Jerry Seinfeld has chosen to sit in the director’s chair instead of in front of the camera for the Netflix film Unfrosted. In a recent interview with GQ, he elaborated on what it was like to do something completely different from acting and directing for the first time in his long career, and he really didn’t hold back with his words.
“It was completely new to me. I thought I had done cool things, but it was nothing like the way these people work. They are so dead serious! They have no idea that the film industry is over. They have no idea. “
When asked to explain what he meant, he added:
“Film is not at the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it has been for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all talked about it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we walk through a fire hose of water, just to try to see.”
So what does he think replaced his interest in film?
“Depression? Malaise? I’d say confusion. Disorientation replaced the film industry. Everyone I know in show business asks every day, ‘What’s going on? How do you do this? What do we do now?’
Something that has grown in popularity at the moment is standing up and he went on to talk about his career in it:
“I’ve done enough things that I have my own thing, which is more valuable than it’s ever been. Stand-up is like being a furniture maker, and everyone needs a guy who’s good with wood… There are people everywhere trees, but to make a beautiful table it is not so easy.
So the metaphor is that if you have good craftsmanship and craftsmanship, you are somewhat impervious to the whims of the industry. Audiences are now flocking to stand-up because it’s something you can’t fake. It’s like platform diving. You might say you’re a platform diver, but in two seconds we can tell if you are or not. That’s what people like about stand-up. They can rely on it. Everything else is fake.”
