis, they decided to pitch David as “the next Woody Allen.” He had a script entitled Prognosis Negative, about a hypochondriac who “overhears a doctor informing his ex-girlfriend that she only has a few months to live, so he decides it’s safe to make a commitment.” Producers thought David was “too unlikable” to star in the movie himself. Plus, he was exposed early on to Hollywood’s system of rewrites and reacted accordingly:
When a production company optioned it, the deal stipulated that no one besides Larry could rewrite the script, which was unheard of for a novice. One day, the script was somehow sent back to Larry. He opened the envelope and read the title: SHORT TERM LOVER. To say Larry went ballistic is an understatement. We sped over to the producer’s office, where an enraged Larry burst through the door threatening to sue him for ruining his career! Eventually, everyone calmed down. Larry was to do the rewrite, but he insisted he didn’t want to get paid a lot of money because then they would expect a bigger rewrite. Only Larry.
After Tom Hanks, Michael Keaton, and Bill Murray passed on the film, David was tapped to star. Unfortunately, he blew the audition — the audition for a role based on himself, in a script he wrote.
Sometime later, while Black was working for producing juggernaut Dino De Laurentis, she called David about an acting opportunity. David came in to have a conversation with De Laurentis (I’m going to leave it in capital letters because I believe, in my heart of hearts, that this entire exchange happened in capital letters):
[MARILYN]: DINO, THIS IS LARRY DAVID, WHO IS UP FOR THE ROLE OF THE ACCOUNTANT.
DINO (DISTRACTED): YOU DO CABARET?
LARRY (CONFUSED): UH, CABARET?
[MARILYN]: HE MEANS IMPROV.
LARRY: OH, YES! I DO IMPROV!
DINO: THAT’S GOOD. … WELL, GOODBYE, LARRY!
David didn’t get the role, but Seinfeld happened soon after. The show eventually became a towering success, despite its creator not thinking “it was going to go anywhere.”
So in case you think you’re the next Larry David, stop trying to be Larry David. Larry David couldn’t be the next Woody Allen, so he made a career being himself. If that isn’t a lesson for all aspiring actors and writers, I don’t know what is.
Source: Yahoo!
