Credit: Netflix

The Hugh Grant audition that “stunned’ Jerry Seinfeld

Fri 26 April 2024 10:42, UK

As Hugh Grant continues on his dramatic rebirth, hitting back against the bumbling British leading man whom he became famous for in flicks such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, he delivers one of his most surprising roles yet in Jerry Seinfeld’s upcoming movie, Unfrosted.

Seinfeld has directed, produced and starred in the film, which is set in Michigan in 1963. Covering mortal enemies Kellogg’s and Post, it follows their battle to create a new food that will change breakfast forever, with ambition and deceit part and parcel of this strife. Arriving on Netflix on May 3rd, the comedy also stars Dan Levy, James Marsden, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, and Christian Slater.

However, Grant takes the crown for the most exciting and, indeed, surprising role in the flick. Fresh off the back of his archetype-eschewing roles as an Oompa-Loompa in Wonka and as a con man in Dungeons and Dragons, he features as a washed-up Shakespearean dramatist, Thurl Ravenscroft, a real-life actor who plays the Frosties mascot, Tony the Tiger in Unfrosted.

In a new interview for IndieWire alongside writing partner Spike Feresten, Seinfeld revealed more details about the audition, in which Grant “stunned” them both and secured the role.

“There was a long time where we didn’t have anybody to make this movie. We had the budget, we had the script, but we didn’t have any people to play the parts,” Seinfeld said. “That was one of the most terrifying moments. We would go into this little room that we had with each part on a 3×5 card on the wall. And we had [Jim] Gaffigan as Kellogg — and that was it. And there were like 30 parts.”

They gradually started expanding the cast and finding roles, and once they got to Grant, it became immediately clear that he was the right fit for the part. Feresten revealed that Grant got into character and sent them a homemade iPhone video after he was offered the role. As soon as they saw it, they knew he was perfect.

“He had a glass of wine in his hand, and he was on the couch,” Feresten recalled. “We were just stunned on how homemade his audition was — and how good it was. Here’s Hugh Grant at 8 o’clock at night before he goes to bed, crushing the lines. Crushing. That’s when we said, ‘Jerry, close this for us. Get this guy.'”

Seinfeld explained how “somehow” more actors started to be secured after they hired Grant. He also jokingly noted that acting was “very low on our list of job requirements”; it was more of a case of whether people could be there and fit it into their schedule.

Watch the trailer for Unfrosted below.