Jason Alexander Says Chris Rock, Danny DeVito, Rosie O'Donnell Were All Considered for George Costanza Role on “Seinfeld”
- - Jason Alexander Says Chris Rock, Danny DeVito, Rosie O'Donnell Were All Considered for George Costanza Role on “Seinfeld”
Virginia ChamleeFebruary 17, 2026 at 10:53 PM
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From left: Jason Alexander, Chris Rock, Danny DeVito
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Jason Alexander is sharing the other actors who were nearly cast as George Costanza
Alexander played Costanza on Seinfeld from 1989 to 1998
In a new podcast, he shares the other notables who nearly got the role, including Chris Rock and Danny DeVito
Jason Alexander is opening up about the other actors that were considered for the role of George Costanza on Seinfeld,
During a recent episode of his podcast, "Really? no, Really?," Alexander and his co-host Peter Tilden spoke with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, the author of the 2016 book Seinfeldia, about his audition for the role and the other actors in contention.
Alexander noted that he and actor Larry Miller auditioned at the same time and he initially thought Miller would get the part, because he was friends with the show's star, Jerry Seinfeld.
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Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer, Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander as George Costanza
Spike Nannarello/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty
"I know some of the people that they either offered the role to or —" Alexander said. "So, I know about Chris Rock. I know about Danny DeVito. I know about Paul Schaefer. And I know about, um, Rosie O'Donnell."
"Were there other kind of notable people?" Alexander asked Armstrong.
"The only other one that I remember because it was so off the beaten path was Buscemi — Steve Buscemi," Armstrong replied.
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Premiering in 1989 and co-created by Larry David, Seinfeld became famous as a “show about nothing," focusing on the daily lives of a group of friends in Manhattan.
Centered around Jerry Seinfeld — a character that’s just a slightly fictionalized version of Seinfeld himself — and his friends Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Alexander) and Kramer (Michael Richards), the offered a relatable and hilarious look at life in the city.
The cast reunited in season 7 of David's HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Speaking about the reunion in the 2025 book, No Lessons Learned: The Making of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Told by Larry David and the Cast and Crew, Alexander said; “Initially, I had concerns that a reunion show wouldn’t be a good thing to do, or a fun thing to do. We hadn’t worked as a group in 10 years. So we’re all 10 years older."
"So the first thing I’m thinking is, 'What was barely charming on characters in their 30s and 40s may be completely devoid of charm in their 40s and 50s, and that may be a mistake," the actor added.
But in the end, he said, “The ensemble feeling that we had, the affection that we had for each other, it was immediate," adding that being back on set felt like “a time tunnel.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
