Seinfeld star Jason Alexander had an unfortunate rude awakening after appearing on The Howard Stern Show yesterday , where he shared a hilarious story about how the character Susan Ross was killed off of the show because the actors were uncomfortable playing off of actress Heidi Swedberg comedically. While many of us out there understood his candidness was lighthearted, enough people took it as a slight on actress that Alexander has publically come forth with an apology and clarification of his words. Dammit, Internet, you ruin everything.
Alexander took to TwitLonger for a long and goodwill-heavy explanation for why he told the story in the first place, reiterating that he and the rest of the Seinfeld cast and crew were fond of Swedberg herself. So take off the tinfoil hats, anyone who thought they were actually talking about killing the actress, and not just her character, whom George had come to loathe by the end of Season 7. The actor even stated he was probably partially to blame in feeling uncomfortable working opposite Swedberg. In his words:
But in telling this story, it sounds like we are putting a heavy burden on Heidi. I, personally, am not. Heidi would always ask if there was anything in the scenes she could do or if I had any thoughts. She was generous and gracious and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her. If I had had more maturity or more security in my own work, I surely would have taken her query and possibly tried to adjust the scenes with her. She surely offered. But, I didn't have that maturity or security.
Personally, knowing that Alexander felt “off” actually makes their scenes work even better, as I’d always been a fan of their increasingly awkward relationship in the first place. They were perfectly awful together without ever getting annoying, and one hoped that they could somehow work it out. And, in the end, I guess it did work itself out, thanks to George's tight wallet.
Alexander went on and directed a comment at Swedberg herself and had some advice for those who look too hard between the lines.
To Heidi, I personally apologize. You are a sweetheart. I actually launched into this on Stern to defend you. But this is why I'm not a lawyer. Now everybody, calm down and just enjoy the reruns and think, ‘why did he think this wasn't working? This is great.’
So when you’re watching Seinfeld over and over once it hits Hulu later this month, remember that there’s a laugh track for a reason. Long live Susan Ross!
