Unfrosted Stars Reflect on Jerry Seinfeld’s Directing Style

Unfrosted is the new Netflix film about the creation of the Pop-Tart breakfast pastry –  but it’s making even bigger headlines for being the feature-film directorial debut of Jerry Seinfeld. 

Seinfeld is writing, directing, and producing Unfrosted, in addition to starring in the film. That’s a whole lot to take on for your first movie – even if you are a veteran icon of the stage and screen like Jerry Seinfeld. There’s always a learning curve for a new filmmaker; rarely does the original vision match with the reality of what you’re working with during production – not to mention what you are able to actually shoot and get onscreen. 

When sitting down ComicBook.com, Unfrosted stars Christian Slater and Sarah Cooper talked about how it was having Jerry Seinfeld at the helm. It seemed clear from the conversation that Seinfeld started out being a pretty rigorous taskmaster in realizing his vision: 

When asked how things were on set, Christian Slater said “Surprisingly very intense. Very, very intense. I was like ‘Wow! Alright! This guy runs a tight ship!’ No, it was great. It was great, but, you know: he wrote the script, [so] you gotta say it [that] way, because that’s the funny thing, and you know how he is: he’s meticulous! He’s Jerry Seinfeld!”

Actress and comedienne Sarah Cooper gave Seinfeld a lot of grace, saying she understood why he was that rigorous in his initial approach. As someone famous for writing and directing her own content on platforms like TikTok, Cooper knows what it is to want to hold the reigns of control. Plus, there was the fact that it was Jerry Seinfeld whom the cast was performing for: 

“You want to please him because when you write something, you have an idea of how it should be said, and if you don’t say it that way you feel bad,” Cooper explained. “But I think that he loosened up. When we did the banquet scene there was one take where Jerry took a sip of water and then he sprayed everyone around the table. He just went [makes blowing motion] like a sprinkler, and it was so funny. Didn’t make it in the movie – but it was so funny.”

Christian Slater was slightly amazed to hear about all the fun being had on the Unfrosted set after he shot is parts, stating: “See I worked with him in the first week or so. In the first week, he hadn’t loosened up yet.”

Unfrosted will be streaming on Netflix starting on May 3rd.