Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander has opened up about the fallout from his decidedly unappealing role in the 1990 classic Pretty Woman.
After having played an associate of Richard Gere’s character who attempted to sexually assault Julia Roberts Vivian, Jason Alexander said that “women hated [him]” after seeing Pretty Woman.
“I would walk down the street and women would say mean things to me. I got punched many times, I got spit on by one woman. It was a rough year,” he recalled on the At Home With the Creative Coalition
Given that Seinfeld had been airing for less than a year at the time of Pretty Woman‘s release, Alexander said that the film was the “odd way” he was introduced to a wider audience.
“I was known around the world as the a–hole that tried to rape Julia Roberts,” he said.
Alexander also revealed that he almost wasn’t even cast in the role, as director Garry Marshall “did not want [him].”
″I had auditioned for [Marshall], he was very sweet, and he basically said, ‘You’re too young, you’re too baby-faced, you’re too little.’ There were other people he tried to get and I don’t know why they couldn’t make a deal,” he said.
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According to Alexander, it was casting director Diane Crittenden who was “very high” on giving him the role.
″She kept bringing me up and bringing me up to the point where Garry said, ‘If you say his name again I’m gonna fire you,'” he said.
“I got the part because they couldn’t make a deal with the actor they wanted and they were desperate, the movie already started shooting and they didn’t have this character.”
Well, we think it’s safe to say most people would now remember Alexander as the iconic George Costanza, much to his presumed relief.
