Written Interview: Larry David

This interview with Larry David takes place circa 1994, early on in the “Seinfeld” phenomenon and well before “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.

LF: We’ll get to that. Your career is somewhat unusual by Hollywood
standards. You didn’t come up through the ranks in the usual sense — 
writer, producer, show runner. How do you explain your successes?

LD: What, you don’t think I’ve earned it?

LF: Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant — you’re a big phony. Look, you
didn’t travel the prescribed route to get where you are. You “broke the
rules” to coin a phrase. How did that happen?

LD: Well obviously I was very fortunate to hook up with Jerry in the
first place. The network was already committed to doing something with
him, so I skipped a couple of hundred steps right there. Believe me, if
I had gone to NBC on my own, with an idea, say, about a blind deli man,
I don’t think you’d be interviewing me.

LF: That’s admirable modesty, but there’s more to this than being in the
right place at the right time.

LD: To be honest with you, I think the only thing that really worked in my
favor, is that right from the beginning I really didn’t give a (expletive)
whether or not the show was a success. That’s not to say I didn’t want to
do good work, but I wasn’t about to let myself be judged by network
standards. When you’re not concerned with succeeding, you can work with
complete freedom.

LF: Since success means so little to you, can we assume your Emmy is just
gathering dust in the basement?

LD: Actually I walk around with the Emmy wherever I go, but I’m very
casual about it. I also like to work it into the conversation whenever I
can like, “Oh, I remember that game, it was two days after the Emmys.”
Or “I’m sorry I can’t go out tonight. I dropped my Emmy on my foot.”

LF: Like that old Jackie Vernon bit about him trying to impress girls at
the beach saying things like, “Excuse me, I seem to have lost my
Congressional Medal of Honor. That’s alright. I have another one at home.”

LD: (mock angry and bellowing) What are you saying? That I’m ripping off
Jackie Vernon? I don’t have to take this. We’re the number three rated
show in the whole country and when that syndication money comes rolling in,
I’ll buy you and your lousy magazine. I’m Larry David!

There’s something to be said for a writer to have a “I really don’t give a (expletive).” Totally frees you up to write whatever you want. Sometimes you need to write what they want. Sometimes you need to write what you want.

HT to Michael, a GITS reader in Sydney, Australia for sending me the link to the interview.

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